Tibet Shambhala Adventure was founded in 2000 and is a Tibetan owned adventure travel company based in Lhasa.
Dawa Tsering: “All our staff, including the office workers, guides, drivers and cooks, are Tibetans. We are enthusiastic and have a deep knowledge and understanding of our culture, religion and environment since all of us were born and grew up in Tibet.
We specialize in trekking, Kailash adventure tours, small peak climbing, motor bike tours and mountain bike trips.
We also organize tours to the remoter, less visited parts of the Tibetan Plateau and offer tailor-made unique tours or treks for those who want to get off the beaten track, using horses or yaks to carry the luggage. Our treks are accompanied by experienced Tibetan guides, and Tibetan cooks who are used to cater to foreign visitors. They can prepare Tibetan, Chinese, Indian and Western food as well as a beautiful birthday cake even if you are staying 5000m above sea level!
We think it important that our tours and treks benefit the local communities and have a limited impact on the environment. We help local young generations to continue their college and universities. We also try to benefit local communities as much as possible by for example operating special tours that visit schools for physically handicapped and blind children, handicraft shops, home stays and family visits.
We employ more than fifty local Tibetan staff, including the office staff and field staff. We have 17 Tibetan tour guides and all of them speak perfect English and some of them do also speak good French. We are one of the few local owned companies who provide French speaking guides.
We pioneered in giving training to young disadvantaged Tibetans in cooking and hospitality.
We look after our staff and provide them with extra incentives and insurance including medical insurance, commercial insurance, pension insurance, and industrial injury insurance.
We use as much as possible local transportation of pack yaks with yak herders or pack horses and horse men for the trekking tours, to create income for them and their families.
We use wherever it is available local Tibetan owned hotels, guest houses and restaurants for our trips.”
Staff Training
As an eco-friendly and responsible travel company, we found that giving training to our staff is one of the most important thing.
Ever since Tibet Shambhala Adventure was founded, we invited many of our business partners from Europe, who have more than forty years of experience in tourism, to giving training to our staff. These trainings focussed on teaching the field staff how to take care of the environment, how to bring the garbage back to the city from our remote adventure camping tours, how to love nature and how to provide first aid to clients if someone is sick in a remote area.
We have started our most challenging training in 2002, which is camping and cooking training for local Tibetan boys who could not continue their studies after their primary or middle school because of their poor family’s financial problems.
We spent a pretty big amount of money and in the beginning we invited some Nepalese Sherpas to give the trainees basic training in pitching tents, serving clients in the field and cooking Western food. We then gave a chance to the first group of trainees to work as interns on the cooking team, and paid them the same salary as an experienced assistant. During off season in winter time, we helped them to train further in the restaurants in Lhasa who serve continental food.
Our goal for doing this training was to convince our customers to accept a local Tibetan cooking team for the adventure camping tours, instead of the common Nepalese Sherpa team who used to be hired for the Tibetan trekking tours. It was thought that only the Sherpa teams could give a high level of service and good food to clients.
By using a local Tibetan cooks team we wanted the local Tibetans to benefit from the development of tourism in our country. Only a Tibetan team know the places better and they can communicate with the local communities.
In the beginning, our international business partners resisted the idea of having a Tibetan trekking team. But after a couple of years of training and hard work we invite our business partners and their friends for a short adventure camping tour lead by a fully Tibetan team. They finally understood that our Tibetan cooking team could not only serve the same great continental food like the Sherpa cooks, but also could find very nice camping spots and managing the trash in an eco-friendly and responsible tourism way.
Since 2004, we offer local Tibetan cooking teams on all our adventure camping tours and all of our customers are very much satisfied with our team’s service.
We have a big French market but unfortunately, we did not have any local French speaking guides till 2012. We always had to send one Nepalese French speaking guide with a local Tibetan English speaking guide for our French groups since most of our French groups are older and they do not speak good English.
In 2010, Tibet Shambhala Adventure, Tirawa in France and Base Camp Trekking in Nepal joint hands, and we have started the Winter French Training Course for our English speaking guides free of cost. We started the course by inviting a very good French teacher from Alliance France in Nepal for the first year. Later we held the Winter French Training Course by inviting the foreign teachers from Tibet University. From 2012, we have 7 good French speaking guides and we do not need Nepalese guides anymore for our French groups.
We are always very active and our staff joined different kinds of training including the Eco-tourism and First Aid and Marketing trainings, organized by Columbia University, responsible tourism training organized in Europe, several training organized by ICIMOD and a number of trainings, organized by the Tibet Tourism Bureau and China National Tourism Bureau.
Staff members
Dawa Tsering - Managing Director
Since my younger age, I had a dream of learning English and took English as main subject in the Tibetan University. After my graduation, in early 1990s, I worked in an NGO called Tibet Heritage Fund, under management and sponsored by the German government. Their main project was to preserve the traditional Tibetan houses and old monasteries around the Jokang temple and Old Bharkor street. I have worked as an interpreter between Foreign professors and Tibetan architects.
Later, I found that my life was still not active enough by staying in the same place from year to year and I liked to know different people from the other side of the world so I decided to work in tourism.
In the beginning, I worked as a tour guide and I have been to every corner of Tibet. The more I traveled, the more I realized Tibet is a very beautiful country with it’s diverse culture and boundless plateau surrounded by the beautiful Himalayan mountain range. As being a Tibetan, I felt like I had a responsibility to introducing our beautiful homeland to the world in an Eco-friendly and responsible way. This strong feeling urged me to found Tibet Shambhala Adventure with an energetic local Tibetan team, having deep Tibetan cultural background and travel experiences in the high plateau.
We grew from a tiny tour operation in an alleyway office to an award-winning experienced local Tibetan Travel Company lauded by the likes of China Tibet Tourism Bureau Advanced Enterprise Tourism, Unique & Best Service Provider enterprise consecutively from 2009 and the first class Tibet Travel Company, chosen by the China Tibet Tourism Bureau in 2012.
We helped thousands of clients to have their Tibet travel dream come true.
Choedark - Operations Manager and Sales
Choedark was born in Gongkar County. He came to Lhasa and started his English learning in Lhasa academy of social sciences after graduated from high school. He kept dreaming to engage in the tourism industry for it is the best way to learn more about the profound culture of Tibet. Since 2004, he worked as an English tour guide for four years and then jointed Tibet Shambhala Adventure. With the rich experience in traveling every corner together with the clients, Choedark has deepest understanding of our clients’ needs. Therefore he is now working in the office and making all the arrangements and itineraries for our clients.
Basang - Financial manager
Basang is 56 years old and he was born in Lhasa. As a certified accountant he has accumulated more than thirty years of experience in the accounting field. As the oldest person in our team he started his professional career as early as 1976. After four years of excellent job performance, he was send to Tibet University for Nationalities in Xian city of mainland China for further education in the accounting field (1995-1997). Since then, he started his long term career in the accounting field.
Dekyi Yangzom - Sales manager and web writer
As like a born traveler, Dekyi Yangzom was born in Nyingtri and moved in Lhasa with her parents when she was 5 years old. And she was sent to the schools in mainland China for a better education since she finished primary school in homeland Tibet. After finished seven years of schooling in the cities of mainland China, she graduated from Shanxi university in 1993. Then she was assigned to a primary school as a teacher.
Dekyi Yanzom is a very active and out-going person and she loves traveling everywhere and learn from different people from varies countries and cities. She is a multilingual members in our team as she speaks fluent Chinese (both Mandarin & Cantonese)、English and of course, Tibetan too as she is a native Tibetan as well.
Dawa - Vehicle Department manager
Dawa was born in Rinbuk county, Shigatse. He just finished middle school and then moved to Lhasa with his sister. In his early age, he has worked in the China Tibet Construction Bureau and worked in the security department. Later he learnt how to drive and passed his driving license test.
Since 2002, he got a chance to work in Tibet Shambhala Adventure and he has traveled to every corner of Tibet with thousands of customers.
Since 2008, he was chosen to stay in the office and worked for arranging the vehicles for our groups and today, he is acting as the manager of the vehicle department.
Jamphel - Guide department manager and Sales
Jampel was born in Lhasa and he has worked for many different kinds of NGO until he joined Tibet Shambhala Adventure.
He joint Tibet Shambhala Adventure in 2006 and worked as an English speaking guide for several years. After traveling to many parts of Tibet, he joint our sales department.
He is not only a good team builder and making good relationship with other teams, but also knows what kind of tour guides are needed for specific tour groups.
Dolkar - Sales and Ticketing assistant
The youngest member in our team, Dolkar was born in Linzhou County in Lhasa. Although she is really young, she already worked in the tourism industry for six years after she graduated from high school.
She joined Tibet Shambhala Adventure in 2013, and now working as a Ticketing Assistant while she is also responsible for the hotel reservation and train and air tickets for our clients as well as sales work。Since she is very energetic, we believe that she would become another professional talent in the future as she is moving forward step by step.
Sangmo - Permit department
Sangmo was born in Shigatse and finished her high school in 2008. Then she came to Lhasa, where a lot of tour guides and other people were working in the tourism industry, she also want to be one of them. In 2009, she was so lucky to be selected and got a chance to work as receptionist at Hotel Autun at the very beginning of her brand new career.
In 2003, Sangmo joined Shambhala Adventure and now she is specialize in permit making work for our clients.
Tashi Dhundrup - guide
Tashi Dhundrup was born in the Everest region. Since Tashi’s childhood, Tashi had a dream of learning English and wanted to be an English tour guide. Tashi was convinced to learn English when he saw some Tibetan elder brothers who came to the Everest region with Western tourists.
In late1990s, Tashi moved to Lhasa and he got a chance to study English at both the Tibetan university and the social academic of science in Lhasa. In 2003, Tashi passed the China Tibet tour guide exam and he achieved his dream of being an English tour guide.
He joined Tibet Shambhala Adventure. Tashi is not only knowledgeable in Tibetan culture, religion, history etc but also a very experienced and responsible tour guide.
Tashi - guide
Tashi Delek! My name is Tashi Dhundrup. My hometown is in the Everest region. After finishing my high school, I took English as a major subject and spent three more years to learn about tourism.
Finally I became a qualified English tour guide in 2001. I have been working as a tour guide for 15 years in Tibet Shambhala Adventure and I really enjoyed my job. I always like traveling and I make friends easily. I also like to share my knowledge of culture, religion, our people lives with other people from all over the world as a small contribution and a gift that I can give to our beloved customers.
Nyima Choedar - guide
Nyima Choedar was born in Nakartse county of Lhoka prefecture. Nyima Choedar was graduated from high school in Lhoka and came to Lhasa in 2001 for better English learning.
Since 2007, Nyima has worked as an English speaking guide in Tibet Shambhala Adventure. After several years of hard work, In 2010, Tibet Shambhala Adventure has selected some of the best guides and gave a free French language training.
Nyima Choedar was also selected. Nyima Choedar got a great opportunity of learning French in the winter time for three consecutive years .After three years of studying hard, Nyima Choedar began to lead French groups. Now Nyima Choedar has been working as both English and French speaking guide in our company.
Chime Tashi - guide
My name is Chime Tashi and I was born in 1976 in a remote area at the shore of Yamdrok lake. Like many other children, I finished my middle school and then continued my studies at the Tibetan Buddhism and Culture center and have studied about Tibetan culture, religion, history and language for several years.
In 2009, I joint Tibet Shambhala Adventure as a junior English speaking guide. Because of my passion and love in traveling and showing the beauty of Tibet to our great customers with deligent work, I got a good result in my work and I was chosen into the senior guide group.
Phuntsok - guide
My name Phuntsok. I was born in 1887 in the eastern region of Tibet. Since i had the opportunity to get my education from primary, middle and high schools, after that i joined a private language school in lhasa where i learned my English language.
Since i graduated from that school I went to another Tibetan school for 4 years where they are specialized on teaching Tibetan culture and Buddhism. In 2009 I joined the tour guide exam and luckily i passed the exam. Ever since, I joined Tibet Shambhala Adventure and work as an English speaking guide.
Tsering Wangchuk - guide
My name is Tsering Wangchuk. I was born in Lhoka, south of Lhasa. I had the opportunity to get my education from primary middle school. After that I studied English in Dongkhar language school for some years, then I got a chance to take the tour guide examination in 2009.
Luckily I passed exam and received official tour guide license, since then I joint Tibet Shambhala Adventure and have been working as an English tour guide.
I like my job and am always very much energetic and excited to show our beautiful homeland to our dear customers. I have a habit that I always take care of our customers same as I would of my family members and enjoying being with them and traveling with them.
Tashi - guide
My name is Tashi. I was born in Lhasa, Tibet. I had learned English language course here for few years, and then taught English language in an orphan school for almost seven years.
Even though it is a very good job to teach in the orphan school, I like being outside and being with different kinds of people, sharing my life experiences and knowledge so I decided to be a tour guide and took my guide exam in late 1990s. I passed the exam and got my official guide license.
Working as a professional cultural English speaking tour guide for almost 20 years, not only I have learnt a lot about the other side of the world from different people of different countries, but also I learnt more deeper knowledge of our own culture, religion, and history.
Sera Road, Tashi Xintsun, Group 3, No 12, Lhasa, Tibet
Since my younger age, I had a dream of learning English and took English as main subject in the Tibetan University. After my graduation, in early 1990s, I worked in an NGO called Tibet Heritage Fund, under management and sponsored by the German government. 
Choedark was born in Gongkar County. He came to Lhasa and started his English learning in Lhasa academy of social sciences after graduated from high school. He kept dreaming to engage in the tourism industry for it is the best way to learn more about the profound culture of Tibet. Since 2004, he worked as an English tour guide for four years and then jointed Tibet Shambhala Adventure. 
Basang is 56 years old and he was born in Lhasa. As a certified accountant he has accumulated more than thirty years of experience in the accounting field. 
As like a born traveler, Dekyi Yangzom was born in Nyingtri and moved in Lhasa with her parents when she was 5 years old. And she was sent to the schools in mainland China for a better education since she finished primary school in homeland Tibet. After finished seven years of schooling in the cities of mainland China, she graduated from Shanxi university in 1993. Then she was assigned to a primary school as a teacher.
Dawa was born in Rinbuk county, Shigatse. He just finished middle school and then moved to Lhasa with his sister. In his early age, he has worked in the China Tibet Construction Bureau and worked in the security department. Later he learnt how to drive and passed his driving license test. 
Jampel was born in Lhasa and he has worked for many different kinds of NGO until he joined Tibet Shambhala Adventure.
The youngest member in our team, Dolkar was born in Linzhou County in Lhasa. Although she is really young, she already worked in the tourism industry for six years after she graduated from high school.
Sangmo was born in Shigatse and finished her high school in 2008. Then she came to Lhasa, where a lot of tour guides and other people were working in the tourism industry, she also want to be one of them. In 2009, she was so lucky to be selected and got a chance to work as receptionist at Hotel Autun at the very beginning of her brand new career.
Tashi Dhundrup was born in the Everest region. Since Tashi’s childhood, Tashi had a dream of learning English and wanted to be an English tour guide. Tashi was convinced to learn English when he saw some Tibetan elder brothers who came to the Everest region with Western tourists.
Tashi Delek! My name is Tashi Dhundrup. My hometown is in the Everest region. After finishing my high school, I took English as a major subject and spent three more years to learn about tourism.
Nyima Choedar was born in Nakartse county of Lhoka prefecture. Nyima Choedar was graduated from high school in Lhoka and came to Lhasa in 2001 for better English learning. 
My name is Chime Tashi and I was born in 1976 in a remote area at the shore of Yamdrok lake. Like many other children, I finished my middle school and then continued my studies at the Tibetan Buddhism and Culture center and have studied about Tibetan culture, religion, history and language for several years. 
My name Phuntsok. I was born in 1887 in the eastern region of Tibet.
My name is Tsering Wangchuk. I was born in Lhoka, south of Lhasa. I had the opportunity to get my education from primary middle school. After that I studied English in Dongkhar language school for some years, then I got a chance to take the tour guide examination in 2009. 
My name is Tashi. I was born in Lhasa, Tibet. I had learned English language course here for few years, and then taught English language in an orphan school for almost seven years. 