Lhasa to Everest Base Camp Tour

Lhasa to Everest Base Camp Tour is an 8-day tour starting and finishing in Lhasa. This trip will take us from the capital to famous monasteries, pristine lakes, glaciers, rivers, farm valleys, and spectacular mountain views. Finally, driving through the spectacular Himalayas, we’ll travel to Everest Base Camp, the world’s highest mountain base and the highlight of our journey. The majestic Mt. Everest’s magnificent view is such a sight to see and feels as if it was one of our life’s biggest victories.

This Lhasa to Everest base camp trip includes stunning Tibetan towns and historic towns like Lhasa, Gyantse, Shigatse, and Rongbuk. Since there, we will explore the most iconic landmarks such as Potala and Norbulingka palaces, Traditional Tibet Hospital, Gyantse Dzong, and Barkhor Bazaar. We’ll also cross many passes and visit the stunning, turquoise Yamdrok Tso Lake. We must respect magnificent Tibetan monasteries including Sera, Drepung, Jokhang temple, Khumbum stupa, Tashi Lhumpo, Sakya and Rongbuk. The Lhasa to Everest Base Camp Trip, a distance of about 800 km, offers you a full ride, combining Tibet’s most popular and holiest sites into a perfect package.

Day 01: Arrival in Lhasa and Drive to hotel 

We arrive in Lhasa either directly from Nepal or via mainland China. If we want to travel from Nepal, we will admire a stunning trans-Himalayan flight over Everest (8,848 m), Kanchenjunga (8,536 m) and other Himalayan ranges and valleys. If we want to travel to Lhasa via mainland China, we can fly from any of the major Chinese cities or take the fastest train route to Lhasa. On arrival in Lhasa, Mountain Hike Nepal Team will accompany us from either the airport or train station to our appointed Lhasa hotel. We are recommended to relax for the balance of the day to prevent altitude sickness. Overnight stay in Lhasa

Day 02: Today Lhasa sightseeing: Potala Palace, Norbulingka Palace and Tibet Traditional Hospital

After breakfast we start exploring Lhasa by exploring the magnificent Palaces of Potala and Norbulingka, better known as Winter Palace and Summer Palace. Designed in the 17th century, Potala Palace has stunning views of the whole country, and houses the Dalai Lama’s private quarters. Norbulingka Palace contains the biggest man-made Tibetan forest. Then we explore the Traditional Hospital of Tibet, which is the center for Tibetan medicine diagnosis, teaching, study and development. Overnight stay in Lhasa

Day 03: Visit Lhasa: Sera Monastery, Drepung Monastery, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Bazaar

We visit Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery, Jokhang Temple and Bazaar Barkhor after breakfast. Completed in the 14th century, the Drepung Monastery is the largest monastery in the world and estimated to have housed about 10,000 monks in the past, but as of now there has been quite a decline culminating in just a few hundred. The history, tradition, and religious beliefs of the Tibetan people in this magnificent monastery are highly condensed and focused.  Sera Monastery is a restored monastery with golden roofs and whitewashed walls.  The biggest attraction to enter this monastery is to see the debating monks that are held every day apart from Sundays from 3-5 pm. Jokhang Temple is another important sacred site that unfolds more deep-seated Tibetan Buddhist mysteries. Inside, the Buddha Sakyamuni statue can be seen when he was twelve years old.  We start to walk through (market) Barkhor Bazaar. It is the nerve center of Lhasa, with its open-air stalls, shops, and pilgrim crowds. Overnight stay in Lhasa

Day 04: Drive to Shigatse and explore Tashi Lhunpo Monastery

We begin today’s trip to Shigatse after breakfast, traveling through the 5 km long Nimu valley along the Brahmaputra River. The valley involves the county seat and is the county’s primary agricultural area. In Shigatse we will visit Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, Panchen Lama’s birthplace, which was established in 1447 by Gendun Drup, the 1st Dalai Lama. The monastery is located on a hill in downtown Shigatse, Tibet’s second-largest city. Overnight stay in Shigatse

Day 05: Drive to Rongbuk Monastery

We travel to Rongbuk after breakfast, continuing our trip right through some lovely villages and having the first glimpse of Mount Everest from the foot of Gyatso la pass (5220 m).

On the journey, we encounter the Sakya Monastery, also known as Pel Sakya, the ancestral temple of the Tibetan Buddhist Sakyapa sect that allows access to the teachings of the Buddha. We continue driving towards Rongbuk after visiting Sakya Monastery. Crossing the Lalung la path, we reach the monastery of Rongbuk, which is located at the foot of the majestic Everest and the highest monastery on earth. While here, we also relish the amazing mountain surroundings all around us including the amazing views of Mt. Everest’s north face. Overnight Stay in Rongbuk

Day 06: Visit EBC (North Phase) and Drive to Gyanste

We’ll travel to Everest Base Camp early in the morning (5250m/17,220ft.), the foot of the tallest peak in the world. Along the route we catch stunning views of 3 eight-thousander peaks like Shishapangma, Cho Oyu and the magnificent Everest, also known along the Tibetan side as Mt. Chomolongma.

Today, we complete one of the big highlights of our journey, entering Mt. Everest base camp where we get to see the beautiful Rongbuk glacier. We are having a 16 km round trip to the base camp in Everest. We’ve had a lengthy, but beautiful drive back to Gyantse, after spending some quality time here. Overnight stay in Gyanste

Note:  The local government could shut down the road to the Everest base camp on rare occasions due to bad weather or political upheavals for safety reasons and without advance notice.

Day 07: Drive back to Lhasa via Yamdrok Lake

We visit Palchoe monastery, Kumbum Pagoda, Phalkot Monastery and Gyantse Dzong after breakfast which is one of the best-preserved dzongs in Tibet. We travel to Lhasa, following sightseeing. On the route, as well as some fantastic mountain views, we can see massive glaciers tumbling down into the lane. Eventually, with its stunning glaciers including the Karo la glacier, we come across the Karo La Pass (5.045 m) along the roadside. We reach the Khamba La Pass (4,794 m) with a short stop to admire the majesty of the Yamdrok Tso Lake (Turquoise Lake), also known as Yamdrok Yumtso, one of Tibet’s three main holiest lakes, and the stunning Nazin Kang Sang glacier (7,252 m). Overnight in Lhasa

Day 08: Departure

Today our journey in the Himalayas is over! Our agent will bring us on our next journey to the airport or train station.