9 Days Tibet Winter Cultural Excursion

Today is the your first day on the high plateau and some of you may have little headache which is very common for travelers because of the high altitude, so drinking enough water and mild activity during the first few days is recommendable. In the morning our guide will meet you at the hotel and take an easy visit to Jokhang Temple in the centre of the Old Lhasa city. Jokhang temple is one of the most sacred temples in all over Tibet and it is always bustling with earnest local pilgrims since from early days. After that you have time to walk around the Bakhor street which is one of the most devotional circuit as well as crowded central market of Lhasa. During the old days it is the most famous local market but now it is changed into tourist gift shopping centre. In the afternoon we will visit the famous Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture, it was first built by 33rd King Songtsen Gangpo in 7th century and later in 17th century rebuilt by 5th Dalai Lama. Since then it was home to the Dalai Lama and his government. Walking though the long steps is quite challenging but it is worthwhile to leave your footprints in the spiritual palace on God’s compassion which listed in the world heritage in 1994. Continue acclimatizing and alleviating jet lag rest of the day. Overnight in Lhasa.

Today we will visit Drepung Monastery in the morning. It is one of the world's largest monasteries that houses more than 10,000 monks. It was  the resident of the Dalai Lama prior to Potala Palace. Destructions were taken place in different time but still you have lots of things to see. Walking through numbers of narrow and twisted lanes through the monks’ apartments which are more like a typical village. The amazing day will be ended with a visit to the Sera Monastery. It was built in the fifteenth century by the Jamchen choji Sakya Yeshi who is a disciple of Tsongka pa. A few different monastic colleges in Sera are homes of several hundred monks from different parts of Tibet. The famous Buddhist philosophical debates among the monks are happening everyday in the afternoon except Sunday. Continue acclimatizing and alleviating jet lag rest of the day. Overnight in Lhasa.

Today we will drive back to Tsedang. En route we will drive to Chimpu hermitage, there were several caves that Guru Rinpoche and Khangdo Yeshi Tsogyal(one of three consorts of Guru) mediated in the 7th century and since then it became very famous for retreatants and hermits from different parts of Tibet. After visiting the nunnery at the bottom of the hill we will hike up through the caves to experience the life of Tibetan yogis, and you may get a chance to interact with some yogis if you are lucky. In the afternoon we will drive back to Tsedang, which is the cradle of Tibetan civilization and capital of Tibet prior to Lhasa, so we will visit the 1st King’s palace Yumbu Lhakang there, which is only few kilometer south of the town. Overnight in Tsedang.

Today we will drive through road cuts via numbers of villages and en route we will stop at Nyimo local home based incense factory, they use primitive water operated tools to process incense materials and each incense sticks are purely hand made, you may see locals making it on the spot (but this is sometimes not available due to the local situation), then we will arrive in Lhasa later in the afternoon and you have some time to explore around the Bakhor to shop gifts for your families and friends at home. Overnight in Lhasa.