Day 1 - Arrive Kathmandu On your arrival in Kathmandu, your hotel will collect you from the airport and bring you to our Thamel hotel. Time permitting you can enjoy some local sightseeing during an acclimatising ride, after a welcoming dinner we’ll have a Ride briefing. We need to complete some paperwork this evening ready to collect your Tibet permits tomorrow. We night stop in our Thamel hotel.
Day 2 - Kathmandu - Tibet Border After we've had breakfast and loaded the bikes with our luggage we head out of the capital, across the Kathmandu valley and into the surrounding hills. We’re riding almost the complete length of the Araniko Highway in Nepal - so named after the 13th Century architect responsible for the shape of temples across Nepal, we're riding through green hills with steep sided valleys, avoiding lumbering tucks and buses at all times! We're heading for The Last Resort, literally that, after The Last resort we're into Tibet. It's a beautifully peaceful place and for those brave enough there's the chance to Bungy Jump off the wire bridge, 160m into the Bhote Kosi Gorge! We night stop in The Last Resort. (Approx 125kms).
Day 3 - Tibet Border - Into Tibet The border’s not far away and we aim to cross it, but border crossings aren’t always easy. First we must cross the Friendship Bridge - pushing our bikes across, then we face Chinese Customs and Immigration Officers, all this through a narrow truck and coolie clogged road, all plying their trade across the border between Tibet and Nepal. Administration matters completed we in the nearby town of Zhangmu, where we meet our Chinese Guide and obligatory support vehicle. If conditions are on our side we'll ride on from Zhangmu and head the short distance – uphill, to Nyalam, feared by ‘traders of old’ for its steep and treacherous path to Nepal. Approaching the town the highway climbs steeply through the Matsang Tsangpo gorge, a spectacular welcome to an unspectacular town of stone and tin roofed houses. Welcome to Tibet! We night stop in Nyalam. (Approx 25kms).
Day 4 - From here to here We’ve slept on it – some better than other’s perhaps and our bodies are acclimatising having arrived in a short day’s ride to a height of 3,750m. It is important to acclimatise ready for the high passes that lie ahead. If riders are feeling unwell due to AMS we must rest another day here to continue acclimatising. If all are well we ride on. We’re aiming for Old Tingri, a huddle of houses and the odd guest house at the junction with the ‘road’ to Mt Everest Base Camp. The day starts with a dramatic road, carved from the mountainside, a narrow highway winding steeply towards the Tibetan Plateau heading for our first serious Pass of the tour, Thong La 5,153m, festooned with prayer flags. Above the tree-line, we’re cruising the plateau, around us only sparse desert pastures. Quickly followed by the second pass of the day, Lalung La 5,050m. The high passes may be cold and windswept, there may even be snowfall. We night stop at Old Tingri.
Day 5 - From here to here From Old Tingri (and if Chinese military permission is granted), we ride for several hours on a rough road to Rongphu Monastery only 200m lower than Mt Everest Base Camp (EBC) where, to the south, clouds (and military access) permitting, we’ll enjoy clear views of Mt. Everest, (better than from Base Camp itself). The road is often under repair and with steep inclines it can prove a breath-taking challenge. If we are short of time we night stop here in a basic guest house, but time permitting, we rejoin the highway further east after about 60kms, heading east for Shelkar. Assuming we've been able to reach Everest Base Camp, we aim to night stop at Shelkar. (4,000m). If we cannot ride to EBC, the alternative route will take us from Old Tingri onwards to Lhartse, where early in the day crossing the high pass, Lhakpa La at 5,246m, where again, with clear skies, we get another view of Mt. Everest, before the ride to down to the small town of Lhartse beside the Yarlung Tsangpo (in India called the Brahmaputra). Our alternative night stop will be in Lhartse.
Day 6 - From here to here Pressing on, we ride east over two 4,000m passes to Shigatse (Lhartse – Shigatse 150km) where, perched on a hilltop in the centre is the Tashilhunpo Monastery, built by the 1st Dalai Lama in 1447. Shigatse is the second largest city in the Tibetan Autonomous Region with a population of nearly 100,000 and at an elevation of 3,800m, it sits on the confluence of the Brahmaputra and Nyang rivers. Here we relax and take time to explore the centre of this bustling city, the monastery and markets. It’s our night stop so we’ll head to the ‘old town’ for dinner.
Day 7 - From here to here Today is a short ride, we head off to cover the 100kms to Gyantse. The road always above 4,000m. On the northern side of this now largely developed town, the wall Palcho Monastery, sits beside a nine tiered ‘Kumbum’, whose walls are lined with 77 chapels. Much of the monastery and its surroundings were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, but what remains is still a sight to behold. In Gyantse in the old Palcho monastery is a small museum – the "Anti-British Imperialism Museum" which gives the Chinese version of the Younghusband led British invasion of 1904. We will night stop in Gyantse.
Day 8 - From here to here It’s the last day of the ride. The final leg to Lhasa is about 250kms. Riding in the direction of Nagartse, south of the main highway, after climbing Karo La at 5,045m before dropping down to ride along the vast Yamdrok lake - sacred dwelling place of protective deities. The lake was dammed in ’96 to create Tibet’s largest hydro-power station. Its waters are fished by locals whose catch is sold in Lhasa. Then the final pass, a tunnel and bridge across the Yarlung Tsangpo; at the end of the day we reach Lhasa. Traffic moves quickly in Lhasa and driving habits require an eyes-in-the-back-of-your-head, careful approach. We stay in a comfortable, clean, modern hotel - read: hot water, clean sheets, and a place to relax. We’ll rest and recover enjoy dinner and retire to get a good night’s sleep.
Day 9 - From here to here We’ll tour the Potala Palace, Jokhang Monastery in famous Barkhor Square and time permitting take a ride to the Galden monastery east of Lhasa up the Lhasa river - a tributary of the Yarling Zangbo. We night stop in the same Lhasa hotel.
Day 10 - From here to here It's the last day of the tour in Tibet. We transfer you some 40kms and fly with you on the transfer flight from Lhasa’s Gonggar airport to Kathmandu, where you’ll be collected at Kathmandu’s airport to spend your last night in the same Thamel hotel.
Day 11 - From here to here It's a day for sightseeing locally. There wasn't time at the start of the Tour but now you'll have to time to visit the amazing temple complex at Basantapur at the heart of old Kathmandu, more commonly called the Durbar Square, one of seven UNESCO sites across Nepal. We can taste the weird and wonderful snacks pcooked daily by he original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, the Newars. If you want to explore firther there's the older city of Patan to explore, again with it's unique UNESCO preserved temples in it's own Durbar Square. We'll eat out in one of Thamel's restaurants perhaps reflecting on some of the Tour highlights. Our night stop is again at our Thamel hotel.
Day 12 - From here to here The Tour is over and in good time we transfer you to Kathmandu airport for your onward flight home.
*Lunches are taken en-route at local eateries. Some Dinners are for guests to choose where to eat and share the bill.
