Discover Tibet

Dubbed the ‘Forbidden City’ during the 19th century, Lhasa has been the spiritual and political capital of Tibet since the Fifth Dalai Lama moved here in 1642. Protracted isolation from the rest of the world meant the arcane way of life led by its kings, clergy and citizens remained largely unaltered until the Chinese cultural revolution of the 1960s. In more recent times, mass migration from Han China has had a major impact. However, plenty of old-world Tibetan atmosphere survives – as you are about to discover!

Stacked up the sides of Marpo Ri Hill, the various halls and apartments of the Potala Palace are interconnected by long flights of steps. Savour the views across the mountains and plains around Lhasa – a landscape of almost surreal grandeur. After Potala Palace, you’ll explore the atmospheric old town, which is busy with pilgrims year round, the majority of them bound for the Jokhang Temple – Tibet’s holiest shrine. Around the sacred precinct runs a bustling belt of shops known as Barkhor Street, where you’ll encounter people from across the Tibetan Plateau, some of whom will have travelled huge distances to get here.

The Norbulingka gardens enclose the former summer palace of the Dalai Lamas. It’s a lovely place to savour the morning sunshine before you head to the outskirts of Lhasa to visit one of the three greatest monasteries in Tibet. Although badly damaged by Chinese bombing in the 1950s, Sera has since been restored to its former glory. The main prayer hall, or Tsokchen, is the focus of intense ritual activity throughout the day, as is Drepung monastery, which you’ll visit next at a spectacular site up a valley overlooking the city. In the evening, enjoy a performance of Tibetan folk music and dance back at your hotel.

Seat of Tibet’s ancient emperors, Tsetang, on the Tsongpo (Brahmaputra) River 113 miles (183km) southeast of Lhasa, is the region’s fourth city and most convenient base for exploring the spectacular valleys to its south, where a number of ancient monasteries reside amidst a landscape of surreal grandeur. Foremost among them is Yumbalakhang, which surveys a sublime spread of cloud-swept peaks from its rock perch above the Yarlung Valley. A Buddhist shrine has stood on this spot for 2,000 years, making it the oldest temple in Tibet. The original was destroyed by the Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution, but its replacement is a faithful replica and one of the most marvellous sights in the Himalayas.

Dating from the 8th century, Samye is reputedly the oldest Buddhist monastery in Tibet and one that enjoys a particularly spectacular setting, amid soaring, barren mountains and dunes splashed with occasional patches of green barley fields. A circular wall encloses the complex and is approached by crossing the river in a flat-bottomed ferry. The finest view of the complex is to be had from the summit of nearby Hepo Ri, a hillock that features on a ritual circuit (‘Kora’) following the ridges and cliffs behind Samye. You TransIndus guide will be happy to accompany on the route should you wish to join the Tibetan pilgrims on their sacred circuit.

The day’s journey skirts the vast, turquoise expanse of Yamdrok Lane, flanked by dramatic snow peaks and ice fields, and then scales the Gampa La Pass (4,790m), from where you are able to see the summit of Nyenchen Khangsar (7,191m), this region’s highest mountain. The road also runs close to the foot of the Karo La Glacier before dropping down into Gyantse County. On arrival in Gyantse, Tibet’s third city, you can have supper in your hotel and enjoy a well-earned rest after today’s long, but memorable road trip.

Shigatse, Tibet’s second city, is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, a political and spiritual rival to the Dalai Lama whom the Chinese authorities have long promoted as a more compliant alternative to the exiled leader. Pilgrims pour through the town to worship at the stately Tashilunpo Monastery at its western end, which holds some of the most sumptuous chapels and Buddhist art outside Lhasa. Time permitting, in the late afternoon after checking in to your hotel, your guide will be able to lead you along the 2-mile Lingkhor circuit of Tashilunpo.

Centrepiece of Tashilunpo is a colossal statue of Maitreya, the Buddha to come, clad with 275kg of solid gold – a miraculous survivor of the Cultural Revolution’s purges, when many of the monasteries ancient treasures were burned or thrown into the river by the Red Guard. Most of the afternoon will be spent on the road, though on arrival at Shegar you may wish to visit another small monastery, where porters on expeditions to Everest traditionally paused during treks to the foot of the mountain.

Rongbuk, where you’ll be spending the night, is a truly extraordinary place – not merely the world’s highest monastery (at an altitude of 5,100m) but also the only one offering uninterrupted views of Everest’s summit. You can, as Michael Palin did during the filming of his series ‘Himalaya’, literally lie in bed and gaze at the moonlit peak, first scaled by Hilary and Tenzing in 1953. A minibus will drive you the remaining few miles from Rongbuk to Everest Base Camp for a magnificent front-row view of the mountain before returning to Rongbuk for an early night.