12 Days Kunming Xining Lhasa Everest Tour by Train

Welcome to Kunming, the beautiful capital city of Yunnan! Your local tour guide and experienced driver will meet you at the Kunming Changshui Airport or train station to take you by private car to your downtown Kunming hotel and help you check in. You will have the rest of this day to relax at your hotel or feel free to ask your local guide for some ideas on where to explore around the city on your own.

Accommodation: Overnight in Kunming

After a nice breakfast at your hotel, we will take you by private car about 90 kilometers (65 miles) outside of the city of Kunming to see one of nature’s miracles at the Shilin Stone Forest. These amazing natural karst stone formations were formed over 270 million years ago by the erosion of limestone that left towers of stone rising up from the ground, thus creating the “stone forest”. We will take you to visit both the Greater Stone Forest – where you can climb up to a pavilion for a panoramic view of the fantastic landscape, and the Lesser Stone Forest, where you can learn about the Yi Minority legend of “Ashima” and what happened when she was forbidden from marrying her true love.

From the magnificent landscape of the Shilin Stone Forest, we will drive back to downtown Kunming to see the 1,200-year old Yuantong Buddhist Temple. This beautiful temple was first built in the late 8th and early 9th centuries with major restorations in the late 15th century and again in 1686 A.D. under Emperor Kangxi, leading to its present configuration with covered corridors, bridges and a grand hall surrounded by water that is unique amongst Buddhist temples in China.

After visiting the ancient temple, we will move on to visit Green Lake Park, a hub of local life in urban Kunming. Local people can be found here practicing tai chi and relaxing amongst the year-round green trees and tranquil waters. During the winter, black-headed gulls migrate here from Siberia, entertaining the locals as they feed them bread that is sold there in the park.

From Green Lake Park, we will take you back to your hotel to rest up for tomorrow’s trip to Dali.

Accommodation: Overnight in Kunming

This morning we will pick you up at your hotel with a private car to take you to the Kunming airport and help you check in for your approximately 2-hour flight to Xining. Upon your arrival in Xining, your local tour guide will greet you to escort you to your private car to transfer you to your downtown Xining hotel. You will have the rest of the day to rest and relax at your hotel, or you can begin to explore the local area on your own.

Accommodation: Overnight in Xining

We will get an early start this morning for the 2-½ hour, 130-kilometer (80 mile) drive to reach the beautiful and massive Qinghai Lake. This lake is the largest lake in China, and it is classified as an alkaline salwater lake. Sitting at an altitude of 3,205 meters (10,515 feet), Qinghai Lake has a surface area of 4,317 square kilometres (1,667 square miles); an average depth of 21 metres (69 feet), and a maximum depth of 25.5 meters (84 feet). The lake is considered to be a holy Tibetan Buddhist site, so you can often see many pilgrims walking along the lakeshore. We will take you to the Erlangjian Scenic Area, where you can walk out on a long pier over the calm waters to enjoy the beauty of Qinghai Lake. Enroute we will pass through some fascinating landscapes of vast grasslands, wide open blue skies, herds of yaks and sheep, and a view of Riyue (Sun & Moon) Mountain so it is an interesting drive getting there and coming back. If you are interested, we can add in some optional sites such as the Dangaer Ancient City or the Jinyintan Prairie along the way.

Due to Qinghai Lake’s location and massive size, it serves as a popular stopover point for many species of migrant birds, particularly on the aptly named Bird Island. The best time to visit for bird watching would be during May and June. Another great time to visit is from late July to early August to see the amazingly beautiful rape flower fields that surround Qinghai Lake.

After visiting the lake, we will drive you to the Xining train station and help you board your overnight train to Lhasa.

Accommodation: Overnight on the train

This morning you will awake to the fantastic scenery along the Tibetan Plateau as you travel onward to Lhasa on board the train. You will pass through the Kekexili Nature Reserve, see the wonderful blue waters of Qinghai – Tibet Plateau lakes, vast grasslands, deserts and the snow-capped mountains of the Himalayan mountain range as you approach Lhasa. Upon your arrival in Lhasa, your local tour guide will greet you and escort you to your private vehicle as we transfer you to your downtown Lhasa hotel. You will have the rest of the evening free to rest, relax and acclimatize yourself to the higher altitude.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

Start your exploration of Lhasa today with a visit to a world-famous landmark - the Potala Palace, widely regarded as one of the most beautiful examples of architecture in the world. Climb up to the palace along zig-zagging stone paths alongside the white and red walls to the top of the palace where you can gain a greater appreciation of the exotic Tibetan-style buildings as well as for a great view of Lhasa's entire urban area. After admiring the sweeping outside views, explore the inner spaces of the Potala Palace to find the stately chapels and learn more about the fascinating history of this special place.

From one historic landmark to another, your next stop will be at the Jokhang Temple, considered as the spiritual heart of Tibetan Buddhism. Every day thousands of pilgrims come from all over Tibet and other places to the temple to worship the Buddha. The Jokhang Temple is also known as the "House of Buddha" because it houses the precious Jowo Rinpoche, a life-sized (1.5 meter/5 feet) image of the Sakyamuni at the age of 12.

The last stop for today's Lhasa exploration is Barkhor Street, the wide, circular street that surrounds the Jokhang Temple. Local residents enjoy walking on the street, completing several circuits around the temple as a daily tradition of pilgrimage. The street also has many small shops selling a wide variety of traditional Tibetan goods, religious items and handicrafts.

After your visit to the Jokhang Temple, we will take you back to your hotel for the evening.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

This morning we will visit the beautiful Norbulingka Palace and Park, the location of the former summer palace of the Dalai Lamas from the 1780s up until 1959. It features the famous Potrang, the private palaces of former Dalai Lamas built in the grandiose style of traditional Tibetan architecture.

After visiting the palaces and park at Norbulingka, we will travel around 5 kilometers to the western outskirts of Lhasa to visit the Drepung Monastery. The word "drepung" in Tibetan language means "prosperity". Since its establishment in 1416, Drepung Monastery has served as one of the most important Buddhist monasteries in Tibet. During its prime, more than 10,000 monks lived and studied in the monastery. Throughout its history, many important and famous Tibetan leaders studied at this monastery, including the Dalai Lamas. Accordingly, Drepung Monastery is also respectfully known as the “Mother School of Dalai Lamas”.

In the afternoon, we will escort you on to another famous monastery in Lhasa - the Sera Monastery. Sera Monastery is famous for its spectacular “Buddhist Debates”. As a daily routine, the monks gather in a courtyard, and debate on the various Buddhist doctrines with exaggerated gestures, which is thought to be helpful in facilitating a better comprehension of the Buddhist philosophy to attain higher levels of study. After enjoying the "Buddhist Debates", we will take you back to your hotel with the rest of the day and evening to relax or explore on your own.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

We will get an early start this morning as we begin the drive from Lhasa to Shigatse through some fantastically beautiful scenery along the way. Driving through the green pastures of Nyangchu Valley, we will travel through the Gampala Pass (elevation 4790 meters) and get a look at the stunning Yamdrok Lake, one of the holiest lakes in Tibet. We will also pass by the Karola Glacier (elevation 4960 meters) as we travel westward to Gyantse. At Gyantse, we will have the opportunity to stop at the Palcho Monastery and the Gyantse Kumbum. A “kumbum” is a multistoried aggregate of chapels in Tibetan Buddhism, and the one in Gyantse is of the largest in all of Tibet. From there we will travel on another hour and a half to reach Shigatse to spend the night.

Accommodation: Overnight in Shigatse

We will get an early start today to visit the Tashilunpo Monastery, which was founded in 1447 by the 1st Dalai Lama The Tashilunpo Monastery is the officlal seat of the Panchen Lama, and as such, it is the largest and most influential Gelug Monastery in Shigatse Prefecture. It contains a giant statue of the Future Buddha, the largest one of its kind in the world, standing 26.2 meters tall and 11.5 meters wide and decorated with precious pearls, turquoise, coral and amber. Before leaving Shigatse, we will need to obtain your Alien Travel Permit, which will allow us to travel on to the Everest Base Camp. We will stop at Lhatse for lunch, and then travel over Tsola Pass (elevation 4600 meters) and Gyatsola Pass (5248 meters). At Gawula Pass (elevation 5180 meters), we will stop for an incredible panoramic view of some of the tallest mountain peaks in the Himalayan mountain range. From there, we will drive on towards the Everest Base Camp. If the weather permits, we should be able to see the golden peak of Mount Everest as the sun sets.

Accommodation: Overnight at Rongphu Guest House

This morning, wake up early to see the incredible sunrise as it shines upon the peak of the world. If we have stayed overnight at the Rongbuk Guesthouse, we’ll drive to the Tibetan Tent Camp (elevation 4900 meters) to enjoy a closer view of Mount Everest. Of course the peak of Mount Everest is covered by snow year-round, so when the sun shines on the peak it looks like a giant white pyramid. This is one of the most famous views of Mount Everest in photographs, and if the day is clear enough you will be able to witness it with your own eyes. On bright days you may also see a wisp of a cloud hanging just above the tip of Mount Everest, which flies eastward in the fast-moving westerly wind, creating an effect just like a flapping flag. This unique effect is known as the “Cloud Flag” and it is spectacular as it changes from surging waves into a thin wisp of smoke, or from something resembling galloping stallions into the mysterious veil of a goddess.

After plenty of time taking in the incredible scenery of Mount Everest, we will drive back to Shigatse.

Accommodation: Overnight in Shigatse

Today we will enjoy the scenery along the Friendship Highway as we make the 6-hour journey back to Lhasa along the Yarlung Tsangpo/Bhramaputra River.

Accommodation: Overnight in Lhasa

Today you will have free time until we meet you in the lobby of your hotel to transfer you to the Lhasa airport or train station for your departing flight or train.

Accommodation: None