Essential Lhasa and Namtso Lake 5D

Welcome to Lhasa, the capital city of Tibet. Upon arrival, you will be met and transferred to your Lhasa hotel. You can take a rest for the rest of today for acclimatization the high altitude 3600 meter in Lhasa.

Today you will visit the famous Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Street. Potala Palace was first built in the 7th century by the famous Tibetan king—Songtsen Gampo. The current one was built by the 5th Dalai Lama in the 17th century. The Potala is divided into Red Palace and White Palace. The red palace was for religious use and the white one for political use. It takes the whole morning to visit Potala Palace.

Then you will have lunch at the local restaurant.

Afterwards you will walk to visit Jokhang Monastery that is situated in the old section of Lhasa, which was built in the 7th century AD by king Songtsen Gampo. It is the most sacred place in Tibet as it houses the sculpture of 12-year-old Sakyamuni that was brought by Wencheng Princess in the7th century.

Barkhor street is a big free market around Jokhang Monastery where you can purchase all sorts of Tibetan souvenirs. Barkhor Streets is also an essential pilgrim route.

Today you will visit Drepung Monastery, Sera Monastery and the Norbulingka Park.“Drepung” in Tibetan means "the hill of rice". The white Monastery looks like a big hill of rice which is situated halfway up Mt Ganpoi Uze in the western suburbs of Lhasa. It was founded in 1416 by Jamyang Choje, a Disciple of Trongkhaba, founder of the Yellow Hat sect. The monastery, occupying an area of 250,000 square meters with 7700 lamas in the past, is the largest monastery in Asia. 

Sera in Tibetan means "Haistone", legend tells that it hailed during the foundation of this famous monastery. It is situated at the foot of Mt. Peibuqie in the northern suburb of Lhasa. Sera monastery was founded in 1419 by Jamchen Choje, another disciple of Tsongkaba. It used to accommodate 5500 lamas in its golden age, and is proud of its glorious history during The Ming Dynasty. 

Norbulingka park, known as Jewel Park, was the site of the Dalai Lamas' summer palace. It is situated one kilometer west of the Potala Palace and covers a total area of 360,000 square meters. In 1752, the 7th Dalai Lama built the first palace in this park, and Norbulingka has become the summer palace since then for successive Dalai lamas to carry out their political and religious activities during the summer season.

Today you will take 3-hour ride for 260km from Lhasa to Namtso Lake via the high mountains. Namtso Lake, which means “Heavenly Lake” in Tibetan, is the second largest saltwater lake in China. Moreover, it is the highest attitude saltwater lake in the world with an altitude of 4718m. The blue lake water looks like crystal to create a stunning picture with the surrounding snow-capped mountains. 

Afterwards you will drive back to Lhasa after lunch.

Today is departure day. You will be transferred to Lhasa Airport to catch your flight to your next destination, where the tour concludes.