Snow Lion Journeys

Intimate Tours of Tibet

Your Guide

I am Karen Swenson. I’ve crossed Tibet with nine other people of all nationalities in the back of a Chinese truck; I've hitched; I've done it by bus. I’ve written about Tibet and other places in Asia for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as well as for other publications.

Now I take a small group once a year from the Lhasa to the Yarlung Valley to Tsaparang, circumambulating the sacred mountain, Mt. Kailash along the way.

Tibet — Up Close and Personal

This is an intimate trip—Tibet up close and personal. For me it is a labor of love. We stay in a few hotels when we are in Lhasa, Gyantze or Shigatze. Otherwise we camp in two-person tents, although you can certainly have a tent all to yourself.

We have two teams accompanying us. One is Nepali. They cook, put up tents, boil water to drink and wash in. The second team is Tibetan consisting of a guide/translator, jeep drivers and the truck driver.

The group is never larger than 12 people and is usually smaller. Below you will find information about the places we visit—a rough itinerary—as well as pages on what to pack, health & climate, customs and a reading list.