Including the Samye Festival
We created Inner Tibet as a bow to our beginnings 27 years ago in a crowded North Face tent up at 16,500 feet in the shadow of Everest. After a whirling warm-up in Shanghai, we fly to Tibet and then drive to the birthplace of the Tibetan nation at Tsedang, visiting the tombs of the early Religious Kings and crossing the Tsangpo—the world’s highest river—to Tibet’s first temple, Samye. Here we join the annual festival that commemorates the great Buddhist proselytizer Padmasambhava, reverently called Guru Rinpoche, or Precious Teacher, and his founding of this temple in the early 700s. Then to Lhasa for a few days in the Holy City’s shrines and monasteries, including the great Potala Palace, ending with an optional half day of rafting. From Lhasa we embark on a dramatic Himalayan drive to the dramatically set monasteries of Reting and Drigung, turquoise waters of Namtso lake, and the base of towering Jomo Gangtse, all during which our deluxe camps enjoy spectacular mountain settings. Finally we visit Gyantse and Shigatse, treasure-houses of art and devotion, before returning to Lhasa. It’s a grand adventure, and at trip’s end we’re confident that our guests will have a deeper understanding of why it is crucial to the world’s spiritual ecology that Tibetan culture be preserved and protected.
We created Inner Tibet as a bow to our beginnings 27 years ago in a crowded North Face tent up at 16,500 feet in the shadow of Everest. After a whirling warm-up in Shanghai, we fly to Tibet and then drive to the birthplace of the Tibetan nation at Tsedang, visiting the tombs of the early Religious Kings and crossing the Tsangpo—the world’s highest river—to Tibet’s first temple, Samye. Here we join the annual festival that commemorates the great Buddhist proselytizer Padmasambhava, reverently called Guru Rinpoche, or Precious Teacher, and his founding of this temple in the early 700s. Then to Lhasa for a few days in the Holy City’s shrines and monasteries, including the great Potala Palace, ending with an optional half day of rafting. From Lhasa we embark on a dramatic Himalayan drive to the dramatically set monasteries of Reting and Drigung, turquoise waters of Namtso lake, and the base of towering Jomo Gangtse, all during which our deluxe camps enjoy spectacular mountain settings. Finally we visit Gyantse and Shigatse, treasure-houses of art and devotion, before returning to Lhasa. It’s a grand adventure, and at trip’s end we’re confident that our guests will have a deeper understanding of why it is crucial to the world’s spiritual ecology that Tibetan culture be preserved and protected.
Days 1 & 2: USA to Shanghai • Day 3: fly to Lhasa, drive to Tsedang • Day 4: Samye Festival • Day 5: exploring the Yarlung Valley, drive to Lhasa • Days 6-8: exploring Lhasa • Day 9: drive to Drigung Valley • Day 10: drive to Reting Monastery • Day 11: drive to Namtso • Day 12: drive to Jomo Gangtse • Day 13: drive to Shigatse • Day 14: drive to Gyantse • Day 15: around Gyantse • Day 16: return to Lhasa • Day 17: fly to Shanghai • Day 18: return to USA.
Inner Tibet - Samye Festival
Trip Details
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18 daysActivity Type:
Touring
Trip Price:
From $3795
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