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From
Chengdu to Lhasa (4WD
Adventure Tour)
The southern route to Lhasa is the most scenic overland
route, crossing several 4,000 m(13,123 ft) passes, dropping down through
lush green valleys and gushing gorges, and crossing picturesque landscapes
that Tibetans call their 'backyard.' We begin this three-week journey from
Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, and continue overland through Ganzi prefecture
into the Tibetan Autonomous Region. There are only a few roads that climb
over the holy plateau to the capital of Tibet; this journey will take you
to villages and communities previously closed to most travelers, both geographically
and culturally. Our Tibetan guide will tell you about Buddhism and its many
sects, explain Tibet's history and teach you some phrases in Tibetan to
help you get to know the local people. Traveling by 4 WD vehicles, we have
the freedom to stop and explore Tibet's sacred mountains and monasteries,
stay with local Tibetan families and take day hikes at your leisure and
whim.
| DAY
.1 |
Arrive
at Chengdu. |
|
Arrive
in Chengdu. You will be met at the airport and transferred to hotel,
where we will have a short briefing over spicy Sichuan food ringing
with spices. |
| DAY
.2 |
Chengdu
- Kangding |
| |
Drive
from Chengdu to Kangding. We will leave for Kangding in the morning.
Once outside the Sichuan basin, we will begin to climb the mountain
roads of the Erlang Mountains. Since this road is one of the few routes
to Lhasa, we will not be the only ones on the road - you may see Chinese
army trucks trudging along the road carrying fuel and supplies. Kangding
is a fairly large city tucked within a river valley. The sidewalks
of Kangding are crowded with Hui, Chinese Muslims, and Tibetans who
have come down from the highlands to sell wild mushrooms, vegetables,
yak skins and various paraphernalia. |
| DAY
.3 |
Kangding |
| |
We
will visit the Tibetan School, one of China's specialized Tibetan
language institutions, to learn some useful Tibetan phrases to give
you a tool for communicating during your journey. We will also learn
about the art of Tibetan painting. At lunch, we will have the chance
to practice our lessons as we eat with students. The afternoon is
spent exploring Kangding, climbing the hill to a monastery or relaxing
in the hot springs. We will also learn about the Kham Aid Foundation
and the many projects this non-governmental organization initiates
and supports. |
| DAY
.4 |
Kangding
- Rongbatsu |
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Drive
from Kangding to Rongbatsu. We will leave Kangding in the morning
to head west, switch backing up over Gye La pass (4,290 m/14,075 ft)
and driving along tree-lined roads through small towns, each distinct
by their architectural styles and characters. We will stop along the
way to photograph wild animals, herds of yaks, temples, stupas, people
and anything that grabs your fancy. Arriving in Rongbatsu after a
full day's journey, we will first rest our weary bones in the hot
springs at the base of stunning mountains. The guest house is located
in an authentic Tibetan home with traditional design. |
| DAY
.5 |
Rongbatsu |
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Today
will be left open for you to explore the town on your own or with
a guide, or even with a friendly local willing to take you around
the important spots. A couple of hours' walk from the guesthouse along
the Yalong river is Hadhi Nunnery, where you can spend an afternoon
with Buddhist nuns to learn about their lives. You could also meet
Gyalten Lobsang Shampa Rinpoche, a living Buddha, visit the Dargye
Gonpa, a monastery belonging to the Gelukpa sect, or visit a local
school. |
| DAY
.6 |
Rongbatsu
- Yilhun Lhatso |
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Drive
from Rongbatsu to Yilhun Lhatso (Xinlu Hai). After a session of morning
prayer with the monks, we will drive west for three hours through
Manigango to a grassland region known as Yilhun. Here is one of the
most beautiful lakes in all of Tibet, surrounded by scenic mountains.
We will pitch a tent here and stroll along the pilgrim's trail where
you can see thousands of carved mani stones. |
| DAY
.7 |
Yilhun
Lhatso - Dege |
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Drive
from Yihun Lhatso to Dege. From the heights of Tro La Pass (4,916
m/16,129 ft), we will have a spectacular view of the Yangtze gorge
stretching into the southwestern region. The landscape makes a dramatic
ascent into a blanket of pine forests as we approach Dege, the heart
of Kham, a large kingdom which until recently occupied the region.
There are plenty of places to explore in Dege; Dege Printing House
has a library of more than 270,000 plate blocks used to print Buddhist
sutras; and across the street stands the Tongtong Gyalpo Temple, a
charming old temple which miraculously escaped the Cultural Revolution,
and therefore retains many original murals and objects. The Tibetan
Medicine Hospital, which is also a factory, is a storehouse of herbs,
antlers, bats, snakes and other plants and animals collected from
the far reaches of the Tibetan plateau. Stay in a local guesthouse. |
| DAY
.8 |
Dege
- Pelpung |
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Ride
horse from Dege to Pelpung (Babang). We will have breakfast with a
Tibetan family who will accompany us with their horses over to the
Palpung Tubten Chokhorling Monastery, where we will stay the night.
Palpung ranks second in the hierarchy of Karma Kagyu sect monasteries,
and has Ugyen Rinpoche, an 11-year-old (in 2000) living Buddha, in
residence. The route from Derge to the monastery takes us through
endless fields of maize and barley growing on a steep hillside. Once
over Gotse La Pass (4,481 m/14701 ft), the expanse of land belongs
to the nomads living in yak hair tents. |
| DAY
.9 |
Pelpung
- Pewar |
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Ride
horse from Pelpung to Pewar. Traveling along the river and through
wheat fields, we will reach the Temple of Pewar, which houses one
of the finest sets of Buddhist murals in western Sichuan. The paintings,
which are more than 270 years old and cover more than 370 square meters(1214
sq ft), miraculously survived the destruction inflicted by the Cultural
Revolution. We will spend a leisurely afternoon here drinking tea
and eating tsampa with the rinpoche. With a bit of luck we may have
the privilege of viewing the monastery's exclusive artworks and treasures,
which are locked safely behind ancient carved wooden doors. Stay overnight
in the temple. |
| DAY
.10 |
Pewar-
Dege - Jomda |
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Ride
horse back to Dege, then drive to Jomda. From Pelyul county, we will
cross the Yangtze river, which marks the political border between
Sichuan Province and Tibet Autonomous Region. After crossing Nge La
(4,245 m/13927 ft), we are welcomed by Wara Gonpa, an important monastery
of the Sakya school. We will stop for the night in Jomda, a moderately
large town, at a finely decorated wooden cabin, and pay a visit to
a Tibetan hospital which supplies herbal medicine throughout the region. |
| DAY
.11 |
Jomda
- Chamdu |
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Drive
from Jomda to Chamdo. Reaching the end of the day would seem like
a mighty feat as we will be crossing over no less than four passes
- Khargang La (4,352 m/14278 ft), Lashi La (4,450 m/14600 ft), Jape
La (4,680 m/15354 ft), and Tama La (4,511 m/14800 ft), with clutters
of prayer flags waving in the wind on the peaks and friendly nomads
waving at us from the grasslands. |
| DAY
.12 |
Chamdo |
| |
Relax
in Chamdo. Straddling the Mekong river, Chamdo possesses a rich history
as one of the earliest centers of the Tibetan plateau and home to
Kalden Jampaling, the great monastery founded between 1436-44 and
developed through the centuries by successive incarnations. While
the original monastery was destroyed in 1912 by the Chinese, it was
rebuilt when the Tibetan army seized Chamdo in 1917. We will spend
the day stretching our legs, exploring the monastery and shopping
in Tromzikhang, an open-air market where colorfully dressed Tibetans
pawn their wares and antique goods. |
| DAY
.13 |
Chamdo
- Bangda |
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Drive
from Chamdo to Bangda. We follow the Mekong downstream through alpine
forests to Kyitang village, where the Khampa houses are sturdily built
on horizontal timbers. We then turn west to cross the Lona Pass (4,511
m/14800 ft) and follow the Yu-chu river downstream to Bangda, a town
junction where Lhasa connects to the Chamdo-Kunming Highway.The Yu-chu
valley lies north of the Salween gorges in the highlands of Tsawagang,
where the immense geographic spatial dimensions of the land dwarf
our presence. Stay in a local guesthouse. |
| DAY
.14 |
Bangda-
Baxoi |
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Drive
from Bangda to Baxoi. While distance covered is less than 100 km (63
mi) and probably half that by the way the crow flies, the terrain
is steep, as defined by the 180 switchbacks we will conquer when we
cross Gama La Pass at an altitude of 4,618 meters. Stay in a local
guesthouse. |
| DAY
.15 |
Baxoi
- Ranwu - Bome |
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Drive
from Baxoi to Ranwu then to Bome. On the road to Bome, we will stop
in Ranwu to cast our lines in the pristine waters of Ngan Tso, a spectacularly
crystal blue lake cupped by snow peaks. After our lunch of freshly
caught fish, we will wander along the Poto-chu Valley at Tramog (2,743
m/8999 ft), located deep in the thickly forested gorge of Parlung
Tsangpo with glacial waterfalls streaming from the mountainsides.
We will go down several hundred meters in altitude as we reach the
lowland jungle settlement of Tang-me where the Tsangpo and Parlung
Tsangpo rivers meet. |
| DAY
.16 |
Bome
- Nyingchi |
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Drive
from Bome to Nyingchi. Crossing Serkhyem La Pass (4,515 m/14813 ft),
the last major pass before reaching Lhasa, we will have spectacular
views of Mount Gyala Pelri (7,150 m/23458 ft) and Mount Namchak Barwa
(7,756 m/25446 ft). On the way to Nyingchi, we pass through Bayi,
originally a military base, which has now become the capital of Nyingchi
District. North of Bayi, Bajie village lies on the edge of a primary
dense forest with sacred cypress trees which are more than two thousand
and five hundred years old. Around May, we would be able to see three
to five-meter rhododendrons in full bloom. |
| DAY
.17 |
Nyingchi
- Lhasa |
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Drive from Nyingchi to Lhasa. The last leg of the journey is a
270 kilometres(169 mi) sprint into Lhasa across a high plateau.
We will pass through a scenic terrain with lush alpine forests and
clear snow-melted streams. |
| DAY
.18-19 |
Lhasa |
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We
will have two full days in the holy city of Lhasa to make excursions
to the following places: The Jokhang Temple, the principal Buddhist
temple in Lhasa. The temple, known for its large gold image of Sakyamuni
Buddha, was first constructed in the 7th century. The Norbulingka,
a richly decorated complex located in a beautiful garden setting,
is the traditional summer palace of the Dalai Lamas and the exact
site from where the 14th Dalai Lama fled to exile in 1959. Sera Monastery,
founded in 1419, is a monastery of the Gelugpa order. Its numerous
white buildings sit at the base of a rocky hill. Gilded, bell-shaped
gyamtschens grace the roofs of the larger buildings. The Monastery
used to have 8,000 monks who were taught in the traditions of Vajrayana,
Mahayana and Sutrayana, the three vehicles of Tibetan Buddhism. We
will also visit the Barkor bazaar in Lhasa, a colorful congregating
place for Tibetan merchants. Potala Palace, reputed to contain 1,000
rooms, is considered as one of the world's most remarkable buildings.
Sitting at top of a mountain overlooking Lhasa, the Potala contains
hundreds upon hundreds of magnificent thangkas, frescoes, and images
built in an era when religious art was created anonymously as a means
of gaining merit for future lives. |
| DAY
.20 |
Lhasa
- Departure |
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We
will transfer you to the airport for your departure. |
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