After months of reading and researching and mulling over what I want to see, I've finally settled on an itinerary.
Favorite sources of information - Frommer's website, Lonely Planet website - particularly the Thorn Tree Forum and wikitravel.org.
Frommer's is especially useful for planning daily itineraires because it is chock full of information from travel experts about what to see and provides suggested walking tours (great for small cities like Kathmandu and Llhasa). Lonely Planet and wikitravel are great for getting insider tidbits from fellow travellers, like where and when to go to get tickets to see the major sites, what tourist traps to avoid, how much to pay for taxis, etc.
- Day 1 (09/25). Depart DC > Newark > New Delhi
- Day 2 (9/26). Arrive New Delhi
- Days 3-4 (09/27-28). Tour New Delhi
- Day 5 (09/29). Depart New Delhi > Agra
- Day 6 (09/30). Tour Agra. Taj Mahal, here I come!
- Day 7 (10/01). Depart Agra > New Delhi
- Day 8 (10/2). Depart New Delhi > Kathmandu
- Days 9-11 (10/3-5). Tour Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur
- Days 12-16 (10/6-10). Leave Kathmandu > Lhasa . Tour Lhasa. First stop. The Potala Palace!
- Day 17 (10/11). Depart Lhasa > Gyantse
- Days 18-19 (10/12-13). Depart Gyantse > Shigatse > Sakya
- Day 20. (10/14). Depart Sakya > Everest Base Camp. Mount Everest, baby. Need I say more?
- Day 21 (10/15). Depart Everest Base Camp > Lao Tingri
- Day 22 (10/16). Depart Lao Tingri > Zhangmu
- Days 23-25 (10/17-19). Depart Zhangmu > Kathmandu
- Day 26 (10/20). Depart Kathmandu > New Delhi > Newark > DC
