Day 1: DRIVE TO BALEPHI, TREK TO JALBIRE (2,560ft/780m) 3 hrs

Balephi is only a three hour drive Kathmandu to Lhasa road. Walk alongside the Balephi Khola to the village of Jalbire , where you can camp for the night.

Day 2: TREK TO JHIRGAON (5,577ft/1,700m)

Follow the river at first then begin to climb towards the Bhairev Kund ridge. The trail is mostly through terraced farmland and small settlements. The campsite by a school above the village of Jhirgaon provides your first views of snow peaks, the Jugal Himalaya range, which lies beyond the upper reaches of the Balephi Khola valley. You may camp overnight.

Day 3: TREK TO BHAISIKHARKA MEADOW (8,186ft/2,495m)

You trek up through a central village of Wanguje , where a Tamang Community flourishes. After lunch you pass the very beautiful village of Golji , and then leave terraced farmlands behind as you enter shrub-like forests containing rhododendron, spectacular in spring, Berberis, Daphne and many others. You camp in a fine level meadow called Gaikharka, surrounded by rhododendrons, but also with fine views of the Jugal Himalaya Range . Camp overnight here.

Day 5: TREK ALONG THE BHAIREV KUND RIDGE TO PILGRIM REST HOUSE. (12,418ft/3,785m)

Continue climbing up through rhododendron forests where your trail meets a major pilgrim path to Bhairev Kund climbing up from Bugang village. From here the path climbs steadily and the effect of altitude will start to be felt as you leave the forest and climb into open hill country. Your campsite (where you will camp for two nights), will be outside a government built pilgrims' refuge called Pati. You should reach this with time for a climb onto the ridge above for spectacular views all around of the mountainous country you are entering. Camp overnight here.

If you are willing to see some more spectacular sites have an easy morning walk to Bhairev Kund. The way is relatively easy and open with great views all around. It is 2½ hrs walk to the lake, which is decorated with prayer flags all around and is a very peaceful and serene place. This holy lake is surrounded by peaks and holy places around its shores. It is most important to remember to treat the lake with respect. Any desecration will be answered by Shiva with fearsome storms. Once there, you have the option just to rest and enjoy the peace, or walk on further to a col with views of Phurbi Chayacha (21,844ft/6,658m), or even up to an easy peak which will take about another one hour and a half. Camp is set on a plateau on the north side above the lake and offers serene views. Camp overnight here.

The morning is left free to relax, or to take short walks up to nearby peaks. There are particularly fine views of Dorje Lakpa and the Langtang beyond from a nearby col. You leave your high campsite after lunch and return to Pilgrims Rest by the same path as yesterday, which is dotted with alpine flowers. The sunset from here reflects on the snowy peaks all around.

Day 7: TREK TO BUGANG AND ON TO RIVERSIDE CAMP

Head down stone steps through the forest and down along the ridge to the Sherpa village of Bugang . (Approx 2,500 ft/762m of descent) and is about 3½ to 4 hours walk. After a stop here, the descent continues through the village of Bugang which has a small Buddhist gompa and beautiful traditional houses. This part of the walk is quite spectacular, as a deep green valley opens up below and you meet the first people you have seen in a few days. The narrow path continues which is the main thoroughfare for schoolchildren and yaks. You are likely to see paper making in process using the Daphne tree and camp will be set beside the steeply tumbling river.

Day 8: TREK TO TATOPANI VIA NEPALI HILL-FORT. CROSS THE BORDER INTO TIBET ! DRIVE TO ZHANGMU

This route is again, mainly downhill. You will have views of the view of the hill-fort in front of you. There is a swing bridge ahead. It takes about 1½ hours of easy walking to reach the 19th century fort, a remnant of wars with Tibet . It is wide open and sunny, with wonderful views down the Bhote Khosi valley, to the "friendship highway" below, and up to the Tibetan border with Zhangmu ranged on a hillside at the valley's head. Tibet falls very close from here. About another 1½ hours steep walk down through well populated and prosperous villages takes you to the road ahead where you'll find transport.

If you want, take a "Holy dip" in the hot waters of Tatopani before you face the hazards of the border crossing. Zhangmu (7,546 ft/2,300m) is a really rough and ready border town, full of traders, trucks and travellers. It straggles across the steep mountainside in an elevated position, looking down into Nepal . Parts of the road are prone to landslip and you may have to walk part of the way. However in the last few years our vehicles have managed to get all the way through and the road is now much improved. Halt overnight.

Day 9: DRIVE TO TINGRI (14,401ft/4,390m)

Day 10: DRIVE TO EVEREST BASE CAMP (17,250ft/5,258m)

A 7 hour drive is ahead. After leaving the "friendship highway", the road up to Everest Base Camp is little more than a dirt track, but it climbs over the 16,400ft/4,999m Pang La pass on the 112 kms journey to Base Camp. You continue via the Zamphuk valley and into the Rongbuk valley near the cave monastery of Chophuk seen in the cliffs to the right before continuing up to the Rongbuk monastery and Base Camp beyond. Camp overnight.

Day 11: THE EVEREST BASE CAMP and THE RONGBUK GLACIER

Exploring the everest Base Camp and the Rongbuk glacier will give you the excitement and the thrill of a lifetime. Huge boulders litter the rock-strewn surface of the glacier and sitting on one of these for a time provides a memorable experience with some of the best views on earth. Visit Tilman's Meadows and see the famous ice pinnacles, but this will depend on the level of the river issuing from the East Rongbuk glacier that has to be crossed. Two and a half to three hours will take us to the East Rongbuk glacier junction. The trek to Tilman's Meadows is quite strenuous, but if you do decide to tackle it, you will then be only 7 miles from the foot of the north face of Everest. Its 29,028ft/8,848m bulk totally dominates its giant satellite peaks, such as Changtse and Pumori - fantastic mountains in their own right. As an alternative to Tilman's Meadows you can walk a little way up the East Rongbuk glacier for more fabulous views. Return to the base camp and halt overnight.

Day 12: DRIVE TO SHEGAR . (13,287ft/4,050m)

Drive into Shegar, an old town, with its monastery/fortress above overlooking the surrounding valleys. Halt overnight at a Hotel.

Day 13: SHEGAR MONASTERY

Shegar Monastery is a must see. Shegar (White Crystal), the only Gelugpa monastery in the area, once had 300 monks at this beautiful fortress site on a craggy ridge overlooking Shegar. Like Rongbuk, Shegar started life as a series of meditation huts founded in 1266 by the Sakyapa lama, Sindeu Rinchen. They later evolved into a fully-fledged monastery under the Fifth Dalai Lama in the 17 th century. It had a good printing centre and over the years assembled a fine woodblock library. Shegar was severely damaged during the Cultural Revolution. Since 1984, some buildings and chapels have been repaired. Within the dukhang is an altar that holds new images of Tsong Khapa and his two disciples, Dorje Chang and Guru Rimpoche (the precious one). It is now a thriving centre of worship.

Day 14: DRIVE TO SHIGATSE (12,800ft/3,900m) EN ROUTE VISIT SAKYA GOMPA.

The journey to the second city in Tibet involves a 5-6 hour drive through spectacular and barren countryside, where villages eke out a meagre living from their small fields, sheep, goats and yaks. The main site of interest in Shigatse is the Tashilhunpo Monastery. On the way though it is worth making the 21 km each way detour from the "friendship highway" to visit Sakya Monastery. Halt overnight.

Day 15: SAKYA MONASTERY

The Sakya Monastery is one of the largest and most important monasteries that survived the destruction of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Its walls are massive and unusually painted grey with white and red vertical stripes. The temples are huge and awe-inspiring. It was founded in 1073 and again unusually the head abbot was hereditary not a reincarnation. It was one of Sakya's most important abbots who offered overlordship of Tibet to the Mongol prince Godan in 1247. Finally in 1251 Kublai Khan made the Sakya abbot ruler of Tibet under his overlordship. This arrangement was relatively short lived, about 100 years, when power fell into the hands of the Kagyupa sect.

Day 16: THE TASHILUNPO MONASTERY, DRIVE TO GYANTSE (12,959ft/3,950m)

Gyantse is a 2 hour drive from Shigatse. Although it has suffered badly from the ravages of time and man, it retains even today a deeply Tibetan character. It is still possible to step back in time here and have a glimpse of an irretrievably lost era. Its principal structures consist of a castle on a ridge overlooking the town and a walled monastic complex by the far hill. The monastery includes the massive temple of Palkhor Chode and the great multi-chapel Kumbum Chorten. These religious monuments, part of Gyantse's ancient monastic town, contain some of the most extraordinary works of art in Tibet . Tashilhunpo monastery contains the world's largest seated image of Maitreya (the future Buddha), which is highly impressive. The great castle on the hill, once occupied by the Younghusband Expedition in 1904, overlooks the entire area. Halt Overnight at a Hotel.

Day 17: TASHILHUNPO

Tashilhunpo, principal monastery of Tsang Province , is one of the Great Six centres of the Gelugpa sect. The others are Sera, Drepung, and Ganden, all in or near Lhasa , and Labrang and Kumbum in Amdo (southern Gansu/Qinghai provinces). Tashilhunpo is the largest, most vibrant monastery in Tibet , the only one that does justice to the term ' Monastic City '. Founded in 1447 by Tsong Khapa's nephew and disciple, Gedundrub, the First Dalai Lama, it was substantially enlarged under the Fourth Panchen Lama, Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570-1662). The latter completed many works on liturgy, tantrism and Kadampa doctrines, becoming Tashilhunpo's abbot in 1600 and Drepung's Abbot in 1617. The emphasis on Drepung, the de facto centre of Gelugpa power, meant that Tashilhunpo drifted directionless for some decades. This changed after 1642. The Fifth Dalai Lama conferred on Chokyi Gyaltsen the title of Panchen Rinpoche, Great Precious Teacher, and created the Panchen Lama lineage. Each incumbent was known as an incarnation of the Buddha Amitabha (Wopame; Buddha of Infinite Light). Kedrub je, one of Tsong Khapa's two foremost disciples, was retroactively designated as the First Panchen. Subsequent abbots of Tashilhunpo, whether appointed or elected, became - together with the Dalai Lamas - the most important religious figures in Tibet . Wopame is the spiritual source of Chenresig, who is incarnated in the Dalai Lamas, and thus the Panchen Lamas are considered by some religiously superior. The last Panchen, the Tenth, died in 1989.

Day 18: IN AND AROUND GYANGTSE, INCLUDING THE KUM BUMAND GYANGTSE FORTS, DRIVE TO LHASA 11,800ft/3,597m) VIA YAMDROK TSO LAKE (14,724ft/4,488m)

After Gyantse the road climbs slowly until crossing the Karo La, 16,549ft/5,044m. Either side are gigantic peaks including Nazin Kang Sa, 23,792ft/7,252m. The road then drops to Yamdrok Tso (lake) before following the twisting northern bank for hours, prior to climbing up to the Kamba La 15,724ft/4,793m. Now you descend the zig-zag road to cross the mighty Yarlung Tsangpo River on your way to Lhasa . You finally experience tarmac roads as you near Lhasa and follow the course of the broad Yarlung Tsangpo River which, entering India , becomes the Bramahputra. Colourful rock carvings of Buddha are passed just before you approach the outskirts of Lhasa . Stay at Lhasa where there are numerous good Hotels and Lodges.

Day 19: IN LHASA

Sightseeing in Lhasa is a must. The main attraction however are the various monastries and of course the legendary Potala palace.

Take a two hour drive to Gongar International Airport and fly to Kathmandu .