Kham and Amdo Adventure
Here's is a sample itinerary for a Kham and Amdo adventure tour. Experience the unique culture of Kyekundo (Yushu) and Nangchen. Contact me for more information or to customize your own tour.
Summary
Day 1: Pickup from the Xining Airport
Day 2: Xining - Kumbum Monastery - Qinghai Lake – Hainan
Day 3: Serdzong Monastery - Kyekundo (Yushu)
Day 4: Kyekundo. Janak Mani Stone Field and Kyekundo Monastery
Day 5: Kyekundo Lhab monastery - Karsang Monastery and Tendu
Day 6: Karsang Monastery - Karna Monastery - Kyekundo
Day 7: Kyekundo -Zadao
Day 8: Zadao - Dzogchen Monastery and Ziru Monastery
Day 9: Zadao – Nangchen
Day 10: Nangchen - Gar monastery
Day 11: Nangchen - Surmang-Galden
Day 12: Surmang – Kyekundo
Day 13: Kyekundo fly back to Xining or Chengdu
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1:
Pickup from the Xining Airport
Xining is the capital of Qinghai Province and has a population of 2.5 million people and is at an elevation of 2,500 meters. It is an interesting city of many contrasts, home to many different cultures and customs and at least 6 six different people groups including Han Chinese, Mongolians, Tibetans, Tu, Salar, and Hui. We will sleep in Xining for acclimatization purposes.
Day 2:
Xining - Kumbum Monastery - Qinghai Lake – Hainan
We will drive 30 minutes from Xining to the famous Tibetan Buddhist monastery of Kumbum, which is home to over 600 monks, and the birth place of Tsongkapa the founder of the Yellow Hat or Gelugpa Sect. From Kumbum we will drive to Qinghai Lake, the largest salt lake in China, at 3,205 meters. We will drive 2 hours from Hainan to Serdzong Monastery in Xinghai County. Serdzong, home to over 350 monks, is a remote Buddhist monastery set on the side of a rugged mountain at over 3600m/12,000 feet. Serdzong provides excellent hiking opportunities.
Day 3:
Serdzong Monastery - Kyekundo (Yushu)
Today we will drive 670kms over some of the most wild and remote territory in Qinghai. We will start the day by driving 215km through nomadic grasslands to the highest nomad town in Qinghai Province, the small town of Madao at 4350m/14,300 feet. This town is named in Tibetan for its proximity to the headwaters of the Yellow River and offers incredible folklore of traditional horse racing festivals including the horse racing grounds where the once poor, humble boy named Gesar won his fame and his bride through his exploits as an expert horseman and became king of the Ling Kingdom.
From Madao we will drive another 445km to Kyekundu through high plateau scattered with traditional black tents handwoven from the warm hair of the yak. This breathtaking drive will take us through rugged and desolate scenery at elevations between 3,800 meters and 4,000 meters. We will get a taste for the harsh conditions that have made the Tibetan people to be so self-reliant and strong.
We will arrive just before dinner time in Kyekundu after a full day of grassland travel.
NOTE: We realize that this day is a lot of driving time. The reason we do this journey all in one day is so that we can acclimate correctly and do not have to sleep at a high altitude in Madao. We do offer the option to sleep in Madao after 215 km, however Madao is very high (500 meters higher than Kyekundo) at 4,300 meters so if you choose this option be aware that you will be travelling in a car less but sleeping at a significantly higher altitude. Given the remoteness of the Tibetan Plateau, Madao is the only town to stay in between Serdzong Monastery and Kyekundo. If you are interested in breaking up this 670 km drive into two days rather than one that is possible and you can inquire about this possibility.
Day 4:
Kyekundo. Janak Mani Stone Field and Kyekundo Monastery
In the morning we will visit Janak (Jiana) Mani Stone Field which is commonly known as Gyanak Mani. This is the world’s largest prayer stone pile with more than two billion praying stones hand-engraved with Buddhist scriptures and pictures. With a walking kora of more than 3 km in length, this holy site is regarded as both the largest and the holiest mani stone area in Tibet. There are thousands of pilgrims that come from all around the Kyekundo area from 100’s of kilometers away to walk around these mani stones every morning. We will walk shoulder to shoulder with these pilgrims and get a very personal view of their daily life and devotion. We will also have an opportunity to photograph these devout and wonderful pilgrims. In the afternoon we will visit Kyekundo Dondrubling Monastery, which is easily visible from the town where we will be staying. Established in the 14th century, this monastery sits prominently on a high hill and provides a sweeping view of Kyekundo city.
Day 5:
Kyekundo Lhab monastery - Karsang Monastery and Tendu
We will drive 2 hours past a forest of trees planted over 100 years ago by the founder and hig hest Lama of Lhab monastery. Lhab monastery is the biggest Gelugpa monastery in Yushu and is home to more than 400 monks. From Lhab monastery we will drive along the banks of the Yangzte River and encounter many traditional Tibetan villages with ancient stone houses, then finally arriving at Karsang Monastery. Along the drive to Karsang we will have the option to see the oldest Buddhist Zonya stupa in Kham. This holy stupa was one of the few cultural relics left standing after the Cultural Revolution and is believed to be a source of physical healing for those pilgrims who came to walk around its base. Karsang Monastery is located 4 km west of Chendu town and was founded by Amnye Dampa who lived from 1230-1303, a student of Chogyal phakpa, the fifth leader of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Day 6:
Karsang Monastery - Karna Monastery - Kyekundo
Today we will drive from Karsang Monastery 1.5 hours to Karna Monastery and then 1.5 hours to Kyekundo in the afternoon. On the way we will visit Karna Nomadic Monastery and the world’s biggest Guru Padmasambhava statue, towering over the surrounding grasslands at 4 stories high.
Day 7:
Kyekundo - Zadao
The drive from Kyekundo to Zadao is 260 km. During the drive we will stop to have lunch with some local nomads and hear their stories of life in the black yak hair tent in the summer pasture and their survival strategies for enduring severe winters. The nomad life is one of low social stress as there are few corporate deadlines and fewer rigid schedules but still involves harsh conditions and constant movement. We will learn from their generations of wisdom as they have lived in harmony with the land in simplicity and reverence.
Zadao, just 100km from the Tibetan Autonomous Region, is near the source of the Mekong River, the 12th longest river in the world that stretches 4,350km through six countries: China, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The river offers a glimpse into the long history and diverse cultures of the many peoples who live along it. Nowhere is this truer than on the Tibetan Plateau.
Day 8:
Zadao - Dzogchen Monastery and Ziru Monastery
Zadao is a small town with a lot of movement. Nomads are constantly going back and forth on their motorcycles and horses for buying and trading goods. It is a sort of a western rural trading outpost for those who live on the edges of the world at 4,000 meters in some of the wildest terrain imaginable. The people of Zadao get 3 weeks of holiday every year from work and school for a very strange reason: from the end of May to the middle of June these nomadic people go out to the mountains between 3,800 and 4,500 meters to pick caterpillar fungus from the steep slopes to sell as a medicinal remedy to the Chinese as a cure for kidney disease, as an aphrodisiac, and as a cure for other diseases. Some nomadic families make 90% of their yearly income in this brief 5-week window of harvesting the valuable caterpillar fungus. We will learn about this event and the many nomads who are harvesting this useful fungus during our tour. We will also visit two local monasteries around Zadao town.
Day 9:
Zadao - Nangchen
We will drive 3.5 hours along the winding banks of the Mekong through the Namsai Valley, the most beautiful area in all of Zadao County. Here there are few to no monasteries but the natural beauty is very similar to the charm of Switzerland. With high, steep mountains and a breathtaking river, we are sure to stop several times to take some great photos here. The road we will drive weaves just 50 meters above the Mekong’s churning mass and thus offers some spectacular vistas to see the power in the bends of the river below.
By the afternoon, we will arrive in Nangchen. Nangchen county is one of 6 counties located in Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in the Qinghai Part of Kham. Though Nangchen is remote and underdeveloped, it is one of the most beautiful parts of Tibet and has some of the most authentically preserved Tibetan culture. Nangchen was one of the 5 independent kingdoms of eastern Tibet and is renowned for having some of the fiercest warriors in Tibet. However, the native Kham people were not just only fighters, this county alone holds 155 monasteries, a huge number of monasteries for such a thinly populated area spread over snowy mountains and grandiose rock spires. These kingdoms were independent from both China and the Tibetan government in Lhasa and were each ruled by a Kham king. The former Nangchen kingdom expanded over all of modern day Yushu Tibetan Autonomous prefecture in southern Qinghai. The king of Nangchen ruled this region until the late 1950’s/early 1960’s.
Day 10:
Nangchen - Gar monastery
This day we will drive 55 km from Nangchen to Gar monastery past the Piza Village and Tibetan salt farms that produce white and red salt from the earth. These salt farms, still active today, were famous in the area; nomads used to ride for 2 weeks on the backs of yaks just for the opportunity to buy this salt for preserving food, feeding their yaks and sheep, and for reselling in other areas of southern Kham. Gar is one of the most amazing monasteries in all of Tibet and many foreigners describe it as the most beautiful of all the monasteries we will see on this tour. Home to deer, blue sheep, and Himalyan Golden Monkeys, Gar Monastery is set against a dramatic spine of 4,500-meter mountain ridges and tall stands of native cedar forests. Gar monastery was founded by Gardamba Chodeng, the heart-disciple of Dukung Chopa Rinpoche (the first incarnation of Garchen Rinpoche). There is a lot to see and take in here; in addition to the virgin forest, Gar also offers views of a remote lake, many surrounding rivers and deep valleys, and offers wonders and spiritual treasures in both an upper and lower monastery. In the afternoon we will drive back to Nangchen for a peaceful sleep.
Day 11:
Nangchen – Surmang - Galden
We will drive 1.5 hours from Nangchen to Surmang Monastery passing a quaint Tibetan village and majestic mountain views. Surmang is one of the most remote monasteries in Kham. This newly remodeled monastery has a large monk population of more than 300 monks. We will get an up-close look at the sacred routines of monks as they light butter lamp candles as offerings and meditate on Buddhist scriptures from the main monastery hall. From Surmang, we will continue another 20 minutes along the road to Galden Monastery. Galden Monastery is one of the most picturesque monasteries in Kham, sitting tranquilly on a mountaintop and with the brilliant blue Tsechu River wrapping all the way around it.
Day 12:
Surmang – Kyekundo
We will drive 4 hours from Surmang Monastery back to the comparatively civilized Kyekundu. On the way we can stop in some of the villages seated in the expansive grasslands and have a few chats with the local nomads over a cup of freshly made yak yoghurt. The yak yoghurt is pretty tart but with a little sugar is as creamy as ice cream and very enjoyable.
Day 13:
Kyekundo fly back to Xining or Chengdu
We will drive 30 minutes to the Kyekundo airport where will say our goodbyes and fly in a short, comfortable 1-hour flight back to Xining or Chengdu. The tour ends in Xining or Chengdu.