Flights to Lhasa are includ­ed in the cost of your trip and will be arranged by our office. 

Cho Oyu Day by Day

Day 1-2

TRAV­EL

Trav­el from your home port to Kath­man­du. All flights cross the date line and con­se­quent­ly a day is lost. Moun­tain Mad­ness rep­re­sen­ta­tives will meet you at the air­port and trans­port you to your hotel. Option­al sight­see­ing of Kath­man­du. Overnight at the hotel.

Day 3

KATH­MAN­DU

Ele­va­tion: 4,383 ft / 1336 m

Arrive in Kath­man­du on Day 3, where a Moun­tain Mad­ness guide meets you. We stay at the famous 5‑Star Yak-n-Yeti Hotel. Great food from all over the world, fab­u­lous shop­ping, and Dur­bar Square with its numer­ous tem­ples and mar­kets are nearby.

DAY 4-5

KATH­MAN­DU

Ele­va­tion: 4,383 ft / 1336 m

We final­ize last minute paper­work with the Nepal and Tibet gov­ern­ments. You will have a casu­al day shop­ping for sou­venirs in the streets of Kath­man­du, with abun­dant pho­to oppor­tu­ni­ties along the way. Vis­it the palaces, Dur­bar Square, Hin­du tem­ples, shrines, and Bud­dhist stu­pas or just relax at the hotel. Depend­ing on the sched­ule, it may be pos­si­ble to fly to Lhasa.
 

Day 6-7

LHASA

Ele­va­tion: 11,995 ft / 3656 m

We fly to Lhasa and the fas­ci­nat­ing world of Tibet. We trans­fer to our hotel down­town. Ele­va­tion at Lhasa is over 12,000 feet / 3658 meters, so we use this oppor­tu­ni­ty to begin acclimatizing.We have an oppor­tu­ni­ty to vis­it the pop­u­lar and awe inspir­ing Pota­la Palace, Lhasa’s most renowned land­mark. Since its con­struc­tion in 1694, the Pota­la has been the home of each of the suc­ces­sive Dalai Lamas until 1959 and the final rest­ing place of many of them. In the after­noon we will vis­it the Jokhang Tem­ple, the most revered reli­gious struc­ture in Tibet. We may vis­it Nor­bu­l­ing­ka Palace, which was the sum­mer home of the Dalai Lamas, and Drepung monastery, once the world’s largest.

Day 8

SHI­GATSE

Ele­va­tion: 12,467 ft / 3800 m

We trav­el by 4×4 across the Tibetan plateau. We arrive in Shi­gatse, the sec­ond largest city of Tibet, in the after­noon. There, we tour Tashil­hun­po Monastery. Built in 1447, this impos­ing com­plex is the res­i­dence of the Panchen Lama, the sec­ond most impor­tant reli­gious fig­ure in Tibet.

Day 9

NEW TIN­GRI

Ele­va­tion: 14,268 ft / 4349 m

Today will be a long trav­el day. Lunch stop will be in the town of Lhatse at 13,123 feet / 4000 meters. Our after­noon dri­ve will take us over two pass­es above 16,404 feet / 5000 meters before arriv­ing at the vil­lage of New Tingri.

Day 10-11

BASE CAMP

Ele­va­tion: 18,500 ft / 4600 m

We dri­ve through the scenic coun­try­side to base camp. The next morn­ing we will take an acclima­ti­za­tion hike to 18,000 feet / 5486 meters. After lunch we spend some time sort­ing gear before we head to Advanced Base Camp (ABC) the next day.

Day 12-13

ADVANCE BASE CAMP

Ele­va­tion: 21,000 ft / 6400 m

After break­fast we will depart on our two-day jour­ney to Cho Oyu ABC. We will forge through the ice cold Ra Chhu Riv­er and set up inter­me­di­ate camp. The fol­low­ing morn­ing we trek to ABC and camp next to the Nang­pa La. Camp will be at 19,029 feet / 5800 meters.

Day 14-40

CHO OYO

Our strat­e­gy is to place two more camps at 21,325 feet / 6500 meters and 23,294 feet / 7100 meters while we accli­ma­tize for our sum­mit attempt. This includes spend­ing a night at 23,294 feet / 7100 meters before descend­ing back to ABC. We rest at ABC for approx­i­mate­ly 4 days depend­ing on weath­er and the strength of the team. On our sum­mit push we climb to Camp 1, then Camp 2 and then estab­lish Camp 3 at 23,294 feet / 7400 meters. On sum­mit day we leave at 2 am. Depend­ing on the strength of the team we should sum­mit between 9 – 11 am We will descend to our high camp or Camp 2 for the night. The next day we will descend to ABC.

Day 41

BASE CAMP

Ele­va­tion: 18,500 ft / 5600 m

Our yaks will arrive in the morn­ing. We trek down to base camp and arrive late in the day.

Day 42-43

ZHANG­MU

Ele­va­tion: 7,500 ft / 2300 m

In the morn­ing we will have a quick clean-up of the base camp area before the trucks pick us up there. We then make the adven­tur­ous dri­ve to Zhang­mu on the bor­der of Tibet and Nepal.

Day 44

KATH­MAN­DU

Ele­va­tion: 4,383 ft / 1336 m

After check­ing through with the Chi­nese bor­der patrol and cus­toms, we dri­ve through the lush coun­try of Nepal. The coun­try­side is filled with warm and friend­ly peo­ple, beau­ti­ful water­falls and ter­raced hillsides.

Day 45-46

FLY HOME

Depart Kath­man­du and fly home.

Note on Itin­er­ary: Although we do our very best to fol­low the sched­ule list­ed, this itin­er­ary is sub­ject to change due to inclement weath­er, unsafe route con­di­tions, or oth­er rea­sons beyond our con­trol and in the guide’s best judgement.