Chimpuk Hermitage Trekking Tour

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

In the morning our guide will meet you at the hotel and first take you to visit the famous Potala Palace, the cardinal landmark of Tibet and the masterpiece of Tibetan architecture. It was first built by the 33rd King - Songtsen Gangpo in the 7th century and rebuilt later by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. Now it's a museum and world heritage site. 

In the afternoon, we will go to visit Jokhang Temple in the center of the Lhasa old town. Jokhang Temple is the most sacred temple in Tibet and it is always bustling with earnest local pilgrims since the early days. After that, you will take a walk around the Barkhor Street - one of the most devotional circuits as well as a crowded central market of Lhasa. Barkhor Street is a very ancient round street surrounding the Jokhang Temple and the locals are always proud of it. As a symbol of Lhasa, it‘s also a must-see place for visitors.

Stay overnight in Lhasa

Heading from Lhasa to Tsetang along the Yarlung Tsang River, we will first visit Trandruk Monastery, one of the earliest Buddhist monasteries in Tibet, which was founded at the same time as the Jokhang Monastery. To build Trandruk Monastery here, Songtsen Gampo had first to take the form of a hawk to overcome a local dragon, a miracle that is commemorated in the monastery’s name.

Then we continue to visit Yumbulagang Palace, with a history of more than 2,100 years, the first palace for the Tibetan King Nyatri Tsanpo. The entire building is shaped like a castle, towering high at the mountain cliff. Not far from the Yarlung River Valley, the early Tibetan kings unified Tibet in the 7th century and their massive burial mounds still dominate the area around Chongye.

Stay overnight in Tsetang

Today, we will drive to Samye Monastery from Tsedang along the famous Yarlung Tsang River. Samye Monastery was built in the 8th century AD during the Tubo Dynasty. It was the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet.

Chimpuk Hermitage is a famous holy land for spiritual practice. It is located in a ravine, with gurgling streams and dense vegetation, surrounded by mountains on three sides. There is a small monastery built around Guru Rinpoche’s original medication cave halfway up the hill. It is a popular day hike for travelers from Samye to Chimpuk which takes around 4 or 5 hours up, about 7km. After that, we will drive back to Lhasa.

Stay overnight in Lhasa