A most memorable experience in Tibet
My husband and I did a 10-day customised private Tibet tour with Tibet Vista. As I was afraid of altitude sickness, Sara arranged for us to start from Nyingchi 3100m to acclimatize well before going to Lhasa 3650m and to Namtso 4200m. We covered Nyingchi, Lulang, Ranwu, Midui Glacier, Lhasa and Namtso lake. We also saw the beautiful wild peach flowers at Bome, and the Hidden Mountain resort in Bome left an unforgettable postcard view.I requested for a guide with good photography skills and Sara recommended our guide Sonam and driver Liu Kang who has a new 2026 9-seater vehicle with oxygen tank. We were very pleased with driver Liu who values safety above all, and is obsessed with cleanliness of his vehicle. During our trip we had snowy, rainy and sunny days consecutively and really unpredictable. G318 is a difficult route with many trucks. Driver Liu was able to maneuver very well the difficult weather conditions on the road with safety as priority. Route 318 is a must do route in your lifetime, a beautiful route with nice mountain ranges. Liu and Sonam made such a perfect pair, collaborated well, always punctual, polite, neat, caring and were always funny along the journey sharing jokes and family stories making the long drives enjoyable. We had great fun, had lunch and sometimes dinner together just like friends. Sonam is a very experienced guide and his English is very good both spoken and written. He is always very positive and cheerful and laughs heartily. He is Tibetan and shared with us readily Tibetan culture and religious practices. He also brought us to yummy and hygienic places for lunch. His photography and videography skills are remarkable. He took so many beautiful photos of us and also made many nice videos for us. He also knows when and where to take nice photos. Example: at the Sera Monastery, he told us exactly where to stand and wait for the monks to enter the yard for the debate and which angle to take a nice video of the monks. He always suggests nice angle to photograph flowers, mountains, monastery and monks. Sonam encouraged us to walk slowly up Midui glacier and Potala palace, he was always reminding us to take our time to walk, take rest, take photographs and enjoy the scenes, not to rush to ensure safety since air is thin in the highlands. He also provided us directions and tips to walk around Lhasa old town and Muslim square. Tibet has always been on our bucket list but we were afraid to come due to altitude sickness. Starting from Nyingchi and having the care and encouragement from Sonam and Driver Liu, we acclimatised very well, we did not have to use oxygen during our trip. We enjoyed very much this trip and the friendship with Sonam and Liu. Thanks to Sara, Sonam and Liu for making our Tibet trip seamless. Although we did not plan to go to EBC and Shigaste this time, we may come another time! We left Tibet with such great memories and tons of photos and videos! We highly recommend our guide Sonam and Driver Liu Shifu.