Tibet: Saga Dawa, Prayer Flags & Holy Peaks

Our pilgrimage begins in the enchanting town of Xiahe, home to one of Tibet's most significant monasteries outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). As you arrive in this high-altitude sanctuary nestled in the Sangke grasslands, you'll immediately sense the profound spiritual energy that permeates every prayer flag-adorned hillside.

After settling into our comfortable accommodation, we gather for our first meal together—a moment to connect with fellow pilgrims and set intentions for the transformative journey ahead. The evening offers gentle acclimatization time, allowing your body and spirit to adjust to this sacred altitude while the first whispers of Tibetan chanting drift across the valley.

Tonight, rest deeply knowing that tomorrow we'll begin our immersion into one of Tibet's greatest monastic treasures.

Meals: Welcome dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Labrang

Dawn in Labrang brings the hauntingly beautiful sound of horns calling monks to morning prayers. We rise early to join pilgrims from across the Tibetan plateau in the sacred kora—the clockwise circumambulation of Labrang Monastery. As prayer wheels turn and mantras flow like rivers of devotion, you'll experience the living pulse of Tibetan Buddhism.

Our monastery visit unfolds like pages from a sacred text, revealing halls filled with butter lamps, ancient scriptures, and monks engaged in philosophical debate. The intricate artwork tells stories of compassion and wisdom that have guided practitioners for centuries. Take time to sit in meditation, absorbing the accumulated prayers of countless devotees who have sought refuge in these holy halls.

This day invites deep reflection on the nature of pilgrimage itself—both as an outer journey through sacred geography and an inner voyage toward greater understanding.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Labrang

Today we venture onto the vast Sangke grasslands, where the horizon stretches endlessly and the sky seems to touch the earth in all directions. Here, Tibetan nomads have maintained their traditional way of life for millennia, their existence intimately connected to the rhythms of season and weather, yak and sheep.

We'll spend precious time with nomadic families, sharing butter tea in their warm yurts while learning about their profound relationship with the land. Their stories of resilience, their deep ecological wisdom, and their unwavering faith offer powerful teachings about living in harmony with nature's forces.

As afternoon light transforms the grasslands into an ocean of gold and green, we practice mindful walking meditation across this sacred landscape. Here, where earth meets sky in infinite spaciousness, we begin to understand why Tibetans call this the "roof of the world"—both literally and spiritually.

We drive to Repkong for a restful night, preparing for tomorrow's train journey to Lhasa.

Meals: Breakfast + Picnic lunch
Accommodation: Hotel Repkong

Our morning begins with a gentle exploration of Repkong monastery and the local market, where the authentic rhythms of Tibetan daily life unfold. Pilgrims purchase prayer scarves and incense, nomads trade goods from the grasslands, and the air fills with the sounds of Tibetan conversation and the tinkling of small bells.

After gathering any last provisions for our upcoming temple visits, we travel to Xining and board our overnight train to Lhasa—a journey that itself becomes a moving meditation. As the landscape transforms from rolling grasslands to stark desert and finally to the dramatic peaks surrounding the Tibetan Plateau, we practice presence with the ever-changing views outside our windows. The train journey offers a perfect transition space for reflection and journaling.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Overnight train

The moment you step off the train in Lhasa, you'll feel it—the thin, sacred air of 3,650 meters above sea level, the profound spiritual energy accumulated over centuries of devotion, and the raw magnificence of being surrounded by some of the world's highest peaks.

Our first day in the "Place of the Gods" is dedicated to gentle acclimatization. We begin with a mindful walking meditation through the ancient Barkhor circuit, where pilgrims have circumambulated the sacred Jokhang Temple for over a thousand years. The energy is palpable as prayer wheels turn, mantras echo off stone walls, and the devotion of countless practitioners creates an almost tangible blessing.

We end our day with therapeutic massage—a gift to our bodies as they adapt to this sacred altitude, and to our spirits as we prepare for the profound experiences ahead.

Meals: Lhasa welcome dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Lhasa

This morning we visit Ani Tsankhung Nunnery, a hidden gem where Tibetan nuns maintain ancient meditation traditions with quiet dignity and profound devotion. Their radiant presence and gentle teachings about compassion and wisdom offer insights that can only come from lives dedicated to inner development.

Later, we return to the vibrant Barkhor for deeper exploration and mindful shopping for our evening cooking class ingredients. The market becomes our classroom as we learn about traditional Tibetan ingredients—barley, yak butter, dried herbs, and aromatic spices that have nourished high-altitude life for centuries.

Our cooking class transforms into a meditation on nourishment itself. As we prepare traditional dishes together, we explore how the simple act of preparing food can become a practice of mindfulness and gratitude. Sharing our communal Tibetan dinner, we taste not just flavors but the care and intention woven into each dish.

Meals: Breakfast + Traditional Tibetan dinner (our creation!)
Accommodation: Hotel Lhasa

Today we journey to the meditation caves of Drak Yerpa, known as the "Northern Cliff Hermitage," where over 80 sacred caves have sheltered accomplished practitioners for centuries. These caves, blessed by the presence of great masters, offer profound spaces for silent contemplation. The hike to these sacred spaces becomes a walking meditation through landscapes that seem to exist between worlds.

We continue to Samye, Tibet's first monastery and a place where the very foundations of Tibetan spiritual practice were established over 1,200 years ago. Built to represent the cosmic mandala, Samye offers a three-dimensional sacred geography where we can literally walk through the structure of enlightened reality. We spend the afternoon exploring Chimphu Nunnery and its meditation caves, where contemplatives have achieved realization for generations.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Samye

Our morning begins with final offerings at Samye before we travel to Orgyen Mindrolling Monastery, one of the most important centers of the Nyingma tradition. Here, ancient meditation practices and tantric wisdom are preserved with extraordinary precision and devotion. The monastery's impressive halls house some of Tibet's most precious spiritual treasures—ancient texts, sacred art, and meditation implements that have guided practitioners toward enlightenment for generations.

We continue to Shugsheb Nunnery, where we witness the remarkable lives of Tibetan nuns who maintain rigorous meditation practice while serving their community with compassionate action. Their teachings about balancing inner development with outer service offer practical wisdom for modern practitioners. Our return journey to Lhasa becomes a moving meditation on impermanence and the preciousness of sacred encounters.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Lhasa

Today marks Saga Dawa Eve, and the energy in Lhasa glows with spiritual anticipation. We begin with traditional morning dance practices, allowing our bodies to experience Tibetan culture by moving. Movement becomes meditation, celebration becomes prayer.

As evening approaches, we join hundreds of pilgrims in the Barkhor circuit, where the devotion reaches almost overwhelming intensity. Prayer wheels spin continuously, mantras create a constant hum of blessing, and the dedication of pilgrims who've traveled from across Tibet fills every moment with sacred purpose. Our visit to the Jokhang Temple—Tibet's most sacred shrine—provides the perfect culmination to this day of preparation. Here, before the most precious Buddha statue in all of Tibet, we offer our prayers and set intentions for tomorrow's extraordinary celebration.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Lhasa

Today is Saga Dawa, the full moon celebration commemorating Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passing into parinirvana—the most sacred day in the Tibetan calendar. The entire city of Lhasa transforms into a massive pilgrimage site as devotees perform practices whose merit is said to be multiplied 100,000 times.

We rise before dawn to join pilgrims circumambulating sacred sites, making offerings, and reciting mantras with extraordinary devotion. The Barkhor circuit becomes a river of faith as pilgrims from every corner of the Tibetan plateau converge in unified practice. This afternoon, we visit the magnificent Potala Palace, the architectural wonder that rises 13 stories above Lhasa like a mountain of carved stone and gold. This day offers profound teachings about the power of collective spiritual practice and the way sacred time can transform ordinary awareness.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Lhasa

Our journey south begins with one of Tibet's most breathtaking sacred sites—Yamdrok Lake, a turquoise jewel so stunning that Tibetans consider it the turquoise earring of the sky goddess. At 4,400 meters above sea level, this sacred lake stretches across the landscape like a precious gem, its waters reflecting snow-capped peaks and creating a natural mandala of extraordinary beauty.

We continue to historic Shigatse, Tibet's second-largest city and home to Tashilhunpo Monastery, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama. This massive monastic complex, with its golden roofs and towering halls, represents one of Tibet's most important spiritual centers. The monastery's butter lamp halls, where thousands of flames create an atmosphere of profound devotion, offer perfect spaces for reflection on our extraordinary journey.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Shigatse

Today we travel toward the mighty Himalayas, where the world's highest peaks create a natural cathedral of stone, snow, and sky. Our destination is Tingri, a small town that serves as the traditional gateway to Mount Everest's northern face. Here, at over 4,300 meters, we continue our careful acclimatization while the dramatic peaks of Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, and Everest herself begin to dominate our horizon.

The landscape becomes increasingly sparse and magnificent as we enter the realm of the high Himalayas. Prayer flags mark sacred passes, and the thin air carries a crystalline clarity that makes every breath feel precious. We spend time in gentle walking meditation, allowing our bodies to adjust while our spirits expand in response to this extraordinary landscape.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Tingri

This morning we enter the realm of Chomolungma—the Tibetan name for Mount Everest, meaning "Goddess Mother of the World." Our route takes us to Rongbuk Monastery, the world's highest monastery at 5,009 meters, where monks maintain their spiritual practice in the direct presence of Earth's highest peak.

From Rongbuk, we can see Everest's northern face rising like a pyramid toward the sky, its summit plume streaming in high-altitude winds. The monastery itself becomes a teaching about the marriage of spiritual aspiration and natural grandeur. Our arrival at Everest Base Camp (5,200m) represents the culmination of our physical pilgrimage. Standing before this ultimate expression of Earth's creative power, we practice meditation on vastness, impermanence, and the extraordinary privilege of witnessing such raw natural magnificence.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Everest Basecamp Tent

We rise in darkness for one of the world's most spectacular sunrises. As the first light touches Everest's summit pyramid, the entire Himalayan range ignites in shades of gold and rose that seem to exist beyond ordinary color. This moment of witnessing—high in the thin air, surrounded by the planet's most dramatic peaks—becomes a natural meditation on the intersection of Earth and sky, matter and space.

Our journey continues to historic Gyantse, where the remarkable Kumbum Stupa rises like a three-dimensional mandala toward the sky. This architectural masterpiece contains 73 chapels arranged across nine floors, each level representing stages of the spiritual path. Climbing through this vertical pilgrimage site becomes a meditation on the journey toward enlightenment itself.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Hotel Gyantse

Our return journey to Lhasa becomes a moving meditation on the pilgrimage experience itself. The familiar landmarks—prayer flag-draped passes, nomad encampments, and distant monastery rooftops—now carry deeper meaning after our transformative adventures in Tibet's most sacred spaces.

Upon arrival in Lhasa, we dedicate this day to gentle integration and restoration. Therapeutic massage helps our bodies recover from high-altitude adventures while our spirits process the profound teachings we've received. The afternoon offers free time for personal reflection, journaling, last-minute shopping, or gentle exploration of Lhasa's quiet corners. This space for integration proves as valuable as the intense experiences themselves, allowing insights to settle and wisdom to take root. Our final dinner together becomes a celebration of transformation.

Meals: Breakfast + Goodbye Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel Lhasa

This morning we gather for a final blessing ceremony, offering prayers for safe travels and carrying Tibet's wisdom into our daily lives. The traditional white scarves we've collected during our pilgrimage now serve as reminders of the sacred connections we've formed—with Tibet's landscape, spiritual traditions, and fellow pilgrims.

As we prepare for departure, we carry with us more than photographs and souvenirs. We bear the transmission of an ancient spiritual civilization, the blessing of sacred landscapes, and the profound teachings that come only through pilgrimage to places where the boundary between earth and heaven dissolves completely.

Our journey home becomes the beginning of integrating Tibet's timeless wisdom into contemporary life, carrying forward the compassion, wisdom, and vast perspective that arise from walking in the footsteps of countless pilgrims across the roof of the world.

Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: —