Everest-Shishapangma Base Camp (14 nights/15 days)

Itinerary

Day 01: Fly Kathmandu/Lhasa, you will be met by our Chinese or Tibetan guide and transferred to your hotel. When you are unpacked and more accustomed to the thin air, you can take the rest of the afternoon to explore the fabulous market or Barkhor that surrounds the Jokhang.

Day 02: Around 7:30am you head back to the Barkhor and the Jokhang, spiritual center of Tibet and destination of millions of Tibetan Pilgrims. The Jokhang, built in 767AD by Tibet's first Buddhist King, Songtsen Gampo, is the heart of this Buddhist world. You walk the kora or pilgrim route, around the Barkhor with the early morning pilgrims. After the outside kora you enter the temple and walk the nangkhor, or inside of the temple. On the roof of the Jokhang, you can take beautiful pictures of the market and pilgrims below, and the Potala on the hill across the square. From the Jokhang, you will head to the Potala, the the former winter palace of the Dalai Lama, built on the escarpments of Red Hill and rising more than 1000' above the valley floor. You must be sure to enter through the pilgrim entrance, up the long path, rather than through the tourist entrance. Your visit to the Potala, complete, you can have lunch in one of the momo restaurants outside.

After lunch, you will visit the Norbulinka, once named Jewel Park and now People's Park. The Norbulinka was the former summer palace of successive Dalai Lamas from 1755, and suffered extensive damage during the Cultural Revolution. Much has been rebuilt, and it is fascinating to see how the Dalai Lama actually lived. Painted on one of the walls is a picture of the 14th Dalai Lama and his family - the only one still prominent in Tibet. Later in the day, if you are not exhausted, you can visit the Lukhang, set in the middle of a lake. At one time, one would take a boat across the lake. Now the area is a Chinese theme park, and it is fun to see how the people use the area. The temple is one of the gems of Lhasa, and contains artwork related to Tibetan medical practices
Meals : Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Lodging : Lhasa Holiday Inn

Day 03 : You have a long drive west from Lhasa today to Shigatse. In the early days of Communism, some of the monks of Shigatse were said to be in collusion with the security bureau and reported anyone accepting or distributing pictures of the Dalai Lama. They hoped that by cooperating with the Communists, they could save their temple from destruction. Sadly, it did not work completely. Nevertheless, Tashilumpo monastery, the oldest and largest Gelugpa Monastery in Tsang province and home to the Panchen Lama, is lovely, and your kora or pilgrim circuit, will take you past holes for dogs, thought of as "fallen monks," as well as places to earn merit by rubbing our bodies against holy rocks Depending on when you arrive, you may have time to explore the bazaar. At night, you will stay in the small Tenzing Hotel right across from the market and not too far from the monastery.. Bath facilities are somewhat "creative," but there is a lot of ambience.

Day 04 : Your trip today takes you to Dingri, the trekkers gateway to Mount Everest. Here you will meet your Nepali crew. The name of this windblown settlement comes from the sound made by a special black rock, thrown all the way from India to Tibet by an incarnation of the Buddha, when the rock struck the ice near the present site of the town.

Day 05 : During the next five days, you trek from Dingri (14,400') all the way up to Dza Rongphu Monastery at 16350' and Everest Base Camp at 16,900'. Your path takes you past the wind-generator farm in Lungjhang and the town "chang" hall, towards the towering peak of Cho Oyu, through a small goat or "drogpa" camp, up over Lamna La (16,900') with Gyachung Kang and Cho Oyu off to the south, and down to Zommug, at 15,700' the highest permanent settlement in the Everest region. A moonscape of barren hills looking out on Everest and Gayachung Kang that are too high for growing crops, Zommug is a center for animal husbandry and a supply center for yaks used on Everest expeditions. One day south of Zommug, dwarfed by the towering north face of Everest, is Dza Rongphu monastery, reached by either a spectacular high route or an easier low path. Once a flourishing retreat center established about 250-350 years ago, today's Dza Rognphu is much smaller and is built where Ngawang Tenzing Norbu built a Nyingmapa temple in 1901-02.

Day 06 - 09 : On trek.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Lodging: Camping

Day 10 : Everest Base Camp (16,900') and the Rongphu Glacier are approximately 2 hours above the monastery, along a route that passes huts (where hermits once meditated in solitude for from three years to a lifetime), the fast-flowing Dzakaa Chhu, the ruins of the nunnery of Sherab Chholing, and a small-rebuilt lhakhang or prayer house tended by a hermit monk. Just before the terminus of the Rongphu Glacier is Everest Base Camp. Across a creek, and not to be missed, is the ocean of ice that composes the Rongphu Glacier, with views of the Himalayan range that are among the most spectacular ever to be seen in a lifetime.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Lodging: Monastery

Day 11 : Leaving Dza Rongphu for Shishapangma base camp, you drive through Chhosang, Phadruchi, over Pang La, across the Phung Chhu or Arun River, and into Shegar. Tonight you stay in the best available hotel accommodations that Shegar or New Tingri has to offer.

Day 12 : Your destination is the north Shishapangma Base Camp at 16,100'. Shishapangma, (26,397') is the only 8,000-meter peak to lie wholly within Tibet. Its name is a matter of somedispute. The Nepali Hindus call it Gosainthan, the sacred home of the god Shiva. The Tibetans, however, call it everything from "Range or Crest Above the Meadow" to "Meadow of Dead Meat." You take the Lhasa-Kathmandu Highway to a turn leading first to Selung, the largest village in this region and source of some of the finest horses in Tibet. Base camp is another 10 miles from Selung, an elongated series of meadows between the ridge and river and the Yambughangala Glacier.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Lodging: Camping

Day 13 : You spend the day exploring the area on the way to advance base camp. The campsite is one of the most beautiful in all Tibet. In front are the snowcapped Himalayas and around are a series of incredibly blue lakes. If you can cajole the jeep driver, he can take you across the river up to a plateau embankment. Here another 3-4 hour walk will get you to advance camp, with spectacular views of the entire Shishapangma-Peghu Tsho region.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Lodging: Camping or Guest House

Day 14 : On this, your last day in Tibet, you descend to Zangmu or Khasa, some 560 miles from the beginning of our journey in Lhasa. You can only laugh tonight, as you eat a farewell dinner in less than glamorous conditions, described once again by the tour guide as "best available."
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Lodging: Zhangmu Hotel

Day 15 : Today you take the plunge, dropping 15,000' to the lowest point in the Sun Kosi valley. After completing all Chinese customs procedures you either walk or drive, depending on the state of the road, to the Nepal border, cross customs, and continue on to Kathmandu.

Note : Designed itinerary is a sample itinerary intended to give you a general idea of the likely trip schedule. We can further customize the itinerary to suit as your needs and interest.