Lhasa Nyingchi Draksumtso Xintso Hiking

This is the first day in Tibet. Your guide will greet you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport/Railway Station and transfer you to your hotel. It usually takes around 1 hour to drive from Lhasa Airport to downtown Lhasa and takes about 20 minutes from Lhasa Railway Station. Tourists could have a look at the Yarlung Tsangpo River, the largest and longest river in Tibet on their way to the hotel. After check-in, you can have a good rest first. And if you feel like going out, you can wander around the city. But just remember that don't take too much stuff, try to go with a light pack. Meanwhile, drink some more water, and do not move strenuously. It’s really useful to get acclimatized to the high altitude.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

In the morning, we will visit Norbulingka, which is a typical Tibetan-style royal garden, the summer resort of the Dalai Lama. There are a lot of towering trees, exotic flowers and plants in the garden, as well as many collections of cultural relics, Buddha statues, pagodas, thangkas, murals, etc. They are all very precious treasures.

In the afternoon, you are heading to Drepung Monastery, which means Monastery of Rice Heap in the Tibetan language. The entire monastery is large in scale and the white buildings cluster and cover the hillsides. Drepung monastery is the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery, also the highest-ranking monastery in the Gelug Sect.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

On your third day, you will be feeling much more acclimatized to Lhasa’s high elevation. It is an excellent idea to spend the day exploring the Potala Palace, which is the winter palace of the Dalai Lama. The superb collections of Potala Palace are the gilded burial stupas of former Dalai Lamas and the meditation cave of the 33rd great king of Tibet. It is best to explore the inside of the Potala in the morning for 2-3 hours. Afterward, you can walk the pilgrimage route around the Potala Palace.

In the afternoon, you will head to the Jokhang Temple, which is well known as the center of Tibetan Buddhism, and features Buddhist prayer wheels, reclining deer, and golden sutra streamers. Also, you can see a great many pilgrims praying in front of the temple and doing kora with local pilgrims.

After visiting the Jokhang Temple, you can stroll in the old alleys of Barkhor Street, where you may drink sweet tea, chat with locals to experience real life in Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Today, we will depart from Lhasa via the G318 national highway, then enter the Lhasa-Nyingchi Expressway and proceed along a canyon. We will visit the national forest park - Draksumtso Lake, which means "green water" in Tibetan. The lake is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, and there are Tibetan-style temples on the islands in the lake. It is a famous sacred lake and holy place of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Then we will head to Jieba Village.

Stay overnight at Jieba Village

In the morning, it takes about 1.5 hours to drive from Jieba Village to Santong Pasture, which is the starting point of the hike. It takes about an hour to reach the endpoint, Xintso Lake. Along the way, you will pass through meadows, tidal flats, ancient virgin forests, and streams. In the distance, you can see unique and snow-capped mountains. The round-trip hike is about 7 kilometers, and it is a small flat loop. After enjoying Xintso Lake, you can return to Jieba Village along the same route. Then, drive 120 kilometers, approximately two hours, to reach Nyingchi.

Stay overnight in Bayi Town

Lulang means “Loong King Valley” in the Tibetan language, or “a place that will make you forget your home”. It is located abt 80km from Nyingchi. Lulang is not only a forest but also grassland and a pasture. There is dense vegetation, diverse species and prosperous wildflowers. In each season, it shows a different landscape.

Stay overnight in Nyingchi

Transfer to Nyingtri Airport based on your flight schedule for your next destination.