Ganden to Samye trek

Duration: 11 days (6 nights camping, 4 1/2 days trekking)
Months offered: Spring, summer, autumn
Costs: From $ 1,000

This is an excellent basic trek which combines important historical sites with a beautiful hike through high-altitude nomadic areas just east of Lhasa. The first days in Lhasa will give us time to sightsee and also to acclimate before we visit the ridge-top complex of Ganden-a stronghold of the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism. After exploring the monastic complex we will walk a couple easy hours to our pre-set camp site in the valley beyond. The next day our trek involves a steady climb over a pass to the high altitude pastures only used by nomads in the summer months. We continue in these highlands through gentle hills and past remote lakes before crossing another pass and dropping into the sheltered valley of Yamalung. Finally we turn into the wide Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) valley and its rolling sand dunes. A full day at Samye, Tibet's first monastery, will give us time to recoup or to visit the active retreat cave-complex of Chimphu. We regain motorized transport to leave the remote north side and cross the Tsangpo to stay a final night in the comforts of Tsedang, the cradle of Tibet's early kings. The next day after a full day of sightseeing around Tsedang, we transfer less than an hour to the Lhasa airport.

Basic itinerary:
Day 1-3: Lhasa sightseeing.
Day 4: Visit Ganden monastery and walk to camp.
Day 5-8: Trekking from Hebu to Nyengo.
Day 9: Visit Samye.
Day 10: Tsedang sightseeing.
Day 11:Airport departure.