Straight through the Himalayas

There is nothing planned for today, so you'll have plenty of time to head out on your own and to let the mystical charm of the city of Lhasa sink in. During your stay here on your Himalayas tour, you could try a bit of souvenir shopping at the Barkhor near the Jokhang temple. The religious rituals performed by the pilgrims are fascinating to watch. If you'd rather have a more active day, you could book a tour on the spot to Ganden Monastery. It's located 35km from Lhasa at a dramatic location on top of a cliff and it is home base for the Tibetan Buddhist Gelukpa sect. The monks wear yellow or black caps. During the Ganden ‘Kora’ or tour you’ll see the Kyichu Valley and the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Travel time: 8 hours

On day five of your Himalayas tour you'll head out on a once-in-a-lifetime trip. You'll leave Lhasa behind in the morning and drive to Gyantse, a 260km drive of which only the beginning is over a well-maintained road. During the bumpy ride you'll see Buddhist monasteries, picturesque villages, residential camps against glowing mountain-sides and nomads roaming with their yaks. After a while you'll start to see the first mountain pass, the Kamba-La. The pass (4700m - 82km from Lhasa) has an incredible view of the deep-azure blue Yamdrok-Tso (Tso means lake). This very high-altitude, scorpian shaped lake is one of Tibet's four holy lakes. 

At lunch time you'll stop off at one of the villages along the way; back on the road you'll see the next pass, the 5045m Kora-La. This will be your first encounter of the trip with extremely high mountain peaks and glaciers of approximately 7000m. At the end of the afternoon you'll reach Gyantse (3950m). You'll stay in a simple hotel room with your own private shower and toilet. The hotel is located on the main street, so you're well located if you feel like going for a walk through town. Most people feel the 250m difference in altitude with Lhasa. 

Travel time: 4 hours - 200km

Shigatse, a city of 40,000 inhabitants, is home to the Tashilhunpo Monastery, where a gigantic golden stupa marks the 4th century's Panchen Lama's tomb. This is a holy place and the Gelukpa sect's most important monastery. The colossal 27m statue of Maytreia is said to resemble the future Buddha. To this day, approximately 600 Tibetan monks still live here. You'll visit the monastery with an English-speaking guide. If you feel like getting some exercise afterwards, you can climb the mountain the monastery is built up against. Before reaching the top you'll see the Kora, the pilgrim's path lined with prayer wheels where pilgrims pray their mantras while turning the wheels. 

Next, you'll continue your Himalayas tour onto a beautiful road trip to Sakya. You'll spend the night in a modest hotel and you'll have some time to walk around when you arrive in the late afternoon. The city is quite small and is dominated by the Sakya Gompa, one of Tibet's largest monasteries with unique colours, prayer wheels and chapels. 

Today you'll start out early on the last leg of your Himalayas tour. You'll travel across rolling plains scattered with old monastery ruins to the last two passes on your Tibet trip: the La Lung pass (5142m) and the Tong La pass (5120m). You'll take one last look around for a spectacular view of the Himalayas before leaving the Tibetan plateau. The road slopes down to the border village of Zhangmu (2300m). The road cuts deep into a ravine and runs past vertical rock walls... until all at once, everything turns green and you see several waterfalls in the distance. 

Keep in mind that the border formalities at Zhangmu can take some time to finish. You'll continue driving through a part of no-man's land until you reach the Friendship Bridge where you'll say goodbye to your driver and guide.