Lhasa Ganden Tour

  • Trip Duration Trip Duration 5 Days
  • Trip Grade Trip Grade Moderate

About Lhasa Ganden Tour

On top of all, this 5-day tour offers a memorable excursion to Ganden Monastery, home of Gelugpa sect or Yellow Hat sect (present Dalai Lama’s sect) http://tibetpedia.com/lifestyle/religious-life/gelugpa-sect/. Your visit will be enriched with historic information about how the Gelugpa sect got the most influential among other sect till date.

Lhasa city is nicely located on the bank of the beautiful Lhasa river with the lovely barren hills all around. Sometimes, they get snowcapped and add more beauty to the city. Potala Pala

ce stands in the middle of the Lhasa city offer its towering majestic impression all around.

Your first exposure to the cultural hub of Lhasa opens up with a visit to Potala Palace, winter palace of Dali Lama. Same day afternoon, your visit to the Jokhang Temple (central Buddhist cathedral) in Barkhor Bazaar (down town market place) leaves you in dream impelling you to imagine how such monuments were possible in those ancient days. Likewise, Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery are the fascinating monuments waiting for your visit.


Trip Highlights

  • Trans-Himalayan flight exposing you to the mighty Himalayan range including Mt Everest, the highest peak of the world
  • Scenic drive from the airport to Lhasa with a visit to Drolma Lakhang on the way
  • On the way to Lhasa from the airport, stop to view the beautiful hillock carved with the impressive image of Lord Buddha (Shakya Muni Buddha)
  • Half day visit to the majestic Potala Palace with 13 floors, 1,000 rooms and 10,000 steps where one can enjoy the photo session wearing the Tibetan costumes on its top floor with the impressive view of the Lhasa city on its back drop.
  • The monks of different ages in their saffron colored robes in every corner of the monastery and Lhasa city,
  • Half day visit to the Drepung Monastery located to the north west of Lhasa city on the foothill
  • Half day visit to Jokhang Temple (central Buddhist cathedral) in the middle of the Lhasa city at Barkhor Bazaar
  • Evening exploration of the Barkhor Bazaar (downtown bazaar) with the hustles and bustles featuring the locals and people from around Tibet in their ethnic costumes,
  • Eating out in the Barkhor Bazaar is enjoyable with choices of restaurants and food varieties.
  • Half day visit to Sera Monastery, another equally fabulous the second biggest monastic centre where one can witness live debate among the competing monks from the various monasteries of Tibet every afternoon.
  • take a half day countryside drive out of Lhasa exposing you with the typical life style of the Tibetan people
  • Above all, a day excursion to Ganden Monastery takes you out of Lhasa through the lovely Tibetan countryside

Itinerary

  • 1
    Day 01: KATHMANDU (1,300M) - LHASA (3,650M)

    Morning transfer to airport - Fly to Lhasa by a trans-Himalayan flight (1 hr) with a high chance of enjoying the panoramic view of the mighty Himalaya with a close up view Mt Everest (8,848 m) and other adjoining peaks. Welcome and assistance by our Tibetan guide at the Gongaar airport - Transfer to LHASA (45 min) through the new tunnel with a visit to Drolma Lakhang and check in to your hotel. Full rest for acclimatisation.

  • 2
    Day 02: IN LHASA

    AM: Visit Potala Palace.
    It is one of the most famous architectural works of Tibet and stands on the top of the Red Hill in Lhasa. The term Potala comes from Sanskrit. In the 7th century, it was built for meditational purpose. It was the Dalai Lama’s winter palace. Its white part used to be for the administrative purpose and the red part for the religious purpose.

    PM: Visit Jokhang Temple & Barkhor Bazaar
    Jokhang Temple
    Jokhang Temple is situated at the centre of the old part of Lhasa called Barkhor. It was built in the mid-7th century and was later extended by the successive rulers. It is a four storied temple with splendid golden roofs. It has a combination of architecture of Tang Dynasty & Nepalese Buddhist temples.

    Barkhor Bazaar:
    It is a bazaar complex just outside and around Jokhang Temple. It is the main Tibetan bazaar which has been able to sustain Tibetan culture & heritage until today. This bazaar is good for shopping and eating out and also mixing with the local Tibetan people.

  • 3
    Day 03: IN LHASA

    AM: Visit Drepung Monastery.
    It is situated five km away to the western suburb of Lhasa city at the foot of Mt Ganpoi Uze. It was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choje, a disciple of Tsongkhapa, the founder of Gelugpa sect in Tibet. The monastery occupying 250,000 square metre with a one time 7,700 monks is the biggest one in Tibet. It maintains plentiful of historical relics, Buddhist scriptures, arts and crafts.

    PM: Visit Sera Monastery.
    Sera is one of the Gelugpa’s six great monasteries in Tibet. It was founded in 1419. The complex today, a veritable monastic city, occupies a site of nearly 12 hectre. Sera, like Ganden & Drepung, was a vital center of religious activity that drew students from the far corners of TIBET. In its heyday, it boasted over 5000 monks and novices. In fact, Sera is one of the best preserved monasteries in Tibet. Debating monks are the worth seeing sight organized everyday in the afternoon in the garden of Sera Monastery.

  • 4
    Day 04: LHASA – GANDEN – LHASA: 40+40 KM

    Full day excursion to Ganden Monastery is a memorable tour both in terms of the spiritual explanation on the Gelugpa sect and the scenic uphill drive offering a bird’s-eye-view of the unique countryside of Tibet

    Ganden Monastery is the hometown of the Gelugpa sect. Among the major 5 sects of the Tibetan Buddhism, the Gelugpa sect is believed to be the youngest one. The sect also known as Yellow Hat sect was started by the great Tibetan reformer Tsongkhapa in the 15th century. The sect propagated by him is revered as the purest of all sects of Tibet.

    Ganden Monastery is beautifully located at a hill top of Mt Wangbur at a height of almost 4,000 m with a distance of almost 40 km from Lhasa. The shape of the Ganden villa looks as if it is an amphitheater.

  • 5
    Day 05: LHASA - KATHMANDU

    Free until your guide picks you up for the transfer to Lhasa airport (45 min) and fly back to Kathmandu or to your onward destination.

Cost Includes

  • HOTEL ACCOMODATION IN TWINSHARING ROOM ON BED & BREAKFAST (BB) BASIS IN THE GOOD 3 STAR HTLS IN TIBET.
  • GOOD A/C VAN/BUS WILL BE PROVIDED IN TIBET AS PER GROUP SIZE,
  • SIGHTSEEING WITH AND ACCOMPANIMENT OF A GOOD ENGLISH SPEAKING TIBETAN GUIDE AS PER ITINERARY THROUGHOUT THE TOUR,
  • TIBET TRAVEL PERMIT FEE,
  • ENTRANCE FEES TO MONASTERIES & MONUMENTS,
  • ONE 800 ml OXYGEN BOTLLE TO EACH,
  • AIRPORT/HOTEL/AIRPORT TRANSFERS.

Cost Excludes:

  • NEPAL RE-ENTRY VISA FEE,
  • AIRFARE KTM/LXA/KTM (US$ 510)(subject to change)
  • TIBET VISA FEE (US$ 69 for the nationals other than the US citizens & for the US citizens, it is US$ 145)
  • ALL INSURANCE,
  • PHOTOGRAPHY FEES IN MONASTERIES,
  • EXTRA COST DUE TO NATURAL AND POLITICAL CAUSES SUCH AS LANDSLIDES, SNOW, STRIKES, ETC.,
  • ALL EXPENSES OF PERSONAL NATURE SUCH AS DRINKS, LAUNDRY, TIPS, ETC.

Useful info

There are better hotels in Lhasa like 5 star deluxe (St Regis Lhasa Resort or Hotel Shangri-la), 4 star deluxe (4 Point by Sheraton), 5 star Hotel Xing Ding or Brahmaputra)(normal). However, there are no better hotels other the 3 star hotels outside Lhasa, except in Tsedang, where there is a good 4 star hotel called

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