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| Legend has it that until a careless king cut down a miraculous rope, the Tibetan Plateau once contained a stairway to heaven. One does feel close to the immortals in this roof-of-the-world domain, alive with the ancient faith of its people. From Tibet's holy city, Lhasa, we join the great Tibetan tradition of pilgrimage and set off on a back-country expedition to discover the remote cave temples of Tashiy Do hermitage, extraordinary Nam Tso ("Lake of Heaven"), and magnificent monasteries like Reting in central Tibet. Along the way, we venture well off the beaten path and experience Tibet's rich and generous Buddhist culture as a "tour" never could. At journey's end, we offer as an extension to the north face of Everest and remote Rongphu Monastery by way of Gyantse, with its dramatic hilltop fortress. |
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1-4 Chengdu, China/Lhasa, Tibet
We meet in Chengdu and the next day fly to Lhasa (11,830'). Our explorations include the thousand-room Potala Palace and the bazaar where we find everything from precious Kham amber to prayer flags.
5-6 Ganden/Drigung Monastery
We explore the sprawling Ganden Monastery (13,700'), a stunning monastic city that was once home to 10,000 monks. We then head for the remote, ridgetop Drigung monastery (13,500'), where we begin our camping expedition. Drigung presently has almost 120 monks in residence. We also hike near the neighboring nunnery, Terdrum.
7-8 Reting Monastery
At Reting (13,350'), once one of the great Kadampa monasteries of central Tibet, we walk the pilgrim circuit, explore chapels, and observe the monks' daily rituals.
9-10 Toshiy Do/Nam Tso
Crossing the Lagaen La (17,000'), we reach the mystical environs of the Tashiy Do hermitage, with its cave temples, and Nam Tso, a vast lake at 15,000 feet where many of Asia's migratory birds find refuge.
11-12 Lhasa/Chengdu/Depart
We return to Lhasa and depart via Chengdu on Day 12
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| Single supplement: $360 | |||||||||||||||||
| Internal airfare: $312 (subject to change) | |||||||||||||||||
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