Lhasa Kathmandu Bicycle Tour
This bicycle tour provides an opportunity to explore the beautiful landscapes, rugged beauty, open skies, glittering peaks, scenes of religious devotion, panoramic view of various famous palaces and artistic monasteries, lots of villages in the mysterious country Tibet. We’ll also be able to enjoy and closely study the religion, culture and living style of Tibetan people that we often miss in the overland drive.
Throughout the tour we’ll be following the classic route and for emergency and other support we’ll have other vehicles. In addition to that we’ll also have a Sherpa team which will help us in camping. Due to the high altitude over 5000m, the hard packed roads, the cold climate and the remote route, the cycling will somehow be challenging. However we’ll be providing sufficient time for rest and for adjusting our body to the environmental condition. The faint hearted ones are advised not to participate in this trip.
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Day 01: Arrive at Kathmandu As soon as your arrival to the airport, you’ll be greeted with a hospitable meeting. Upon arrival, our representative will explain all the details of the upcoming journey. A suitable hotel will be arranged for your comfortable accommodation.
Day 02: Visa Processing and Kathmandu Valley Sightseeing Today we’ll be working on the visa processing. Having sufficient time and being in the capital city, we expect that you would like sightseeing the famous world heritage sites in Kathmandu valley which includes Kathmandu Durbar square, Swayambhunath Temple, Boudhanath Stupa, Pashupatinath Temple and Budhanilkantha Temple. After visiting to the sites we’ll return back to the hotel.
Day 03: Fly to Gongar Airport and drive to Lhasa (3660m) In the early morning you’ll be transferred to the international airport and you’ll be having a flight to Gongar. This one hour flight takes you right across the main Himalayan range. After this stunning flight we’ll be meeting our Tibetan guide. To his reference we’ll drive further 2-hour by Land Cruiser to Lhasa. We’ll take you to a comfortable hotel for rest. It is advised to take rest for the day due to Lhasa's high altitude.
Day 04: Sightseeing in Lhasa Today we will be visiting several monasteries in Lhasa with the company of a guide and interpreter. We’ll be visiting one of the best-preserved monasteries in Tibet, the Sera Monastery. Within its whitewashed walls and golden roofs, several hundred monks live and study. Afterwards, we'll be visiting the Norbulingka, known as the summer palace of the Dalai Lama. Then we shall go for Jokhang Temple which is possibly the most sacred shrine in Tibet. Surrounding the Jokhang is the Barkor - a maze of narrow cobbled streets that is the central market of Lhasa. In this way today’s sightseeing comes to an end and we return back to the hotel for the rest.
Day 05: Sightseeing continues in Lhasa As there are still lots of things to be explored, in the very morning we shall be visiting Potala Palace, a spectacular building which dominates the city of Lhasa. After lunch, we’ll be visiting the Drepung Monastery, which with a population of around 10,000 monks was once the largest monastery in the world. The monastery is still much of interest here as it is among the few structures that survived the Cultural Revolution without substantial damage. After exploring these two amazing sites we’ll be back to our hotel.
Day 06: Bike Tour Starts 80 km This day will mark as the beginning of our biking adventure. Along the Friendship Highway and across the plateau our journey will head out towards Everest. We’ll be cycling ahead leaving Lhasa along the Tsangpo River to foot of the Kamba Pass (3700 m). After we arrive the camp we’ll be getting the tents and facilities ready. We’ll spend the nighted in the tented camps.
Day 07: Kamba Pass 55 km Kamba pass is going to be our first mountain pass. We will be making a steep uphill climb along a tar road with several bends that would reach a summit (4794 m). After we descend down the hill we’ll be continuing alongside Lake Yamdrok. A camp will be set at the far side of the Lake. Tented camp would serve us for accommodation.
Day 08: Karo Pass 54 km Today we’ll be cycling along the Friendship highway that soon turns out to a gravel roadway. Leaving the beautiful lake behind, we move through a small valley and reach up to the foot of the Karo Pass (4750m). Here we shall prepare our tented village for the night.
Day 09: To Gyantse This day we’ll get up early so that we could climb the high Karo Pass (5010m). This can be one of the significant days on the tour as we can see glaciers stretching down to 6000m and beautiful lakes on our way to Gyantse. After so much of cycling, the overwhelming views of beautiful scenery can be rewarding. We’ll be getting a suitable hotel for accommodation.
Day 10: Shigatse 94 km In Gyantse, we definitely won't be missing the two popular sites : Gyantse Dzong and Gyantse Kumbum. Gyantse Dzong is a large gold-domed stupa with various small chapels and a collection of Tibetan Buddhist paintings. Soon we will head towards Shigatse. The highway is tarred and flat which will make it easier to ride. In the evening we’ll reach Shigatse (3860m) and find a suitable hotel to stay overnight.
Day 11: Gyachung Monastery 75 km We will be leaving Shigatse and then cross two small passes, riding pass several small Tibetan villages. On the way we’ll also be passing the isolated Gyachung Monastery. For the night we’ll set up a camp again.
Day 12: Lhatse 95 km We will pass through beautiful valleys before a long route begins that takes us over the Tso-La Pass (4520m). After having our lunch we will be heading towards Lhatse, passing the hot springs. Tented camps will be set up about 10km outside the town for the accommodation.
Day 13: Shegar 75 km Today we’ll be able to view the amazing canyon of the 5220m high Gyatso-La and also the first view of Mount Everest if the weather is clear. After riding 40 km along grassy plains, the town of Shegar awaits for us. It is a popular place to rest for anyone heading to the Everest region. We may stay at the tented camp or find a guesthouse for accommodation.
Day 14: Pang Pass 67 km We’ll be heading on towards the world's highest peak, Everest. Before we reach the summit of the Pang Pass (5150m) we’ll face 20km of uphill turns. For the efforts we’ll be rewarded with some of the most magnificent views of Everest and other peaks around. After having lunch we’ll be enjoying the spectacular views of Makalu (8463m), Shishapangma (8012m), Cho Oyu (8210m), Lhotse (8516m) and several other breathtaking peaks. Then we will descend 20 km to the Rongbuk Valley (4200m). This night also, we are staying at the tented camp.
Day 15 -16: Rongbuk Monastery 35 km These days will be the most wonderful days of our trip as we’ll be excited about the approach of Everest Base Camp. We’ll be cycling along a bumpy road that goes up turning through the Rongbuk valley until the Mount Everest will appear before us again. We will be camping just near the monastery while enjoying the extraordinary sight of the 8848m peak. We will remain here for two days. In these two days we will take plenty of rest and enjoy our time to the fullest. We’ll be staying in the tented camps during nights.
Day 17: Tingri 86 km From Rongbuk, we descend down the rocky path and finally join another trail that takes us over a canyon. From there, we’ll descend further to reach Tingri. Tingri is a small town situated at an elevation of 4340 meters. During the night, we’ll be staying in a tented camp.
Day 18: Lalung Pass 77 km In the morning, we will have 40 to 50 km of easy ride before taking lunch. There won’t be much inclination till now. Then comes the Lalung Pass (4990m) where we have to climb through a gradual slope. With high peaks around including Shishapangma (8012m), the fourteenth-highest mountain, we will set up our tented camps there for night stay.
Day 19: Cross Thang Pass & Downhill 117 km Today will be the last but very memorable day in Tibet. After crossing the Thang Pass to reach an elevation of 5050m, we would have conquered our last uphill path. Now the path goes downhill, all the way to the Nepalese border. We’ll be welcomed by the graceful views of the Himalayan chain as we move down. As we reach Nyalam, situated at 3750 meters, we begin to see the long-missed greenery again. We’ll move further down past the pine trees and waterfalls. After reaching close to the border, we’ll find a suitable place to camp and spend our last camping night there.
Day 20: Back to Nepal 97 km From Zhangmu we will pass through customs and after crossing the Friendship bridge we reach Kodari, the border town in Nepal. We’ll need to pass through some rocky roads and the descent continues for 50 km . We cycle along the road passing aside rice paddies and terrains until we reach Dolalghat. Dolalghat is a hub over junction of two rivers Sunkoshi and Indrawati. You will feel the humid and tropical environment as we reach Dolalghat. Now we go uphill to Dhulikhel. This will be our final destination for today as we’ll spend the night in one of the hotels in Dhulikhel.
Day 21: Bhaktapur and Kathmandu 35 km It will be the last but not the least day of our trip as you’ll get to see the spectacular panorama of Himalayan with the beautiful sunrise from Dhulikhel. We’ll be having big breakfast and then head towards Kathmandu passing Bhaktapur. If you want, we may stop and see some of the famous temples in Bhaktapur. After reaching Kathmandu, you can rest or go shopping or we may go sightseeing if time and body permits. This night we’ll stay at a hotel in Kathmandu.
Day 22: Free day in Kathmandu. We have a leisure day in Kathmandu. On this day you can develop the photos taken along the journey, buy some stuffs for you and your relatives or just roam around the city. This will be the last day in Nepal or you can visit some other places or have some other exciting tours if you want.
Day 23: Transfer to Airport for home departure You’ll be transferred to Tribhuwan International Airport for onward destination. We’ll be sharing best wishes and goodbyes. |
Trip Fact
Country:Tibet
Grade:Moderate
Height:5250m
Group Size:Min-4
Transportation:cycle/Plane
Accomodation:Guest House/Lodge/Camping
