It’s a famous story: The death of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1933
and the traditional search for his reincarnation. Oracles are
consulted, auguries divined. And the new Regent, the Reting Rimpoche,
journeys with high-ranking lamas to the sacred divination
lake, Lhamo Lhatso, “the foremost of Tibet’s visionary lakes,” John
Avedon writes in In Exile from the Land of Snows. “The lake lay at
17,000 feet in a basin surrounded by massive peaks. . . . Alone,
Reting Rimpoche witnessed a remarkable sight. On staring at the
clear alpine waters . . . he [saw an] image of a great three-storied
monastery, capped by gold and jade rooftops. A white road led to
a house before a small hill . . . and a small boy [stood] in the yard.”
To make a long and exciting story short, that small boy, Lhamo
Dhondrub by name, the 14th Dalai Lama by incarnation, was later
found in eastern Tibet living in a house by a small hill near the
great, three-storied, gold- and jade-roofed Kumbum Monastery.
After a few days in Lhasa, we head east to the old Valley of the Kings and Tibet’s first monastery, Samye, then begin our four-day trek into massive, rarely visited uplands to the sacred lake, following in the footsteps of countless vision seekers. “In the depths of its waters,” writes Thubten Jigme Norbu, the Dalai Lama’s brother, “can be seen wonderful sights.” Leaving the lake, we continue east, into the unexpected forests of Bayi and Lunang, near the Great Bend of the Tsangpo, and end with a flight from Nyingtri to Shanghai, about as metaphysically far from that powerful little lake as the human mind can fathom.
After a few days in Lhasa, we head east to the old Valley of the Kings and Tibet’s first monastery, Samye, then begin our four-day trek into massive, rarely visited uplands to the sacred lake, following in the footsteps of countless vision seekers. “In the depths of its waters,” writes Thubten Jigme Norbu, the Dalai Lama’s brother, “can be seen wonderful sights.” Leaving the lake, we continue east, into the unexpected forests of Bayi and Lunang, near the Great Bend of the Tsangpo, and end with a flight from Nyingtri to Shanghai, about as metaphysically far from that powerful little lake as the human mind can fathom.
Days 1 & 2: USA to Shanghai •
Day 3: fly to Lhasa •
Days 4 & 5: Lhasa •
Day 6: drive to Tsedang via Samye •
Day 7: drive to Olkar, begin trek •
Days 8-10: on trek to the holy lake •
Days 11 & 12: drive to Bayi via Dakia and Lamalina gompas •
Day 13: day trip to Lunang •
Day 14: fly from Nyingtri to Shanghai •
Day 15: return to USA.
Trekking to Lhamo Lhatso, the Visionary Lake
Trip Details
- There are currently no departures for this trip
15 daysActivity Type:
Trekking
Trip Price:
From $3295
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