5 DAYS LHASA GANDEN MONASTERY AND DRAK YERPA TOUR

Welcome to Lhasa! Upon your arrival at Gonggar airport or Lhasa Railway Station, your professional Tibetan guide will meet you right in the hall on time, with your name sign. Then a comfortable private car and experienced driver will take you to Lhasa hotel safely. It is about 65km from the airport to Lhasa city and takes less than an hour through the Airport Expressway. It is only 25km from the railway station and takes about half an hour. After arriving at hotel, tour guide will help you check in. You can take a rest and get acclimatized to high altitude.

After breakfast, your tour guide & driver will pick you and drive to visit the splendid Potala Palace, which is Lhasa’s cardinal landmarks. You will have a whole morning to explore this world-level architectural works: White Palace, Red Palace, corridors and stairs and countless lama’s dormitory. Others include: Buddha statues, red-robed lamas and devoted, murals, etc. In the afternoon, you will walk to visit the age-old Jokhang Temple, as the spiritual center of Tibet, which will deeply impress you with its magnificence and sincere pilgrims. You will see pilgrims donating butter oil to keep the lights burning for the Buddha; learning Tibetan Buddhism; hearing the red-robed Lamas praying; taking photos of the gold roof and enjoying the beautiful sunshine of Lhasa. Finally, you will have a relaxing walk around Jokhang Temple at Barkhor Street, which is the oldest street in Lhasa, and full of religious atmosphere, showcasing Tibetan culture, economy, religion and arts assemble. Then transfer back to the hotel.

After breakfast at your hotel, driven to visit Drepung Monastery. Drepung Monastery was ever the largest monastery with more than 10 thousand monks, and now is one of three great monasteries in Lhasa. Seen from the distant, its grand, white construction gives the appearance of a heap of rice. In the afternoon, driven to visit Sera Monastery, which is famous for the unique “Daily Scriptures Debating” activity held from 3:30pm to 5pm in the central courtyard. Then transfer back to the hotel.

After breakfast, you will drive to the Ganden Monastery, about 70 kilometers east of Lhasa and is one of the “Great Three Gelugpa monasteries of Tibet”, founded by the Great Tsongkhapa in 1409. On the way you can enjoy the beautiful view of Kyichu River and as we drive up to Ganden along winding mountain road, tourists can see the far view of Splendid monastery complex on the top of the mountain. Later we will visit chapels of Genden monastery and the tomb of Tsongkhapa, the founder of Gelupa sect. After touring Ganden Monastery, we will head to visit Drak Yerpa Monastery. About 1 hour’s scenic driving, you can see the distinctive vibes of Tibetan countryside: grazing yaks, nibbling sheep and barley fields and farming locals. All looks so harmonious and peaceful. Hiking up from parking lot, the view from the foot of the towering escarpment at Drak Yerpa will take your breath away. The history of these temples dates back to the middle of the 7th century, built by Songsten Gampo. Numbers of Buddhist masters meditated in these caves such as Yeshe Tsoygel, Padmasambhava and Asisha, which makes it a central place for meditation and pilgrimage. Walking along with a trail on the mountain connecting different rooms or caves. Some of the rooms are big, with Buddhist sculptures and historic treasures. Encounter local people using yak butter to stick money on the stone for Buddha and using their hands and knees to rub cave surface to make it very smooth. Later, drive back to Lhasa downtown.

Today is free for you until you are escorted to the airport or railway station for departure and the guide will help you get on board.