From the Pacific to the Indian Ocean: China, Tibet and Nepal in 16 Days

After a slow morning in Xining, your guide takes you to the station for the train to Lhasa, about 21 hours across the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. You travel in a sleeper compartment: Qinghai Lake, the grassland and the Kunlun Mountains pass the window, and you sleep on the train.

If you would like to see the whole plateau in daylight, you can add one day and break the ride in Golmud — see our page Xining to Lhasa by train.

Visit the Potala Palace, winter home of the Dalai Lamas (tickets are booked in advance with a fixed entry time). In the afternoon visit the Jokhang Temple, the most sacred temple in Tibet, and walk the Barkhor pilgrim circuit around it.

In the morning visit the Tibet Museum, the best place to understand Tibetan history, art and daily life, and walk next door in the Norbulingka, the summer palace of the Dalai Lamas. In the afternoon watch the monks debate in the courtyard of Sera Monastery.

Take the morning train from Lhasa to Shigatse, about 2 hours on the Lhasa–Shigatse railway. In the afternoon visit Tashilhunpo Monastery, seat of the Panchen Lamas, with its 26-metre statue of the Future Buddha, and walk the pilgrim path around its walls.

Drive west through Lhatse and over the Gyawula Pass, where on a clear day five of the world's highest mountains stand in one row: Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Gyachung Kang and Cho Oyu. Continue to Rongbuk Monastery and Everest Base Camp (5,200 m) for the evening light on the north face.

Watch the sun rise on Everest, then drive on in the direction of Nepal, past Old Tingri, as far as Peigutso Lake. Here the whole Shishapangma range (8,027 m) stands above the lake — the view most travellers only see on the way to the border. Then turn back east by a different road from the one you came on: not over the Gyatso La pass again, but through the Dingjie County area and past Sakya Monastery, with its grey walls and red-and-white striped houses, to Shigatse for the night. A long day on the road.

Why we turn back here: the Gyirong border to Nepal is closed, and the Zhangmu border, though officially open, is not supported for tourists and can close at short notice — even after you have arrived in Tibet. So we never let your trip depend on it: you see the same Himalayan views on the road towards Nepal, and you fly to Kathmandu from Lhasa instead.

Your Tibetan guide takes you to Lhasa Gonggar Airport for the flight to Kathmandu, about 1 hour 30 minutes over the Himalaya — on a clear day, sit on the left side for a view of Everest. Your Nepali guide from our partner in Kathmandu meets you at the airport. In the late afternoon, walk around the great white stupa of Boudhanath.

Drive west to Pokhara (about 6–7 hours), or take the short flight. In the late afternoon walk along Phewa Lake, with the Annapurna range behind the town, or take a boat to the small island temple.

A full day in Chitwan National Park, home of the one-horned rhinoceros and the Bengal tiger: a jeep safari, a canoe ride on the river to look for crocodiles and birds, a walk in the forest with a local naturalist, and a visit to a Tharu village.