www.blackdiamondexpedition.com Enjoy the fascinating culture, sights and [email protected] stories in Tibet BLACK DIAMOND EXPEDITION +977-01-4440476 / 4440534 Explore the Great Wall of China via train to the the Roof of the World Experience the major cities of Xi'an, Lanzhou and Xining, and the Qinghai Plateau Explore the colorful, mysterious and historic holy city of Lhasa Enjoy the fascinating culture, sights and stories Experience the Buddhist learning View the most enchanting monasteries in Tibet Enjoy the incredible views of Yamdrok Lake, a mystical perfect mirror of the sky above see contemporary Tibetan life in the backstreets: pop music, cows, 'cowboys' on motorbikes, kids and monks all mingled in a lively mix of cultures Tibetan Adventure Nepal, Private Day Tour, 17 Days Trip Duration= 17 Days Group Size=1-15 person Accommodation=11 Nights Hotel, 2 Night train,2 Night guest house, 1 Nights Camp Meals=17Breskfast VIEW DATES, PRICES & BOOK YOUR HOLIDAY HERE www.blackdiamondexpedition.com [email protected] BLACK DIAMOND EXPEDITION Overview Tibet adventure is considered the collective form of an adventure to Mt. Kailash, Lhasa & Everest Base Camp is awesome places to explore, place of His Holiness Dalai Lama. You will have an opportunity to sightsee the entire area of Tibet. You will begin the trip by flying from Kathmandu to Lhasa, further ahead after Sightseeing in Lhasa. You will explore Potala Palace, Jhokang Temple, Sera Monastery, Barkhor Market Area in Lhasa. You will have an opportunity to explore view from Lhasa to Gyantse passing via Yamadroke Lake. You will explore Pholkor and Kumbum monastery while moving ahead from Gyantse to Shigatse. There will be an opportunity to visit Panchen Lama’s Tashilhumpu Monastery and Shakya Monastery, world’s highest Rongbuk Monastery. Hike from Rongbuk to Everest Base Camp can be completed either via walk or rent a horse and explore Everest Base Camp Northern Tibetan Side and descend back to Rongbuk from where we further drive to Tingri. You will have an opportunity to sightsee Manasarovar Lake. This trek offers an opportunity to explore the colorful, mysterious and historic holy city of Lhasa. You will enjoy the fascinating culture, sights and stories in Tibet. www.blackdiamondexpedition.com [email protected] BLACK DIAMOND EXPEDITION About Leader You are really fortunate to spend time with our guides who hold strong communication skills. They are great at projecting their voices across a group in a cler and easy to understand manner. They are gifted with what you call to be the great conversationalists with outgoing personalities. We ensure you that you feel open and comfortable talking to whoever accompanies you as your guide. Our guides possess a great experience of almost all the travel and trekking sites of Nepal. They can disseminate their awesome knowledge and experiences to you. They are not only enthusiastic but at the same time are humorous as well to relieve you from the often tiresome walks. We never compromise when it comes to time. Our guides are always punctual and perform things in time. They have keen sense of direction and can easily lead you in whichever route you follow them. Mostly, we assign the local guides who can bring their own knowledge, gain a genuine experience. Tibetan adventure/Itinerary Day 1: Beijing Nimen Hao! Welcome to China. The capital of the most populous country on earth, Beijing is quickly shedding its historical face in favour of modernity. However, there are still plenty of places that give an insight into the nation's ancient past. Your adventure begins with a welcome meeting at 6 pm, where your insurance and next of kin details will be collected. Please look for a note in the hotel lobby or ask the hotel reception where the meeting will take place. Any free time today in Beijing is at your leisure, so you can start your explorations of this vast city. Day 2: Exploring the Great Wall No trip to China would be complete without a visit to the Great Wall. Today you’ll take an early morning visit to one of the best- preserved areas, the Mutianyu section (approximately 2 hours), and featuring guard towers dating back to the Ming dynasty. An incredible piece of engineering, the wall stretches 6,000 km westwards from the mountain ridges north of Beijing. It was originally constructed to protect Chinese empires from the 'barbarians' of the north and even though it failed in this purpose, it is still without a doubt one of the country's most remarkable achievements. It's a 30-minute climb up some steep steps to the wall itself, but it’s well worth the effort. You will need good walking shoes for this. There’s also the option of taking a chair lift or cable car to the top and back if you’re after a more leisurely experience. Head back into the city in the afternoon, then this evening transfer to the Beijing West railway station (one of the biggest and busiest in the world!) to board the train to Lhasa (approximately 45 hours). This first www.blackdiamondexpedition.com [email protected] BLACK DIAMOND EXPEDITION night you'll pass through provincial towns, through Xi'an, and then directly into the mountains, sometimes through tunnels that can last for minutes at a time! Day 3: Train to the Roof of the World The train to Lhasa is one of China's greatest recent engineering feats. It’s the highest railway in the world, traversing some incredible mountainous and remote terrain. The journey takes you through the major cities of Xi'an, Lanzhou and Xining, and across the Qinghai Plateau before arriving in Lhasa. Luxuriate in the feeling of accomplishment without having to do anything – go to bed and wake up 1,000 kilometers away. Stop briefly in Lanzhou, the crossroads of journeys along the Silk Road and the Tibet-Qinghai plateau, and head on past the immense city of Xining. On this second night you’ll climb in altitude and your breath with likely be taken away by the landscape outside the windows – snow-dappled black cliffs and mountain peaks illuminated by the moonlight. Day 4: Train arriving in Lhasa The train will travel through a wide brown grassland complemented by terracotta foothills, with a speckling of grazing yaks, sheep and goats and the occasional punctuation of lakes and streams. This same landscape, only sparsely populated by clusters of brick village houses, treeless and vast, will accompany you nearly all the way to Lhasa, where you’ll arrive sometime after lunch. The colourful and historic holy city of Lhasa is situated in a small valley, and for many years it was a mysterious place, virtually unknown to the outside world. Even the most adventurous and hardy of explorers rarely reached the city without being turned away, either by the treacherous terrain or the fierce warrior monks that protected Tibetan territory from intruders. While now welcoming tourists and much modernized, Lhasa remains an intriguing city with a deeply fascinating culture, sights and stories. Check in to your hotel and begin to get acclimatized with a free night tonight. Day 5: Lhasa: Sightseeing Potala palace/ Jokhang Temple Today you will jump straight into sightseeing of the TAR capital with visits to both the incredible Potala Palace and Jokhang Temple. Potala Palace is the former home of Dalai Lamas that’s perched 130 metres above the city. The palace is divided into two parts, the White Palace (secular and used as offices and the like) and the Red Palace (home to chapels, shrines, and tombs of Dalai Lamas). Although the palace is not freely explored, and a strict viewing schedule must be adhered to, this in no way lessens the impact of seeing what a wonder of the architectural world is truly. As you witness the gold and jewel-filled rooms and take in the views from the roof, you’ll rub shoulders with excited Tibetan pilgrims making offerings at the altars along with plenty of Chinese tourists. For the rest of the day you can deepen your perspective of Lhasa's holy sites with a trip to the Ganden or Drepung Monasteries. Alternatively, perhaps visit the Norbulingka, the Summer Palace of Dalai Lamas. Your leader will help arrange activities for your free time. www.blackdiamondexpedition.com [email protected] BLACK DIAMOND EXPEDITION Day 6: Lhasa: Visiting Sera Monastery Travel the short distance by public bus out to the base of Pubuchok Mountain to visit one of the most important university monasteries in Tibet. The name Sera means wild rose in the Tibetan language, and the monastery is said to have taken the name because when it was built, the hill behind it was covered in wild roses in bloom. The monastery is best known for its dramatic daily debates between monks – as part of their training they come together in a central courtyard to contest the finer points of Buddhist learning. Junior monks sit on the floor while senior monks drill them on their knowledge, dramatically slapping their hand in a signal to respond, which makes the temple much livelier and noisier than many others. After Sera Monastery, you will learn how to make momos (steamed dumplings) in a cooking demonstration and class. Momos are one of the staples of Tibetan cuisine, and these delicious little parcels of meat are often served with a tomato-based chutney dipping sauce or a hot sauce called c-momo. Today we will also visit one of our very own Intrepid Foundation Projects, 'Braille without Borders'. Braille without Borders deliver a preparatory school for blind children, a self-integration project, facilitating attendance at local mainstream schools and home life, and vocational training projects including a farm and a bakery, giving blind people the skills to generate their own income.