| Cost From: | $4595 |
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| Length: | 16 days |
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| Activity: | Hiking / Trekking, Cultural Adventures |
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| Difficulty: |
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This was truly the experience of a lifetime—a great trip in an exotic and magical place.Carl Tuerk
By adding trips to your “Wish List” (above), you can easily make a side-by-side detailed comparison of as many trips as you like.
On this journey to the Roof of the World, we delve deep into the heart of Tibet’s mystical culture. We discover its magic in such places as the renowned monastery of Samye and Lhasa’s lively Barkhor Bazaar, where we mingle among pilgrims and swashbuckling Khampa traders. Crossing the soaring Tibetan Plateau, we visit striking fortress-monasteries where flickering yak-butter lamps illuminate ancient Buddhist frescoes, then reach the foot of Everest, where the dazzling glaciers of the world’s highest peak seem almost within arm’s reach. At journey’s end, we cross the spine of the Himalaya for a spectacular 10,000-foot descent into the lush greenery of Nepal and the temples and shrines of Kathmandu, its exotic capital city.
$4595 (11-15 members)
$4995 (6-10 members)
Single supplement: $595
Internal airfare: $305 (subject to change)
Tiger Tops: Royal Chitwan National Park Extension from: $235
Prices are for 2010 dates
May 25-Jun 9, 2010 Devendra Basnet
Aug 9-24, 2010 Steve Webster
Sep 24-Oct 9, 2010
Reading list, click here.
In Lhasa (11,830'), we join the pilgrims who gather at the candle-lit altars of the Jokhang, Tibet’s most sacred temple, and walk in the Barkhor, a pilgrimage circuit that encircles the Jokhang. We also explore the majestic Potala Palace and make a full day’s excursion to sprawling Ganden (13,700'), a stunning monastic city where His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, studied as a youth.
In the remote Yarlung Valley, cradle of Tibetan civilization, we explore 8th century Samye, Tibet’s first Buddhist monastery, built in the shape of a mandala. We head further to the historic outpost of Gyantse, crossing two high passes and visiting Yamdrok Lake (“Jade Lake”), one of the three largest in Tibet. We continue to Shigatse, Tibet’s second city, where gold-topped Tashilumpho, one of Tibet’s most vibrant monasteries, sprawls across the foot of Nizer Ri Mountain.
After visiting the spectacularly situated Dza Rongphu Monastery (16,500'), acclaimed as the highest monastery in the world, we head to Everest Base Camp for stunning views of the sheer North Face of the world’s highest peak. The Rongbuk Glacier is an impressive frozen river of ice, and panoramas of the glacier with Everest as a backdrop are some of the most dramatic in all the Himalaya.
We head up and over the Lalung La (16,600'), where Himalayan peaks loom in every direction. We feast our eyes one last time, enjoying particularly fine views of massive Shishapangma (26,397'), the planet’s 13th highest peak, just 50 miles north of Kathmandu as the crow flies. Our two-day descent from the roof of the world brings us into the subtropical realm of Nepal and lively Kathmandu. Depart on Day 16.
This is the Itinerary-at-a-Glance. For the complete trip description, Download Full Trip Brochure
If you would like to extend your adventure, we offer the following option:
