Day 1 Arrival in Bejing

Your Himalayan Rock representative welcomes you at the Bejing airport and will take care of transfer to your hotel in Bejing. Rest of the day is left to your own to relax or explore Bejing city.

Day 2 Bejing - sightseeing Tiananmen Square and Temple of Heaven

Our guide will pick you up at the hotel lobby. Head for the largest square in the world – Tiananmen Square – and the Forbidden City in the morning. Afternoon-transfer to visit the impressive Temple of Heaven. You will enjoy the welcome dinner in the evening, a palatable Peking Duck Banquet in a notable restaurant, followed by a classical Peking opera performance. Transfer to your hotel.

Day 3 Bejing - sightseeing Badaling Great Wall

Full day excursion to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall,  on the way driving past  Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, the Lama Temple.  (B)

Day 4 Bejing - Xian, by train

Day 5 Xian

Morning arrive Xian. Arrival transfer to the Melody Hotel Xian (a three star hotel) for two nights. Full day tour the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, Muslim Quarters and the Great Mosque, the Old City Wall,   Evening 'Dumpling Banquet' dinner including a tour of the restaurant's kitchen. Tang Dynasty Show. (B)

Day 6 Xian

Full day tour including the Army of Terracotta Warriors, Big Goose Pagoda.  (B)

Day 7 Xian - Lhasa

Morning flight to the holy `city of Sunshine` Lhasa. After immigration formalities meet your Himalayan Rock guide at the exit of Gonggar Airport. Transfer to Lhasa City and check in to your hotel.
Rest of the day no program since you will need time to adapt to the high altitude. You shoud avoid physical activity for the rest of the day to prevent altitude sickness.

Day 8 Lhasa

Day 9 Lhasa

Day 10 Lhasa - Yamdruk Tso – Gyantse

Day 11 Gyantse - Shigatse

Day 12 Shigatse - Shegar

Day 13 Shegar - Rongbuk Monastery

Day 14 Rongbuk Monastery - Everest Base Camp - Tingri

Day 15 Tingri - Zhangmu

Day 16 Zhangmu - Kodari - Kathmandu

Day 17 Kathmandu - Bhaktapur and Patan

Breakfast and transfer to Bhaktapur, the third city of Nepal with its huge squares, pagodas, temples and medieval palaces. The city was once the capital of Nepal during the great Malla Kingdom from the 12th to the 15th century.

Bhaktapur Durbar Square is one of the World Heritage Sites in Nepal which reflects the city's rich culture, art and architectural design. It is also the central setting of the city for architectural monuments and arts. The golden gate is the entrance to the main courtyard of the Palace of 55 windows, the gate is regarded as the world's most beautiful and richly carved specimens of its kind.

Patan is also known as the paradise of fine arts. The city lies only 5 km from Kathmandu. It is a city of Buddhist monuments, Hindu temples and fine wood carvings. Lalitpur is the another name of this city which means `the city of beauty`.
Like the Durbar Square in Bhaktapur also the Patan Durbar Square is a World Heritage Site. It has many famous sites and unique architectures. Krishna Mandi, Bhimsen temple, Hiranya Varna Mahabhihar are just a few among the temples offering you an extasy of  paintings, wood and metal carvings.

One of the most interesting temples in Patan is Mahabouddha Temple. The temple is dedicated to Gautam Buddha. The temple was built by Pandit Abhaya Raj, a Buddhist architect, and an even more interesting thing about the temple is that every single brick has Buddha engraved in it. There are nearly one thousand bricks of Buddha in the temple!

The Golden Temple in Patan is a pagoda which has many images of Lord Buddha as well as large prayer wheels. The pagoda is also known as Kwa Bahal or Suwarna Mahavihar.

Day 18 Kathmandu - Bodnath, Swayambunath and Pashupatinath

Kathmandu sightseeing tour with visits to Buddhist stupas of Swayambunath and Boudhanath as well as Pashupatinath temple, a very sacred Hindu pilgrimage site. All places we will visit today are World Heritage sites.

Boudhanath Stupa
Boudhanath Stupa (or Bodnath Stupa) is the largest stupa in Nepal. It is also the center of Tibetan culture in Kathmandu and rich in Buddhist symbolism and sacred importance. The stupa is located in the town of Boudha on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu.
The Stupa looms 36 meters high and presents one of the most fascinating specimens of stupa design with hundreds of prayer wheels and 108 small images of Buddha all around. Just like the Swayambhunath, the stupa here is too has four sides with the watchful eyes of Lord Buddha.

The main entrance to the upper platform of Bodnath Stupa is on the north side. Here Amoghasiddhi, progenitor of the future Buddha, presides. Below Amoghasiddhi is the Buddha Maitreya, the future Buddha.
Surrounding Bodnath Stupa are streets and narrow alleys lined with colorful homes, Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and street vendors.

Swayambunath Stupa
Perched atop a forested hill on the western edge of the Kathmandu Valley, Swayambunath Stupa is Kathmandu's most important Buddhist shrine. The sleepy, all-seeing Buddha's eyes that stare out from the top of this hemispherical shrine have become the quintessential symbol of Nepal.

The pilgrim's route to the Swayambunath Stupa is a steep stone staircase of more than 300 steps, often claimed as 365. Leading up to the Swayambunath gate are walls into which are set dozens of copper prayer wheels, inside of which are thousands of Tibetan Buddhist prayers.
Buddhists gain a better standing in their next life by saying as many prayers or mantras as possible, and it is believed that when each prayer wheel is spun, all the prayers inside are recited and sent heavenward.
Swayambunath is also known as the Monkey Temple, and as you start up the hill, you will likely begin to see the monkeys that lend the stupa this alternate name.

Pashupatinath Temple
The temple of Pashupatinath, or Pashupati, is located in Deopatan, a little town 3 km northwest of Kathmandu. It is a Hindu temple, dedicated to a manifestation of Shiva called Pashupati (Lord of Animals). It attracts thousands of pilgrims each year and has become well known far beyond the Kathmandu Valley.

The temple is barred to non-Hindus, but a good view of the temple compound's inner courtyard can be had from Shleshmantak hill on the opposite (eastern) bank of the Bagmati river. The Bagmati River, which runs next to Pashaputinath Temple, has highly sacred properties. Thus the banks are lined with many ghats (bathing spots) for use by pilgrims.

Day 19 Kathmandu, departure

Breakfast at the hotel and then drive to the Kathmandu airport to board the flight. Your escort from Himalayan Rock will assist you with exit formalities and bid you farewell.