✦ Share traditional Tibetan sweet butter tea with locals in a century-old
Lhasa tea house — an experience most tours skip entirely
✦ Enjoy a genuine farm-style lunch at a Tibetan family restaurant on the
shores of Yamdrok Lake — not a tourist buffet
✦ Discover Rituo Monastery, perched on a peninsula above Yamdrok Lake —
one of Tibet's most photogenic and overlooked sacred sites
✦ Watch live monk debate sessions at Sera Monastery alongside actual
resident monks — not a staged performance
✦ Travel with complete peace of mind — Tibet Travel Permit, oxygen supply,
welcome dinner, and a local Tibetan English-speaking guide all included
DAY 1 — LHASA ARRIVAL (3,650m) — ALTITUDE ACCLIMATIZATION
Your local Tibetan guide meets you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport or the train
station and transfers you to your hotel (approx. 70km). This afternoon is
yours to rest and acclimatise — altitude affects everyone differently, and
we never rush Day 1. A welcome dinner with your guide introduces you to
Tibetan flavours and sets the tone for the journey ahead.
DAY 2 — DREPUNG & SERA MONASTERIES — MONASTIC TIBET IN DEPTH
Morning at Drepung Monastery — once the world's largest monastery, housing
over 10,000 monks. Lunch at the monastery's own restaurant. Afternoon at
Sera Monastery for the live monk debate session in the courtyard — your
guide provides real-time context on what the monks are arguing and why it
matters in Tibetan Buddhist tradition.
DAY 3 — POTALA PALACE, JOKHANG TEMPLE & LHASA STREET LIFE
The iconic Potala Palace in the morning — the former winter residence of
the Dalai Lama, rising 13 stories above Lhasa. After lunch, the sacred
Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor Street pilgrimage circuit, where thousands
of devotees circle the temple daily, spinning prayer wheels and murmuring
mantras. The day ends the Tibetan way — at a local sweet tea house, sharing
a pot of butter tea and watching Lhasa life unfold around you.
DAY 4 — YAMDROK LAKE (4,440m) & SAMDING MONASTERY — THE HIDDEN SHORE
Drive over Kambala Pass for your first panoramic view of Yamdrok Lake —
one of Tibet's three sacred lakes, its impossible turquoise colour stretching
to the horizon. Stop at Lurila Viewpoint for photos, then continue a short distance north to visit historic Rituo Monastery, the largest on the lake's northern shore. Wander the prayer halls taking in ancient murals and statues. Meet resident monks and understand their daily lives. Late afternoon begin drive back to Lhasa.
DAY 5 — DEPARTURE FROM LHASA
Your guide transfers you to Lhasa Gonggar Airport or the train station for
your onward journey. Tibet Travel Permit returned as a personal keepsake.
