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Travel Across the Tibetan Plateau; Drive Past Everest; Explore the Ancient City of Lhasa, Sacred Buddhist City; Fly Over the Top of Everest; All In Just 12 Days
Full Service Cost: $2450, £1400, €2050.
We provide generous discounts for groups of two or more.
4 April to 15 April, and 9 May to 20 May, 2005, and 2006 (12 Days)
A Tibetan farmer brings his goods to market on the road near Shigatse. (Photo D.L. Mazur) |
A shepherd girl near Tingri. Hanging around in town, herding sheep, bringing her kids to the local school. (Photo: J. Otto) |
Tibetan students at the Chun Zom School. (Photo: D.L. Mazur) |
Leader: Daniel Mazur, trekking throughout Tibet since 1986. Climber-leader-organizer of Everest, K2, and 12 "eight-thousand-metre-peaks".
Interested? Please contact us: HimalayaTrek@earthlink.net
* Our “full-service” trek (Cost: $2450, £1450, €2150) includes:
| 1. | Leader: Daniel Mazur, trekking in Tibet since 1986. Climber-leader-organizer of Everest, K2, and 12 "8000-metre-peaks". |
| 2. | Organizer: Jon Christian Otto, fluent Chinese speaker, Tibet and China Expert, with 10 years Himalayan trekking and climbing experience. |
| 3. | Tibetan-English speaking guides and tours for the group (we are also able to provide Tibetan French and German speakers). |
| 4. | Licensed transport by bus to Lhasa from Kathmandu, for you and your bags, including accommodation and meals in Tibet. |
| 5. | Flight from Lhasa to Kathmandu, across the Himalaya, with views of Everest, for you and 23 kilos of your luggage. |
| 6. | Three hot meals per day throughout the journey. Shared sleeping accommodations in Tibet. |
Leadership: During this full-service expedition, April members will benefit from the leadership (up to Tingri) provided by Daniel Mazur, trekking in Tibet since 1986 and climber-leader-organizer of Everest, K2, and 12 "eight-thousand-metre-peaks". He is a relaxed, friendly and well organized person, and a highly-skilled professional with 25 years experience in helping people explore the Himalaya, with the highest attention to detail, comfort, and safety. For more about Dan, please "click" on the Leadership link above. May members will be conducted solely by professional Tibetan guides and tour leaders.
Organization: Your expedition is organized by Jon Christian Otto, fluent Chinese speaker, Tibet and China expert with ten years experience in Tibetan Himalayan trekking and exploration and climbing. Jon is an excellent communicator, an international diplomat, extremely well organized, with superb attention to each and every detail. For more about Jon, please "click" on the Leadership link above.
Tibetan-English Speaking Guides and Tours for the Group (we are also able to provide Tibetan French and German speakers). Our trained guides will explain everything in extensive and historical/geographical detail to you, as they lead you on tours of famous historic sites and explain the goings-on as you drive through villages, past Everest, and through the Tibetan plateau. You will be responsible for paying your own admissions fees.
Professional Drivers and Licensed Tourist Transport: All of our vehicles in Tibet are licensed by the Tibetan Government and operated by trained Tibetans at the wheel. In Nepal we use government licensed drivers and transport as well.
Flight: The cost of your tour includes a flight from Lhasa to Kathmandu over the top of Mt. Everest, for you and 23 kilos of your baggage. You will be flying in a jumbo-jet, and lunch is served along the way. This is probably one of the most spectacular flights you will ever take, with incredible views of Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho-Oyu, Kangchenjunga and even Shishapangma, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, and Manaslu.
Our trip to Lhasa ends with a spectacular jumbo-jet flight directly over Mt. Everest. (Photo: J. Otto)
Safety: Our overland tour will be accompanied by an extensive medical kit, and there are doctors, health clinics and hospitals enroute, should you require special attention.
Communications: During our expedition, we regularly update several websites, such as EverestNews.com with the progress of our expedition and our team members. In this way, your loved ones and friends, colleagues, and sponsors can stay tuned to how you are progressing on your way up to and back down from the summit. In many villages along the highway, and in Kathmandu, Shigatse, and Lhasa, it is now possible to find an internet cafe where you can check your email and stay in touch with loved ones at home. In addition, most villages and all cities have "ISD-telephones" where you may ring any international number.
Cooks and Food: On the road we eat in the best quality local restaurants possible. In villages and cities, we eat in the hotel restaurants, or dine in one of the many cafes and restaurants. Food is freshly prepared, with your choice of fresh vegetables, potatoes, rice, bread, eggs, and meats.
The Happy Tea Shop serves hearty meals, freshly prepared. (Photo D.L. Mazur)
Personal Equipment: We ask that you bring your own warm clothing and sleeping bag (in the big cities, you wont need a sleeping bag, but in the small village inns there may be a lack of freshly pressed linen due to a water shortage). Please see the above EQUIPMENT link, to study what is needed.
Team Member Experience: No experience is necessary for this overland trip, but it helps if you are an adventurous and fun-loving traveler. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, members need to join with a spirit of friendship, teamwork and cooperation, and be ready to work with the group and be a good "team-player".
Fitness and Health: To participate in this expedition you must be in good health. Prior to joining our group, please see your doctor and obtain the necessary permission and advice, as well as medications for travel in extremes of altitude, and also for exotic locales. Note: You can purchase all necessary medicines inexpensively with no doctor's prescription in Kathmandu. We look forward to exploring Tibet together with you!
| Introduction Welcome to our Tibet overland tour. You will have a chance to enjoy the Nepalese capital of Kathmandu for a few days, then board our bus and ascend to the Tibetan plateau. After several days of exploring the Tibetan plateau, and drinking in the fabulous views of Everest and other high Himalaya, you reach Lhasa, ancient capital city of Tibet. You will spend day wandering the city getting to know this medieval centre of Buddhist culture. Then, you board the jumbo-jet flight and head back over the Himalaya, flying directly above Mt. Everest. Upon returning to Kathmandu, you have a final day to explore, rest, shop, and savour the sights. A very unique tour at an excellent value in a short amount of time. Please take a moment to scroll through this page to read the detailed description, and view the itinerary, as well as other information. When you are ready to sign up, please go to SummitClimb.com |
Detailed Description
Our trip begins in the ancient and colorful city of Kathmandu, and our staff will personally meet your flight at Tribhuvan airport. We stay in a comfortable, simple, clean hotel, and sample some of the tasty Nepalese, Tibetan and Western-Style cuisine. During our 3 days in Kathmandu, there is lots to see and do, while we await the processing of our Chinese visas. We shall finalize our arrangements, and take some time out for trinket hunting, with planned visits to explore the 17th century splendors of the Monkey Temple, the Durbar Square and old Kings Palace, as well as the ancient city of Patan.
After obtaining our Chinese visas, early in the morning we set out in our bus for the last Nepal town of Kodari at 1,770 meters. If you are concerned about the altitude and brought Diamox (acetylzolamide), this might be the time to begin taking it. We clear Nepalese customs and immigration, then hire local porters to carry our bags across the Bota Kosi River on the Friendship Bridge, to Zhangmu, the gateway town in Tibet. Upon entering Tibet, the clocks immediately go forward by 2 ¼ hours. After clearing Tibetan customs and immigration, our Chinese bus takes us up the windy road through the rolling hills to Nyalam town at 3,750 meters, and our basic "hotel". We will rest here for two nights, and try to acclimate, perhpoas taking a stroll around the village and onto the local hills during our "rest-day". The smaller towns in Tibet are generally simple and rustic places, and this one is no exception. The topography here is quite interesting in that we are perched in the transitional zone where the Tibetan plateau rams into the Himalaya, then drops into the forested valleys and jungles of Nepal, and finally out into the Gangetic plain of the Terai and India. In the morning we continue our bus-ascent into the Tibetan plateau, to the town of Tingri at 4,342 meters. There are superb views of Shishapangma, Cho-Oyu, and Everest as we drive into Tingri. The town itself is a very basic frontier one-street hamlet surrounded by the tents of nomadic Tibetans. About ½ of all ethnic Tibetans living in Tibet are nomadic or semi-nomadic. Then, after lots of photos of Everest, we carry on to Shigatse at 3650 metres, Tibet's second largest city.
From Tingri (4,390 meters) its possible to see four of the highest peaks in the world, including Mt. Everest. (Photo D.L. Mazur)
In Shigatse, we will have a look around and try to visit the 15th century Tashilunpo Monastery, the largest active monastic institution in Tibet. Monks in maroon robes seem to be everywhere, going about their daily chores, praying, and practicing ceremonial music performances.
The Tashilunpo Monastery in Shigatse, where more than 700 monks live and worship in the Buddhist religion. (Photo: J. Otto) |
In the morning, we drive through beautiful pastures and wheat fields, to Tibet's capital city of Lhasa. The road winds along the massive Brahmaputra River, past traditional warren-like Tibetan farm towns.
A colorful parade and festivities could add to our enjoyment of Lhasa. (Photo: D.L. Mazur) |
This is our 17th visit to Lhasa since 1986, when the city was briefly opened to individual travelers for a few months, then quickly closed again. At 3,650 meters of elevation, Lhasa was established around 600 AD on the banks of the Brahmaputra River. The heart of the city is centered around the Jokhang Temple, the most sacred building in all of Tibet.
Buddhist pilgrims from Amdo region circumambulating the Jokhang Temple in the Barkhor market. Photo: J. Otto.
Our comfortable, simple, clean, hotel is just near the Jokhang palace and the famous Barkhor Market, where you can shop for exotic handicrafts and religious art from all across Tibet, China, and Buddhist India.
We will have a chance to dine very well at our hotel. Photo: D. L. Mazur
We will have a good wander through the streets of Lhasa, and take a refreshing walk through the fabulously massive Potala Palace.
The Potala Palace, probably the most famous building in Lhasa. Photo J.C. Otto.
Built on a hill in 1645, using the remains of older palaces and fortresses, the Potala has untold dark hallways, with steep narrow stairways, and rooms filled with more gold then you will probably ever see anywhere else.
After our day in Lhasa, we take a 1 hour flight in a jet, exactly over Mt. Everest and the spine of the Himalaya, to be reunited with our friends in Kathmandu. In the past, we have had some fabulous views out of the plane windows during this flight. In Kathmandu, we have a day to relax, celebrate, tour the valley, write postcards, and do a bit more shopping, before heading home. Thanks for joining in!
SUGGESTED DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY FOR TIBET OVERLAND TOUR
| APRIL TOUR | ||
| 1. | 4 April, 2004 | (Sunday) Arrive Kathmandu (1,300 meters). |
| 2. | 5 April | In Kathmandu - Bring Passport to Chinese Embassy, for Visa. Logistics, training, purchasing, packing, training, visit temples, city tour, shopping. Hotel and meals at members minimal cost. |
| 3. | 6 April | In Kathmandu - while visa is being processed, logistics, training purchasing, packing, training, visit temples, city tour, shopping. Hotel. |
| 4. | 7 April | In Kathmandu - Pick up passport from Chinese Embassy. Logistics, training, purchasing, packing, training, visit temples, city tour, shopping. Hotel. |
| 5. | 8 April | Bus to Tibet; drive to Nyalam (3,750 meters). Hotel and meals at organizer's expense. |
| 6. | 9 April | Rest and acclimatise in Nyalam (3,750 meters). Explore around the village. Hotel. |
| 7. | 10 April | Bus past Mount Everest, take photos and then drive to Shigatse (3,650 meters). Hotel, explore this ancient city. |
| 8. | 11 April | Bus to Lhasa, Explore this ancient city. Hotel. |
| 9. | 12 April | All day touring around Lhasa. Hotel. |
| 10. | 13 April | (Tuesday) Early morning flight to Kathmandu. |
| 11. | 14 April | Final day in Kathmandu. Hotel at your expense. |
| 12. | 15 April | Fly back to your home country. |
| MAY TOUR | ||
| 1. | 9 May, 2004 | (Sunday) Arrive Kathmandu (1,300 meters). |
| 2. | 10 May | In Kathmandu - Bring Passport to Chinese Embassy, for Visa. Logistics, training, purchasing, packing, training, visit temples, city tour, shopping. Hotel and meals at members minimal cost. |
| 3. | 11 May | In Kathmandu - while visa is being processed, logistics, training purchasing, packing, training, visit temples, city tour, shopping. Hotel. |
| 4. | 12 May | In Kathmandu - Pick up passport from Chinese Embassy. Logistics, training, purchasing, packing, training, visit temples, city tour, shopping. Hotel. |
| 5. | 13 May | Bus to Tibet; drive to Nyalam (3,750 meters). Hotel and meals at organizer's expense. |
| 6. | 14 May | Rest and acclimatise in Nyalam (3,750 meters). Explore around the village. Hotel. |
| 7. | 15 May | Bus past Mount Everest, take photos and then drive to Shigatse (3,650 meters). Hotel, explore this ancient city. |
| 8. | 16 May | Bus to Lhasa, Explore this ancient city. Hotel. |
| 9. | 17 May | All day touring around Lhasa. Hotel. |
| 10. | 18 May | (Tuesday) Early morning flight to Kathmandu. |
| 11. | 19 May | Final day in Kathmandu. Hotel at your expense. |
| 12. | 20 May | Fly back to your home country. |
Interested? Please contact us: HimalayaTrek@earthlink.net
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