The Lhasa Expedition, Tibet and Everest Overland Drive

Fifteen nights from Delhi across Nepal to Lhasa and Everest, driven in convoy, with the price quoted on application.

Tibet cannot be entered independently and the permits are not obtainable without an operator, which makes a supported convoy the only way to drive a private vehicle onto the plateau at all.

Delhi and Gorakhpur open it, then the Nepalese border and Chitwan, and Kathmandu with a day for the three medieval palace squares. The route then climbs to the Tibetan frontier at Gyirong and crosses the plateau to Shigatse and Lhasa, where three days cover the Potala Palace, the Jokhang and the Barkhor circuit, the Drak Yerpa caves and Sera Monastery. The return runs to Shigatse by Yamdrok Lake and Gyantse, then into the Everest region by Sakya for the north face, back down to Kathmandu, and across the lowlands by Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha, to Gorakhpur and Delhi.

Guests bring their own car or motorcycle, with a 4×4 recommended, or rent through the operator; the full inclusions were not published and are worth settling in writing at booking, along with the permit arrangements. The price is given on application. Altitude is the serious consideration, since the route spends the best part of a week above four thousand metres and anyone with a heart or lung condition should take medical advice first. May to October is the season, since the passes into Tibet are closed by snow outside it. Sixteen days is a long way for a route that doubles back on itself, and the reason to accept that is Lhasa: there is no loop available, so the return is the price of getting there at all.