6-Day Saga Dawa Festival Tour
Tibet Local Time：00:54:46 GMT+8
Lhasa Weather
Office Hour: 09:00am - 06:00pm, (GMT+8)
Call our professional Tibet tour advisors
+86-23-86915020
Office Hour: 09:00am - 06:00pm, (GMT+8)
Call our professional Tibet tour advisors
+86-23-86915020
We will arrive in Lhasa around 16:00. Our local guide will greet you at the railway station and present you a Hada (presenting Hada is a special ceremony of Tibetan for greeting their guests). Then we will set out for the Holy City – Lhasa which is 3658 meters above the sea level. You could take a rest and adapt yourself to the plateau environment after we arrived at our hotel.
We will take part in the circumambulation to experience the festival atmosphere. You can also give alms to the religious Tibetan Buddhism followers. Saga Dawa Festival also named Poor People’s Festival. It will last 15 days. This festival would be mainly celebrated at the three circumambulations. People would meditate the Buddhism scriptures with a prayer wheel in the hand. People would also give their alms to the poor people sitting on both sides of the circumambulation. It looks pretty magnificent. It is a particular and special tradition in Tibet.
We will visit the highest ancient castle style architectural complex above the sea level – Potala Palace (1hour). It was the residence of the Tibetan Dalai Lamas, as well as the political, educational and religious center of Tibet. It was built in the 7th century during the reign of Songtsen Gampo. Potala Palace is composed of the White Palace and the Red Palace.
In the afternoon, we will pay a visit to the Jokhang Temple which was widely accepted as the spiritual center of Tibet. The precious Statue of 12-year Sakyamuni (the founder of Buddhism) brought to Tibet by Princess of Chinese Tang Dynasty and the statues of some eminent Buddhists are enshrined in the monastery. There are also exquisite murals which present the history and culture of Tibet collected in the monastery. Then we will take a ramble at Barkhor Street which around the Jokhang Temple. There we could experience the traditional culture and daily life of Tibetan.
We will leave Lhasa for Yamdrok Lake through Gambarak Mountain Pass (4780 meters above the sea level) after breakfast. Yamdrok Lake is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet. It covers an area of 638 square kilometers with an altitude of 4441 meters. The landscapes of mountains and lakes here tops in southern Tibet. Then we will set out for Shigatse, via Karo-la Glacier and Manla Reservoir and make a visit to Palkhor Monastery in Gyantse on the way to Shigatse, which is the biggest city in Tsang.
We will make a visit to Tashilhunpo Monastery – the seat of Panchen Lamas after breakfast and then back to Lhasa along the national road of China and Nepal. We can appreciate the particular natural landscapes of Yarlung Zangbo River Valley on our way.
We will transfer you to the airport after breakfast.
