Quest for Everest

Upon arrival at Chengdu airport, you’ll be greeted by a member of the Himalayan Heroes team who will transfer you to the hotel to check in. If you arrive in the morning then you’ll have time for an excursion to see the home of the Giant Pandas before returning for a traditional welcome dinner. You will receive your permit for Tibet which you will need to be able to board the flight to Lhasa.

After an early breakfast, you’ll be escorted to the airport for your 2-hour 30-minute flight to Lhasa. Upon landing, you’ll once again be greeted by a member of the Himalayan Heroes team who will transfer you to our hotel. We’ll start the paperwork to get your provisional Chinese driving license and then make a visit to the former residence of the Dalai Lama – Potala Palace. 

While waiting for our licenses to arrive, we’ll take a walk to the Bharkor market and, in the company of a hundred pilgrims, walk around and visit the Jokhang temple in the old city which is one of the most important temples of Tibet.

We get an early start on the bikes as we travel southeast of Lhasa and follow the wide Yarlung Tsangpo River. After lunch, we’ll visit the famous Samye monastery and continue riding across a vast desert valley to Yumbu Lakang, Tibet’s first building and the palace of Tibet’s first king.

From Tsedang we ride along the other side of the Yarlung Tsangpo river to Yamdrok Lake. Winding roads with views of the azure blue lake far below make our first day on the road an unforgettable experience. We make stops along the way to take pictures and enjoy the panorama. Riding over Nagartse near the first snow-covered foothills of the Himalayas and onward over the 5,100 m Karo La Pass to Gyangtse. Depending on our arrival time, we will visit an old fort in Gyangtse (Gyangtse Dzong) that sits majestically like a throne above the city. The Buddhist Pelkhor Monastery was built in 1427 and is known as the Monastery of the ten thousand paintings. With its four storeys, 108 chapels, and over 10,000 wall paintings, this is the biggest stupa (pagoda) in Tibet. 

Leaving Gyangze the adventure continues on the Friendship Highway to Sakya Monastery which is located in a green highland valley. The green hills offer a lovely contrast to the Tibetan highlands of the previous day’s journey. The Sakya monastery was once one of the most important in Tibet and its Mongolian architecture gives it an appearance completely different from the other monasteries in Tibet.

From Sakya, the road goes south and snakes its way further up into the Himalayan mountains, where we will have a good view of the world’s 8,000m high mountains and the surrounding valleys. An unbelievable hairpin road with dozens of turns and views of several 8000m high Himalayan mountains leads you to the Rongbu Monastery, where we arrive in the afternoon. To get there, you must cross several 5000m (16,000+ft) high passes on a fantastic new road that was built in 2016 – one of the greatest riding roads on earth. Shortly after Rongbu Monastery, the road permitted for our motorbikes comes to an end. It is possible to walk to the base camp, which takes about 1 hour or to take a public vehicle. At the camp, you can enjoy the view and take breathtaking photos. The earlier we get to the base camp, the better the view normally is. You have enough time to spend several hours here. We’ll stay overnight in the basic inn of the Rongbuk monastery.   

We suggest waking early and seeing the sun rise over Everest. It is a sight that you will never forget. We take a different route back to Xigaze as we head over the highest pass of the adventure – Gyatso La at 5,220m.  It’s a big day on the bike, so we’ll be sure to stop often and take a break. 

After leaving Xigaze, we leave the main road and ride on backroads (dirt at the moment, but not for long) to Namtso lake. We reach Namtso, one of the biggest salt lakes in Tibet and one of the highest lakes in the world at an altitude of 4718m, in the late afternoon ready for a refreshing ale to quench our thirst. We’ll head off-road and ride along the shore which invites us to explore the surrounding hills of grazing yaks, small monasteries, meditation caves and much more. The day ends with a BBQ on the shore of the lake that reflects the setting sun.

We’ll take the main road back to Lhasa with its unique panoramas. As Lhasa comes into view, you relive your amazing adventure to Everest Base Camp that so few have done before you. Tibet and its people have welcomed you into their land and you will take a part of Tibet home with you to share with the outside world. 

That’s it, folks, you’ve immersed yourself in the unique land of Tibet and just completed a motorcycle adventure that is unparalleled anywhere in the world. You’ve crossed Tibet’s highest passes, stayed at ancient monasteries, ridden the best motorcycling roads in Asia, camped at a super high altitude and of course, you’ve seen Mt Everest up close with your own eyes. 

Time to board the flight back to Chengdu and onward home. Back on home turf, you won’t be able to explain the scale of this journey; photographs and videos will fail to do justice to your adventure. Your memories of this epic adventure, however, will stay with you forever.