MANTRA OM MANI PADME HUM ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པདྨེ་ཧཱུཾ་

While traveling in Tibet you will see this phrase carved and painted on the stones on the photo above very often. It is the most popular Tibetan mantra – OM MANI PADME HUM. It is a very important mantra and you will hear it from many Tibetans when visiting temples, monasteries, or walking around Jokhang Temple or Potala Palace. Whenever you want to join Tibetans in their prayers, you can always recite this mantra!

Most Tibetans speak only their native Tibetan language, some speak Chinese, and very few speak English. Even in large cities, most people don’t speak English. You can communicate in English at a hotel reception and large restaurants. There are some signs in Lhasa and on the major roads in English. However, for the most part of your traveling in Tibet, you will rely on your guide for translations and communication with other people you might meet along the way.

Below we listed some of the most commonly used phrases in Tibetan. If you learn just a few of them to greet your new Tibetan friends, thank them, and say good-bye, they will be thrilled to hear it from you! More Tibetan phrases will help you to find your way around cities, order food from small tea houses and ask for help when you need it. Save these phrases before traveling to Tibet and enjoy your trip!

TOP 15 TIBETAN PHRASES

Hello — Ta-shi-de-lek — བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་

Thank you — Thuk-jay-chey — ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེ་

Sorry — Gong-da — དགོངས་དག་

Goodbye (when you are leaving)— Ka- lee-shuk — ག་ལེར་བཞུགས་

Goodbye (when you are staying) — Ka-lee-pay — ག་ལེར་འཕེབས་

Is it ok to take a photo? — Par-gyab-na-di-ghee-re-bay — པར་རྒྱབ་ན་འགྲིག་གི་རེ་པས་

My name is …. — Ngay-ming-la …. ray — ངའི་མིང་ལ་…..རེད་

What is your name? — Kay-rang-gi-ming-la-ka-re-zer-gi-yoe — ཁྱེད་རང་གི་མིང་ལ་ག་རེ་ཟེར་གྱི་ཡོད་

How are you? — Kay-rang-de-po-yin-bay — ཁྱེད་རང་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན་པས

Fine, and you? — De-po-yin, kay-rang-yang-de-po-yin-bay — བདེ་པོ་ཡིན་ ཁྱེད་རང་ཡང་བདེ་པོ་ཡིན་པས་

Yes — Re — རེད།

No — Mare — མ་རེད་

OK — Yaya — ཡ་ཡ་

See you later — Jesu jel yong — རྗེས་སུ་འཇལ་ཡོང་

Goodnight — Sim jak nang go — གཟིམ་འཇགས་གནང་གོ་

SHOPPING

Souvenirs for sale in Barkhor supermarket, Lhasa

When shopping outside of supermarkets and large stores, remember to bargain with sellers. If you buy fruit, vegetable, or anything else by weight, the listed price is for half kg (500 grams) or roughly 1 pound. Sellers usually show the price on a calculator or a phone.

How much is it? — Gong-ka-tsay-ray — གོང་ག་ཚོད་རས་

It’s too expensive — Gong-chay-drak-sha — གོང་ཆེ་དྲག་ཞག་

Can you give me a lower price? — Gong chungzam nang dang? — གོང་ཆུང་ཙམ་གནང་དང་

How much is one pound(½kg)? — Gyama chik la gong gatshö re? — རྒྱ་མ་གཅིག་ལ་གོང་ག་ཚོད་རས་

IN A RESTAURANT

Please give me a glass of tea — Ja chik nang ronang ཇ་གཅིག་གནང་རོགས་གནང

Is there any noodle soup? — Thukpa yaw-re-pe? — ཐུག་པ་ཡོད་རེད་པས་?

I don’t eat meat — Nga sha sza gi-me — ང་ཤ་ཟ་གི་མེད་

How much is it? — Khyöndom gong gatshö re? — ཁྱོན་བསྡོམས་གོང་ག་ཚོད་རས་?

This food is delicious! — Khala di shimpo du — ཁ་ལག་འདི་ཞིམ་པོ་འདུག་

Enough! Thank you! — Lamen Drik-song — ལ་མན་ …. འགྲིག་སོང

GETTING AROUND/ DIRECTIONS

Please help me — Nga la rokpa nang ronang — ང་ལ་རོག་པ་གནང་རོག་གནང་

Where is… the hotel? — … Drön-khang་gapa yaw-re? — … མགྲོན་ཁང་ག་པར་ཡོད་རད་

Where is a toilet/ bathroom? — Sang choe gapa yaw re? གསང་སྤྱོད་ག་པར་ཡོད་རད་

How many hours is it to Lhasa? — Lhasa bardu chu-tshö gatshö go-gi re? — ལྷ་ས་བར་དུ་ཆུ་ཚོད་ག་ཚོད་མགོར་གྱི་རས་

Where is a hospital？— Menkhang gapa yaw-re? — སྨན་ཁང་ག་པར་ཡོད་རས་

Let’s go — Ta-dro — གོང་ཆེ་དྲག་ཞག་

PREPARE FOR TIBET TOUR

VISA AND PERMITS

To visit Tibet, most tourists need a Chinese visa. In addition, your Tibetan agency will apply for Tibet Travel Permit.

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Tibetan airlines in Lhasa Gonggar airport

FLIGHTS TO TIBET

You can take a flight from all major cities in China and from Kathmandu in Nepal. Many of the flights are non-stop.

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TRAINS TO TIBET

Trains to Lhasa depart from all large Chinese cities. On the way, you will enjoy exceptional views of Tibetan plateau.

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TOUR INQUIRY

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TESTIMONIALS

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An unforgettable private tour through Tibet

‘Wonders of Tibet’ is a family-run business and when you travel with them, you become part of an extended family that offers a very personal, accommodating and flexible service throughout. I travelled to Tibet by myself in September 2019 but managed to arrange to be part of a larger trekking group for a few days… Read more “An unforgettable private tour through Tibet”

Natascha Slasten

The best guide, we have ever met – thank you Gyaltsen very much!!!

August 2018 – It was wonderful trip to Tibet. Our friendly guide, Gyaltsen, has told us a lot about religion and culture of this amazing country! He has also made our journey very comfortable, since everything was very well planned. He told us about Tibetan traditional medicine preventing altitude sickness – we could sleep well… Read more “The best guide, we have ever met – thank you Gyaltsen very much!!!”

Kozyra Agnieszka

Exceptional guide: Gyaltsen

I had the chance to take a 2 weeks trip around western Tibet (Lhasa – Shigatse – Mt Kailash – Manasarovar- EBC) with Gyaltsen as a guide. I have no word to express how grateful I was to have him as a guide. He not only is the most experimented and reliable guide but he… Read more “Exceptional guide: Gyaltsen”

Remy

Perfectly organized trekking tour

I did a trekking tour with Kalsang in August, we went from Ganden to Samye. It is a very beautiful trek and we enjoyed the scenery around us every day. The trek was a little difficult, but Kalsang was encouraging me and helping when it was necessary. I am happy I did it. Great memories… Read more “Perfectly organized trekking tour”

Kelly

Private 16-Day Trip in Tibet

I had a fulfilling & satisfying 16-day trip in Tibet with my ever so attentive tour guide & driver. My fears and uncertainties were allayed as I began my travels with them. It had been such an enjoyable pilgrimage that I looked forward to travel with them soon; real soon. Terry Singapore

Terry

Great experience

My guide was wonderful, he arranged everything and I only had to buy tickets to get to Tibet. I am vegetarian and every time we went to restaurant or tea house, he made an extra effort to arrange a vegetarian meal for me. I had an amazing time in Tibet!

Maria

Tibet travel with the best tour guide Gyaltsen!

Our group of 4 had Gyaltsen’s superb guidance for 5 days, traveling thru Lhasa and a few other places in the vicinity in the summer of 2015. Gyaltsen is knowledgeable, resourceful, friendly, honest and I wholeheartedly recommend Gyaltsen’s service to anyone looking for a safe traveling to Tibet. I, in fact did recommend his service… Read more “Tibet travel with the best tour guide Gyaltsen!”

T. Nguyen

Trip of a lifetime in Tibet

Our party of three joined several others from all parts of the world for an 8 day adventure to EBC. Upon meeting Gaps at the airport, he ensured we were all taken care of and settled in before our tour started the next day. Gaps was always very friendly and accommodating for our group. He… Read more “Trip of a lifetime in Tibet”

Lacey

Great travel

Hello everyone ! I’m was in Tibet in 2014, the group was led by Gyaltsen. It was thanks to him that the trip turned out to be well planned, comfortable and very informative. Gyaltsen is a very competent guide, who loves his work and is able to show and explain everything, while creating a maximum… Read more “Great travel”

Jonni (Yevgeniy) , Kazakhstan

Best travel ever.

I travelled a lot and they are one of the best travel agent I have come across. They try their very best to countermeasure any unforeseen event. Make changes to make sure all their customers enjoy their trip and not being interrupt by anything. Way to go and keep up the good job!

Elaine soong

The best way to discover Tibet

I travelled to Tibet in 2013 together with two friends. We were lucky enough to have the best tour guide ever, Gyaltsen, who showed us (a small part of) his homeland and answered all our questions. He’s extremely nice and helpful and speaks a perfect English. We had a private tour, which we planned in… Read more “The best way to discover Tibet”

Valeria

A perfect trip

Our trip to Tibet in April 2015 exceeded our expectations on every level, the whole experience was nothing short of magical. In April 2015 we joined a 7 day tour in Tibet. Far and away, the highlight of our trip was our local guide, Gyaltsen.So fantastic that we felt like he became part of our… Read more “A perfect trip”

carla

excellence experience and a trip in a life time

I and my family had a 7 day trip to Tibet in 2015. Gap was our tour guide. He is very knowledgeable, and very friendly. He has arranged very well our whole trip, from where to stay, what food to try, the beautiful views and rich culture! We especially value his deep knowledge and his… Read more “excellence experience and a trip in a life time”

Liang Shi

Simply otherworldly

Few places in the world have ever made such a lasting impression on us as Tibet did. The magnificent views, otherworldly and everchanging landscapes and the deep spiritual devotion of the tibetan population are, among other things, what made this 8day trip from the former forbidden city of Lhasa to the recently re-opened Nepali border… Read more “Simply otherworldly”

Nicolas and Liesbeth

An experience for life in Tibet thanks to guide Gyaltsen

It is my pleasure to write this review about our trip with guide Gyaltsen in Tibet. It was our second trip to this fascinating country and culture. We – my wife, daughter and me – were interested in the history, culture and religion of Tibet and in its amazing landscape and nature. During 10 days… Read more “An experience for life in Tibet thanks to guide Gyaltsen”

Dr. Werner Nader

Awesome adventure in Tibet

I went to Tibet with my ex girlfriend in the summer and Gaps was amazing. What started off as a trek to base camp ended in a complete emersion into Tibet. From experiencing the cuisine and host family stays to sightseeing and the insightful discussions with Gaps, the trip to base camp was amazing don’t… Read more “Awesome adventure in Tibet”

Chris

A must visit

It was with great experienced having the private tour with Mr.Gaps. Realizing the much differences between Tibetan and others. So much mysteries to know about. We were having a birthday party too! It is a peaceful and tranquil place everyone dreams of. Away from the hustle and bustle of cities, people go round chasing something… Read more “A must visit”

Marcus Sae Yen Hong

Great experience

I went to Tibet with my friend in spring of 2016. We joined a group of 10+ people from all over the world for the 8-day EBC trip and had Gaps as our tour guide. The whole process prior to the trip was very smooth and they provided us with tips on planning on our… Read more “Great experience”

Mengqi Wan

Fantastic trip – best of my life!

We did the 8 day Lhasa – Mount everest tour with a small group and I absolutely loved every moment from this trip. Gaps was a great and fun guide and very aknowledged about Tibetan Buddhism and culture. I highly recommend him as your guide so you can get the full Tibet experience. It was… Read more “Fantastic trip – best of my life!”

Jessica from the Netherlands!

Tibet travel

Gyaltsen is very experienced guide and his knowledge about Tibetan Buddhism, culture and places is amazing. I did a 8 days EBC trip and everything was great. He was always able to provide assistance and information for all our needs including helping me to find some of the local homemade barley beer and Tibetan medicines… Read more “Tibet travel”

Nikolay Hasekiev

Trip of a lifetime

Lacey

Glorious Tibet

I would like to highly recommend Gyaltsen as your tour guide he drew us into a new and different world full of Tibetan culture and wonder. We found him very knowledgeable and informative with a great sense of adventure and humour. Nothing was ever too much trouble I would highly recommend him truly the trip… Read more “Glorious Tibet”

Peta Duncalf

Rongbuk Temple Meditation Liberation

Gaps is very humble and helpful, thoughtful and insightful, and able to flavour a tour in quite a unique manner, catering even to spiritual desire. It was Gaps that introduced me to Lama Acu Sangye at the foot of Mount Everest. And I have him to thank for such an enlightening experience. The meeting of… Read more “Rongbuk Temple Meditation Liberation”

Jim

Excellent information and services

I went to Lhasa with my twin brother and grand parents for 4 days. My grand mother was worried about the trip because she doesn’t travel much, but it turned out to be so easy to coordinate everything with our tour guide. Tickets, travel permits and practical information was sorted out in no time. We… Read more “Excellent information and services”

Stefan Riis Jensen