Lhasa: 3658m
Gangbala mountain surpass: 5030m
Yamdrok Lake observation deck: 4998m
Yamdrok Lake surface: 4441m
Gyantse: 4050m
Shigatse: 3860m
Everest Base Camp: 5150m
Saga: 4600m
Darchen: 4700m
First day trek accommodation: Drirapuk 5080m
Drolma-La Pass:: 5660m
Second day trek accommodation: Dzultripuk 4835m
Lhasa City:
The altitude of Lhasa city is just 3658 meters. Two or three nights in Lhasa should be enough for the tourists to adapt to the altitude of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The itinerary schedule in Lhasa city is not too tight so the visitors could have enough time to adapt and rest.
Getting a mild case of altitude sickness like symptoms of dizziness, headache, insomnia, loss of appetite is normal, as long as it’s not very serious altitude reactions, the symptoms will ease or disappear generally within a day or two.
Gangbala Pass:
Gangbala Pass is a high-altitude mountain surpass with an elevation of 5030 meters on the way from Lhasa to Yamdrok Lake. Reach the altitude of 5000 meters in 3 hours right after leaving Lhasa is still a challenge for some tourists although just driving pass the surpass with no lingering here for long.
The observation deck of Yamdrok Lake is also located at a relatively high altitude, so that you can have a bird's eye view of Yamdrok Lake. But once leaving the observation deck, you will go all the way down the mountain. The lake surface is only 4441 meters above sea level.
Rongbuk Monastery Guesthouse:
In general, this is the fifth day of your journey. And you are going to stay overnight at the Mt. Everest scenic area. Most of the tourits have adapted to the plateau climate and altitude by then, but still this is the highest accommodation so far.
Coupled with long driving hours, the tourists are relatively tired. It is not excluded that some of them will still have discomfort tonight. Feeling dizziness, nausea or insomnia is totally normal. But don't worry. Once you leave the high altitude area the next morning and head for saga, the symptoms with relieve at once.
Darchen:
Darchen is the town with altitude of 4,700 meters at the foot of the Mt. Kailash, also the last night stay in town before your 3 days hiking. Darchen is a small town, but there are many restaurants and small shops where you can get chocolates, Snickers, drinking water and so on.
The night in Darchen, make sure to put yourself to bed as early as possible, since you need to save your strength for the next day’s hiking. You may need to gather at the hotel hall and depart early in the morning the next day. Early departure in the morning, early arrival at the Drirapuk local guesthouse.
Drirapuk and Dzultripuk:
The altitude of the first and second day’s hiking accommodation is 5080 and 4835 meters respectively. Although the first day's lodging place has a higher altitude than the Rongbuk Gesthouse, but it should not be a problem because the tourists have been adapted for more than 1 week. And after a whole day hike of about 20 kilometers, I am sure you would sleep like a log.
Drolma-La Pass:
This is the highest point of the hike and the whole trip, 5660m. From where you stayed last night to Drolma-La Pass, it is only 8 kilometers distance, but it takes about four hours to get there. The continuous uphills are not easy.
But for whom has excellent sport abilities and often participate in outdoor activities like running, rock climbing, hiking, etc. They may able to reach the Drolma-La Pass within 3 hours, but usually around 4 hours would be required for most of the tourists, sometimes even 5-6 hours. Please do not push yourself, just follow your own rhythm and do it at your own pace.
