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Four Rivers, Six Ranges - A Kham Tibet Odyssey
offered by supplier M08534 (view this supplier profile)
Key Information:
Tour Duration: 14
day(s)
Group Size: 2
- 8
people
Destination(s):
China
Tibet
Specialty Categories:
Cultural Journey
Season: March - November
Airfare Included: No
Tour Customizable: Yes
Minimum Per Person Price: 2175 US Dollar (USD)
Maximum Per Person Price: 2300 US Dollar (USD)
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A variation on an old favourite from the days when this area was apparently closed to foreigners, a deep foray into the little explored reaches of Kham Tibet’s high plateau grasslands, mountains and valleys. A translation of the Tibetan for Kham, the 4 rivers refers to the Mekong, the Yangtze, the Yalong and the Salween rivers. Kham is both the most populated (strictly relative) and, arguably, culturally richest region of greater Tibet. The area stands out as having historically been a stamping ground for all five schools of Buddhism, a radical and refreshing change from the orthodoxies of central Tibet, and indeed provided the heartbeat of the 19th century non-sectarian Rimed movement. The trail heads into some truly remote areas, taking in several rarely visited monasteries and towns, and overall getting the full flavour of this remarkable region, before dropping down off the plateau into NW Yunnan and a final R&R period in Lijiang, the capital of the Naxi minority. Although we cover a huge area during this trip, the pace is actually quite gentle. Add to that the option of camping under those BIG skies, it makes for a flexible, easy-going and extremely rewarding road trip.
Your Itinerary
Day 1: Chengdu
Welcome to SW China! Chengdu is a huge intense city, with a history dating back to pre-Han dynasty… It has variously acted as a dynastic capital and centre of southern radicalism, before reaching its status today as provincial capital of Sichuan and home to some 6 million people. Today it carries all its history with it in the sheer complexity of its layout and culture - modern boulevards, intersected by mazes of narrow crooked side streets, traditional neighbourhoods next to high end department stores, Sichuan opera houses, the Mao statue in the main square, the street-side restaurants serving arguably some of the best food in China, the parks, Zen monastery and neighbourhood tea houses - where for centuries rebellion has been plotted.
After pick-up from the airport and consolidating the group we’ll hold an initial orientation. For those arriving early, options in this heaving metropolis are many. You’ve heard how difficult it is to get pandas to mate, go see the research in action at the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base, the UN award-winning (and world’s most successful) breeding centre. Closer to town, enjoy an endless cup of tea and a massage by the river, a walk through the Zen Wenshu monastery - which boasts its own tea house, or take in a showing of a neighbourhood Sichuan Opera. Dinner at a hot pot restaurant will provide a chance for everybody to meet. Welcome to the fires of Sichuan…
Hotel
(D)
Day 2: Kangding
Dawn Taiqi, ballroom dancing (!) and a cuppa tea beckon for very early risers. Then we’ll all hit the road for an early start to this day's drive, which follows what was the old tea route between China and Tibet and is now the main military road into the TAR. We cross the 3000m Erlang pass and the 10-km Erlang tunnel, skirting north of the 7756m Minyak Gangkar (Gonggashan) to the south which given clear weather we should get views of, before stopping for lunch at Luding, site of one of the more heroic episodes of the Long March. By late afternoon we'll reach Kangding, a trading post between the Tibetan Highlands and Sichuan Lowlands and as such provides our first taste of Khampa Tibet.
4WD / Hotel
(B)
Day 3: Luhuo
A lot of distance covered today, made possible by some vastly improved roads, which first climb sharply through the mountains, crossing two passes - Gye La and Lama La (4320m) - to the high plateau, before coming to Tagong, where we’ll visit the impressive Lhagang Gompa, where views of Mt. Yalha (3809m) and Paojiashan (5400m) can be had. The valley leading to Luhuo is the widest in Kham, offering ample grazing lands and arable fields, consequently here are some of the wealthiest and prettiest Tibetan houses of the region. We’ll be stopping to visit some of the out-of-the-way monasteries we pass en route, including Nyitso Gompa (in Daofu) and the towering Drango Gompa, overlooking the town of Luhuo itself. Weather providing, we’ll camp in a scenic spot.
4WD / Camp
(B) (D)
Day 4: Ganzi
Road continues along the beautiful Shiqu valley. Lunch today will be a picnic within view of the resplendent Joro Lake, halfway along on today’s journey. After crossing the 3962m Latseka pass, it’s a short distance to Ganzi.
As so many are in this region, Ganzi is something of a cowboy town ,it is also THE market town in NE Kham, having gained wealth and influence as a meeting place serving the needs of the Khampa nomads to the west and north and the farmers from the surrounding plains. Up to a couple of years back, yaks roamed the streets, electricity was a rarity and the main form of entertainment for the nomads was drinking and playing pool on the outdoor tables that lined the streets. Now the shops and stalls selling all manner of Tibetan ware remain, but neon & KTV have arrived, if anything only increasing its wild west-like atmosphere. A dazzling site after several days on the road! Ganzi is quite simply very enjoyable.
Surrounded by the old Tibetan quarter, and with an eagle-eye view of town, is Kandzê Gompa, a large, very active, though very monastic/orthodox Gelukpa monastery that has seen its fortunes grow impressively in the last few years. Compared to many monasteries in the area, it has an almost austere atmosphere, but given time is worth the walk up.
4WD / Hotel
(B)
Day 5: Manigange
This is a superb stretch of road following the Yalong River, with the hillsides scattered with formations of prayer flags and one of the highest concentrations of monasteries in Kham - including Dargye Gompa (Gelukpa order - it’s the oldest of the 13 Horpa monasteries, and was once the top monastery in these parts. Renovation started in the ‘80s, and the interior painting, taking 7 years to complete, is astounding), Yazer Gompa, then Beri Gompa (originally an old Bönpo temple that converted to Gelukpa), as well as the ruins of Beri castle, the renovated Kablung Gompa and Böngen Gompa. Especially worth a detour is the 'hidden valley' of 17c Dzogchen Gompa (Nyingmapa), one of the most important monasteries in Kham, also recently renovated. Our pace will determine how many we have time to stop and see! Then retracing our path back south, we’ll take the turn-off at the small road-junction town of Manigange (3800m), and with a bit of luck - and weather providing - we’ll make it this evening to the banks of Yilhun Lhatso (4500m), on the road to Dege, for tonight’s campsite. Yilhun Lhatso is a beautiful blue lake surrounded by snowy mountains, held sacred by Tibetans as evidenced by the number of mani stone piles and prayer flags. With a bit of luck, we’ll have the glaciered Mt. Que’er as tonight’s backdrop.
4WD / Camp
(B) (D)
Day 6: Dege
Passing a small monastery Sakyapa monastery, the trail crests at the 4916m Tro La, and scenes change dramatically to rugged mountains and snowy peaks as we descend a steep series of switchbacks down into the steep-sided Zi-chu river gorge which takes us to a pretty valley where Dege is set.
A remote city with a long history, once the seat of the Kingdom of Dêrge, whose kings ruled this area independent of interference from either Lhasa or Beijing. Its most famous building is the Parkhang Printery, a magnificent building in and of itself, it’s been the main source of printed materials for much of the Kham area. Today it’s possible to observe the monks at work, using the same age-old wood block techniques. Gonchen Gompa, largely gutted, has now been restored, but with the original shell largely intact.
4WD / Guesthouse
(B)
Day 7: Katok Gompa
The road heads south through some stunning scenery, following the Yangtze River, bordering the TAR, passing a huge white chorten before reaching the turnoff to Hepo, where the early 12c Katok Gompa (which other than Samye near Lhasa is the oldest surviving monastery of the Nyingmapa and possibly the most sacred site in Kham) is located, 850m above town. A possible camping spot!
4WD / Camp
(B) (D)
Day 8: Xinlong
Back to the main road we continue to Baiyu, a pretty Tibetan town with tree-lined streets and a river, the Ding-chu, running through it. The important Pelyul Gompa (Nyingmapa) is located atop a hill behind town. This is a little-travelled road, which takes us past the Dorkho Gompa (Sakyapa), set in tiny town. It’s actually being refurbished. Just beyond this is the turnoff to Xinlong, and the trail takes up with the Yalong to arrive at Xinlong. Xinlong is a small town set alongside the banks of the Yalong River, largely unvisited due to a road only recently repaired/completed. It’s the capital of Nyarong county, a relatively poor area compared to its neighbours. Set atop the hill behind town is Zera Gompa, a teaching monastery with about upwards of 50 monks here.
4WD / Guesthouse
(B)
Day 9: Litang
After breakfast a day’s extreme backcountry drive, north as the trails wends its way through forested valleys and grassland, to Litang, at 4100m one of the highest towns in the world, set on a broad grassland with Lithang Gompa dominating it from the north. Litang itself has played a central part in the region, from its days as an independent Kingdom, allied with Kagyü rulers of the Kingdom of Dêrge, through its absorption by the great Gelukpa expansion east in the 16th, 17th & 18th centuries, to its position as a (nominal) outpost of the Qing dynasty all the way through to its role as a centre of resistance in the Khampa uprising against the incoming PLA in the 1950’s. As with Ganzi further north, it’s a market town and administrative centre, heavily coloured by its roots as a trading post for the Khampa nomads that populate the high plains.
4WD / Hotel
(B)
Day 10: Xiangcheng
Up early to catch Litang’s superb morning views and pay a visit to Lithang gompa, a huge monastery complex and one of Kham’s most prominent Gelukpa centres, founded 1580. Then comes a long day’s drive, dropping off the high plateau, then climbing a 4500m pass and heading for the foothills of the Hengduan mountain range and Xiangchang, the last town before the trail passes into Yunnan province. Along the way we’ll pass through the high rocky moonscape of Haizi Shan, indeed if time is tight we may camp there!
4WD / Hotel
(B)
Day 11: Zhongdian
Morning visit to Chaktreng Gompa. Recently built, it’s a huge towering colourful affair. Then still early we head due south for the beautiful drive to Yunnan, crossing 2 high passes to arrive in the late afternoon in Zhongdian. With a little luck (depending on state of the roads) they’ll be time to wander around. The huge, and in historical terms, very key, Songzanlin Gompa, commissioned in the 17c by the 5th Dalai Lama, and was the central monastery in the Gelukpa order’s south-eastern expansion. In the evening eat dinner at a neighbourhood BBQ joint, then off to the Natural Bridge hot springs for a soak under the stars.
Since the retreat of the Tibetans from the Lijiang area in the 19c, Zhongdian (Tib. Gyalthang) has pretty much marked the south-eastern border of Kham Tibet in Yunnan. It’s a curious mix of a recently prettified new town and an untouched old town, quite different from Lijiang to the south. Up until a few yeas ago, it had the rough reputation of a classic frontier town - but now things have calmed down, and its markets and the old town make for a fruitful afternoon stroll.
4WD / Hotel
(B)
Day 12: Lijiang Old Town
Initially the trail here heads up (again!) to 4000m before dropping down back into Naxi country via the limestone terraces of Baishuitai and Haba Mountain (Yunnan’s 3rd highest at 5396), then heading into Tiger Leaping Gorge, which although by no means as some claim the deepest gorge in the world, still a sight worth beholding. After lunch or tea on the gorge-front veranda, we start the short drive to Lijiang, where it’s time to wash off the dust, relax and reflect. For those who want, attend an evening’s performance of the famous (infamous?) Naxi orchestra.
4WD / Hotel
(B)
Day 13: Lijiang Old Town
Today’s pace can be as relaxed or energetic as you like, with time to explore the town’s back alleys, museums, artist and textile workshops, and cafes. We’re officially off the road now, so time to kick back and reflect.
Hotel
(B)
Day 14: Kunming
A little last minute shopping before an afternoon flight to Kunming, and a final meal together, which may just hold its own surprise!
Flight / Hotel
(B) (D)
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Included:
* all domestic airfares;
* breakfasts and all food while camping;
* accomodation;
* an experienced trip leader.
- UK Pounds (Double Occupancy):
* £1380 (2 people)
* £1085 (3-5 people)
* £980 (7-8 people)
Also see tour packages in:
Asia
China
Tibet
Cultural Journey
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