16 Days Kailash Guge Kingdom Tour

Upon arrival at the Lhasa Gongkar airport / Lhasa train station, our client will warmly welcome our Tibetan local tour guide and the driver with the traditional Tibetan white scarf.
We were driving for about an hour from the airport to Lhasa. Suppose you take the train to Lhasa, just half an hour’s drive from the train station to the hotel.

After check-in at the hotel, the guide will be briefing the tour itineraries for the following day. We always recommend that travellers relax in the hotel on their arrival in Lhasa.

We will begin our visit from Jokhang Temple, one of the most sacred temples in Tibet, built in the 7th century by the 33rd king of Tibet – Songtsen Gampo.

“Jokhang” means the temple of the Buddha built for the enshrinement of the Shakyamuni image, which is believed to be nonexistent before the lifetime of Shakyamuni.

After visiting the temple you can explore the surrounding Barkhor street and spend time walking around the Temple following pilgrims from all over the Tibetan plateau.

In the afternoon, we will visit Sera Monastery, one of three great monasteries of Gelugpa school and attend the debating session of the monks, which is quite popular in Sera.

Today we visit the stunning Potala Palace – the landmark of Lhasa. Potala is the winter palace that was built in the 17th century by the fifth Dalai Lama.

The visit to the Potala Palace provides excellent views of the entire city and more than thousands of rooms, including the Dalai Lama private quarter and chapels.

In the afternoon, we will visit the Norbulingka Palace. The Norbu Lingka Palace is the summer palace of the Dalai Lama, built in the 18th century by the seventh Dalai Lama.

Today is the scenic drive with breathtaking high passes and the holy lake. Driving along the Lhasa River to the Lhasa Airport we cross Kampa-la Pass [4797m] and then Karo-la Pass [5050m], where Mt. Nyanchen Gangsang [7206m] glacier lies near the road.

In the middle, we enjoy the unreal turquoise waters of the holy lake Yamdrok-Yumtso. One of the four sacred lakes in Tibet

Finally, we arrive at Gyantse town, where we visit the considered best Tibetan art paintings in Kumbum Stupa inside Pelkor Chode Monastery. Also, we admire the majestic Gyantse Dzong (fortress) overlooking the valley.

After breakfast, we visit the Gyantse Dzong, and then we drive northwest to reach the second largest city in Tibet Autonomous Region – Shigatse.

At there, we visit Tashilhunpo Monastery, built in the 15th century by the first Dalai Lama. Nowadays is the spiritual seat for the successive Panchen Lamas.

We recommend doing Kora around Tashilhunpo Monastery if times allow. The hike will have an incredible panorama view of the valley and the impressive Dzong (fortress). 

Moreover, the kora around the monastery will help you acclimatise to the altitude and exercise hike before Kailash kora.

It’s a whole day drive from Shigatse to Saga crossing 9passes at an elevation of around 5000m. Most of the roads we drive through nomad areas because we are gaining altitude and incredible great natural mountains and rivers from western Tibet along the way.

Driving along the Yarlung Tsangpo River (Brahmaputra) and the Himalayan chain continues over the 5100m high pass Mayum La to the holy lake Manasarovar.

Manasarovar is one of the sacred lakes where the Hindu pilgrims usually take depth in the water before the Kailash kora because it is said that would purify the sins after depth in the lake.

Crossing Mayum La pass, you will see for the first time – The summit pyramid of Mt. Kailash after the long drive from Lhasa.

Today we have almost half a day of free time at Lake Manasarovar for exploring around the Chiu Monastery and enjoying the view of Lake Manasarovar and Mount Kailash.

Just a 30-minute hike up to the Chiu monastery, where the master Padmasambhava meditated for 7 days and 7nights in the 8th century, is impossible to miss because this hike is ideal preparation for the strenuous Kailash Kora exceeding the 5627m high Dolma La pass.

After lunch, we drive about an hour to Darchen and start to prepare for the big day.

The highlight of the Kailash Guge Kingdom tour is three days of conversion (52km) of the sacred Mt. Kailash.

The trek starts today, and 8 km after leaving the Darchen, we reach the spot Tarpoche, the giant flag pole in honour of Buddha at the entrance to Kora where the potters and Yaks were waiting for the guests too.

The walk for today is easy as it ascends to the altitude of 4800m – Dirapuk Monastery. From there, we have the best and most beautiful stunning view of the north face of Mt. Kailash.

Today we set out from Dirapuk monastery early morning to reach the top of the Dolma La pass before sunrise, 6km ascending to the Dolma La pass and a decent 4km is the most challenging part of the whole trek.

After that, the trek route is more or less flat and down for 10km to reach Zutrulpuk Monastery, the cave where the Milarepa reside.

After breakfast, we visit the Zutrulpuk monastery – the cave of wonders where the Yogi Milarepa once meditated. The distance is only 12km to Darchen and is the easiest part of the trek.

Having lunch in Darchen and driving to Tholing through a long zigzag road down and up incredibly eroded gorges and gullies, you can see the capital of the ancient kingdom of Guge below on the valley floor.

From various vantage points on the descent into Toling town, some spectacular views of canyons and dunes in the upper Sutlej Valley are stunning. In addition, the vast sweep of the Himalayas is discernible, as the range turns northwest from Nepal and along the Indian border as far as Ladakh and Kashmir spanning several hundred kilometres.

Moreover, ruins of temples and caves of the ancient Guge kingdom still breathing with exquisite murals and decorative motifs dating back more than 1000 years. Overnight at Tada.

There are some groups not going to Tholing and directly back to Lhasa. Then the tour will be 14 day Kailash Tour.

After breakfast, we will drive just 20km west from the town to visit the Guge Kingdom – the lost kingdom of Tibet in the western part of Tibet.

Then drive back to town and afternoon will visit the Tholing Monastery – which was built in 997 AD by Yeshe-O, the second King of the Guge Kingdom.

After Breakfast, we will dive back to Saga through Kailash and Manasarovar on the way.

Drive the same route back to Shigatse.

Today we will drive 270km from Shigatse to Lhasa along the Brahmaputra river. You will reach Lhasa in the afternoon, and the rest of the time is your own free time.

You can walk around the city by buying some souvenirs for your families and friends.

Our Kailash Guge Kingdom tour officially ends today. So have a safe journey after that.