The most popular gateway cities to fly into Lhasa are Chengdu and Beijing in China and Kathmandu in Nepal. If you are flying from Chengdu or Beijing or other mainland Chinese cities, please allow minimum a day there to collect the original permit that is required to board in the plane. If you are flying out of Kathmandu, then you need to allow 3 days in Kathmandu to obtain your Chinese Visa  
Upon arrival, you will meet your Guide and driver outside the airport and then transfer to your hotel in the city (65km, 1 hr). Check in hotel and take rest for the balance of the day for acclimatization. By now, you must have already started feeling the effects of altitude that includes mild headache, light -headedness, disorientation etc. Drink plenty of water and liquid food in meals.

Following breakfast, we drive 8km west of Central Lhasa to visit Drepung Monastery which was once world's largest monasteries with around 10,000 resident monks! Drepung Monastery was the home to the Dalai Lamas and the power centre of Tibet, until the 5th built Potala Palace. We visit the Ganden Palace, the main assembly hall and the several chapels and colleges. The monastery also commands the panoramic views of the valley.
We visit Jokhang Temple-built in the 7th century by King Songtsen Gampo to house the image of Buddha brought as a part of dowry. Jokhang Temple is the most revered of all religious shrines in Tibet. Thick with the smell of butter lamps and burning incense, the murmur of sacred Tibetan mantras, prostrating Tibetan devotees, visiting Jokhang is indeed an unrivalled Tibetan experience. We visit the various chapels of the temple and later, we take leisurely walking tour of the old town. The Tibetan old town is the refuge for the soul of Lhasa. The walk takes us in the craft workshops, back-street chapels and pilgrimage path with the Tibetan devotees spinning prayer wheels or counting beads with the murmur of sacred mantras.

We will pay a visit to Potala Palace-Lhasa's cardinal landmark. Situated atop Marpo Ri, 130m high hill, with a commanding view of all Lhasa, Potala Palace is one of the great wonders of world architecture. The complex has two palaces-White Palace and the main Red Palace. The White Palace houses the throne rooms of the 13th and 14th Dalai Lamas, a reception hall, meditation room and the bedroom of Dalai Lamas. The Red Palace has various chapels and the tombs of Dalai Lamas. Photography inside the palace is forbidden. Now, we head to Sera Monastery which lies about 3 miles north of central Lhasa. Sera Monastery is one of Lhasa's two great Gelugpa institutions, second only to Drepung. Founded in the early 15th century by Sakya Yeshe-a disciple of Tsongkhapa, Sera Monastery was once home to more than 5000 monks. The monk population is now limited to 500 or so. As the chapels start closing at 3 p.m., we first explore the various chapels of the monastery and then attend the debating ceremony of the monks which takes place between 3 pm and 5 pm. If you are not interested seeing chapels, you can take hike on the pilgrimage path of the monastery which takes less than an hour.

We leave the comfort of the hotel and head towards Tsurpu Monastery which is our trail head of 4 days long spectacular trekking. We follow Lhasa-Namtso highway for 40km (25 miles) and past Tolung-chu River; we take left and drive 25 km (16 miles) up on a rough dirt track to the Tsurpu Monastery. Tsurpu is the seat of Karmapa branch of the Kagyupa order of Tibetan Buddhism. The Karmapas are also known as the Black Hats. We settle in our guesthouse or camp and in the afternoon, we take warm up kora hike on the pilgrimage path of Tsurpu Monastery which takes 2 to 3 hours to complete. The kora trail winds 150m (492 ft.) and provides splendid views of Tsurpu below. There are also some meditation retreats and traces of rock paintings.

Today, we hike the distance of 11km (7 miles) in 4 hrs and camp in Leten (5,000m/ 16, 400 ft.)
We leave our guesthouse with our crews and pack animals, loaded with supplies and gears and as we begin, the trail goes up a green valley crisscrossed with mountain streams with breathtaking scenery. We will be all the time on the lookout for various species of mountain goats. We pass through several small nomadic communities who camp in this area for the summer herding months, and we will take chance to take a peek into a yak-hair tent and possibly try a cup of salt butter tea or some fresh yak milk! In about 4 hrs of hiking, we conquer the ridge top emerging onto a high plateau with a scattering of rock-enclosed cottages and we will find our camp site here.

Today, we cover the distance of 15 km (9.4 miles) in 6 hours. We cross the first pass of this trekking route, Damchen Nyingtri which is holy and revered by locals as the ruler of the environs. We take left at the cairns at the crest, and the trail descends into a magical valley of lichen-coated boulders, winding streams and expansive, pale blue sky. It takes about 3 hours for us to conquer the majestic Lasar-la pass which is the highest point of Tsurpu to Yangpachen and Dorjeling Nunnery trek. From the pass, we descend into the Yangpachen valley with its wide open plateaus, spiky grass hummocks and tundra-like arid and cracked patches of earth. As we head towards Bartso, we will be greeted by the superb views of Brize (translated as female yak herder) and Tarze (horse keeper) and we will feel safe and comfortable in the lap of local mountain god-Nyenchen Tanglha. We camp in a Drokpa (nomad) village near Bartso. The village has less than 10 houses, surrounded by juniper used for incense all over the Tibetan world.

After breakfast, we find ourselves back on the trail again, continuing northwest towards Dorjeling Nunnery and we will enjoy the view of the great Nyenchen Tanglha, (7111m/23,324 ft)-the holiest mountain in central Tibet and is said to be abode of the god of the same name. We leave the village of Bartso behind and head towards a wide trail that leads across the valley and over another ridge, from where we will be rewarded with views of Nyenchen Tanglha, (7111m/23,324 ft) again. The trail emerges to Tajung village, and then climbs gently up rolling hills where young nomadic shepherds picnic on the plateaus as they watch their yaks and sheep graze. We will again be overwhelmed by the amazing panoramic views. We should arrive at Dorjeling Ani Nunnery (called Ani Gompa by Tibetans) by mid-day and we will pitch our camp here today. The nuns here are very friendly.

Today is the final day of this spectacular trekking. We walk for 2 to 3 hrs, following the ox-bow Nyango Chu River winding its way through the grassy valley, and heading for Yangpachen Monastery, is an old Kagyupa monastery, (Beware of Tibetan mastiffs keeping guard!), overlooking a part of the Trans-Himalaya range. We will meet our vehicle waiting for us at the monastery and then we continues extend the way to Namtso lake beyond the Legen la pass(5190m), spend the night on the Tashi Do peninsula by enjoying the breathtaking view of Namtso lake surrounded by snow caped Thangula range in the north and Nyenchen Thangla in the east.

Follow the Qinghai-Tibet railway along the Damchu River back to Lhasa and you have plenty time in the afternoon to continues explore the bustling street and shop souvenirs.

Your guide and driver meet you at the hotel lobby and transfer you to the airport/train station per your schedule. The trip officially ends.