GROUP TOURS IN AMDO WEST CHINA |
4-day trip Lanzhou and Xiahe
Day 1: Arrival in Lanzhou and transfer to Xiahe. You will be picked up from Lanzhou airport or train station and transferred to Xiahe. This takes about 5 hours (on a good highway), including a stop in Linxia for bite to eat. The landscape changes dramatically from the desert dry mountains around Lanzhou to the green mountains of Xiahe.
Day 2: Today you will visit the Labrang Monastery. This is the largest Tibetan monastery outside of Tibet province. It houses more than 2000 monks from the Yellow Hat tradition and there are 6 schools of Buddhist teachings. In the morning you will join in with the monastery tour. A monk from the monastery guides this tour in English. In the afternoon, our guide will take you around the monastery again, but this time to different areas of the large monastery. Also you will go up the hills surrounding the monastery for a bird's eye view of the whole complex.
Day 3: This day you will go to the spectacular Sangke grasslands. On these vast grasslands you will see herds of yaks and sheep, and you will enjoy some short hiking trips. You will also be able to visit a nomad tent, where you will surely be invited for some tsampa, which is the Tibetan staple food consisting of ground barley mixed with butter and boiling water. Also you can taste the delicious Tibetan yak milk tea. You can easily spent the whole day roaming around the grasslands, enjoying the scenery and the beautifully dressed Tibetan nomads.
Day 4: Today you will go back to Lanzhou via the Bingling caves. Here you can see 694 Buddhist images carved into the cliffs of a 60 meter high gorge. The most beautiful image is a 27 meter high statue of the Future Buddha Maitreya. To reach Bingling, you first go by car to the pier, then travel about one hour by speedboat across the Liujiaxia reservoir. Here the scenery is stunning with soaring cliffs on both sides. After visiting Bingling, you again have to travel for about one hour back by speedboat before you continue by car to Lanzhou airport or train station.
* Included: English speaking guide for day 2,3 and 4 / car and driver and toll fees for above itinerary only / 3 nights double room in the hotel in Xiahe / speedboat to Bingling caves
* Excluded: all meals / entrance fees
Minimum 6 people / maximum 14 people
Price per person: RMB 1200
Departure dates from Lanzhou (day 1):
08 June 2010
06 July 2010
03 August 2010
07 September 2010
7-day trip Lanzhou-Xiahe-Langmusi and back to Lanzhou
Day 1 : Arrive in Lanzhou, drive about 5 hours to the picturesque town of Xiahe.The landscape changes dramatically from a desert like dry area into green mountains where you'll find Xiahe at 3,000 m altitude.
Day 2 : Xiahe. This is a predominantly Tibetan town which centers around the huge Labrang monastery. This first day in Xiahe is spent exploring the monastery. You will see many monks, often in prayer or busily debating each other on religious issues. All year around you’ll meet the many pilgrims in town wearing their splendid traditional clothing and jewellery. In the morning you will join in with the monastery tour. A monk from the monastery guides this tour in English. In the afternoon, our guide will take you around the monastery again, but this time to different areas of the large monastery Also you will go up the hills surrounding the monastery for a bird's eye view of the whole complex.
Day 3 : Xiahe. Today you will explore the grasslands around Xiahe where nomad families live in tents. When invited in their homes you simply can't refuse the infamous Tibetan yak milk tea and barley"tsampa". The grasslands are also a beautiful area for hiking. In summertime the flowers are like a carpet on the meadows.
Day 4 : Langmusi. First we will visit Hezuo to admire the nine floor Milarepa temple. Inside are beautifully hand painted decorations of Tibetan Buddhist gods and deities. We will arrive in Langmusi at the end of the afternoon.
Day 5: Langmusi. In Langmusi the ancient Tibetan custom of sky burials is still practiced. Sky burials are now limited only to a very small area in Tibet and are a rare sight nowadays. The town of Langmusi is situated partly in Gansu province, and partly in Sichuan province, divided only by a small river. Therefore this small town has two monasteries, one in each province. We will visit the monasteries on the Gansu side of town and go hiking through a beautiful gorge.
Day 6: Xiahe. In the morning you can hike in the hills surrounding Langmusi and in the afternoon we will drive back to Xiahe, this time through the grasslands to enjoy the spectacular scenery for the very last time.
Day 7: Lanzhou. Today we leave behind the Tibetan culture with its strong buddhist overtones, its incredibly friendly people, exotic incense filled air and stunning mountains .
*Included: English speaking guide for day 2,3, 4, 5 and 6 / car and driver and toll fees for above itinerary only /
4 nights double room in the hotel in Xiahe / 2 nights double room in the hotel in Langmusi
*Excluded: all meals / entrance fees
Minimum 6 people / maximum 14 people
Price per person: RMB 2200
Departure dates from Lanzhou (day 1):
15 June 2010
13 July 2010
12 August 2010
14 September 2010
8-day trip Lanzhou to Chengdu
Day 1: Arrival in Lanzhou and transfer to Xiahe. You will be picked up from Lanzhou airport or train station and transferred to Xiahe. This takes about 5 hours, including a stop in Linxia for bite to eat. The landscape changes dramatically from the desert dry mountains around Lanzhou to the green mountains of Xiahe.
Day 2: Today you will visit the Labrang Monastery. This is the largest Tibetan Monastery. outside of Tibet province. It houses about 2000 monks from the Yellow Hat tradition and there are 6 schools of Buddhist teachings. In the morning you will join in with the Monastery. tour. A monk from the Monastery. guides this tour in English. In the afternoon our guide will take you around the monastery again, but this time to different areas of the large Monastery. Also you will go up the hills surrounding the monastery for a bird's eye view of the whole complex.
Day 3: This day you will go to the spectacular Sangke grasslands. On these vast grasslands you will see herds of yaks and sheep, and you will enjoy some short hiking trips. You will also be able to visit a nomad tent, where you will surely be invited for some tsampa, which is the Tibetan staple food consisting of ground barley mixed with butter and boiling water. Also you can taste the delicious Tibetan yak milk tea. You can easily spent the whole day roaming around the grasslands, enjoying the scenery and the beautifully dressed Tibetan nomads.
Day 4: Today you will travel from Xiahe to Langmusi via the Sangke grasslands. It will be a different part of the grasslands than you visited yesterday however. On the way you will pay a visit to a small school for nomad children and also make several stops on the grasslands to enjoy the spectacular scenery and take some short hiking trips. Arrival in Langmusi at the end of the afternoon.
Day 5: In the early morning you might be able to see a sky burial. If there is no sky burial at that moment, you will visit the sky burial site. After that, you will enjoy the beautiful Monastery. on the Gansu province side of Langmusi. Langmusi is a very small town situated on the border of Gansu and Sichuan province, and even though it is a tiny town, the town has two monasteries, one in each province. In the afternoon you will go hiking through a spectacular gorge where you can see many eagles and vultures soaring above your head.
Day 6: Drive from Langmusi to Songpan. This will take up most of the day. On the way you will stop several times for some short hiking trips and other scenic stops.
Day 7 : Whole day horse riding trip in the beautiful mountains surrounding Songpan. The horses are tame but the slopes are sometimes quite steep. You will get special horse guides to help you. Today a lunch usually consisting of noodle soup is included.
Day 8: Whole day drive from Songpan to Chengdu airport or train station.
*Included: English speaking guide for day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 / car and driver and toll fees for above itinerary only / 3 nights double room in the hotel in Xiahe / 2 nights double room in the hotel in Langmusi / 2 nights double room in the hotel in Songpan / horse riding on day 7 including lunch
*Excluded: all meals, except lunch on day 7 / entrance fees
Minimum 6 people / maximum 14 people
Price per person: RMB 2500
Departure dates from Lanzhou (day 1):
22 June 2010
20 July 2010
17 August 2010
21 September 2010
10-day trip Lanzhou to Chengdu including Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong National Parks
Day 1 up to and including day 5, the tour is the same as in the above "Lanzhou to Chengdu" itinerary.
Day 6: Whole day drive from Langmusi to Jiuzhaigou. You will drive through the wonderful Zoige High Altitude grasslands. On the way you will stop for some short hiking trips.
Day 7: Whole day to explore Jiuzhaigou National Park.
Day 8: Drive from Jiuzhaigou to Songpan. This is only 80 km. The rest of the day will be spent on horse back, exploring the beautiful mountains around Songpan.
Day 9: Make a day trip from Songpan to Huanglong National Park, which is famous for its colored pools and forests.
Day 10: Whole day drive from Songpan to Chengdu airport or train station.
*Included: English speaking guide for day 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 / car and driver and toll fees for above itinerary only / 3 nights double room in the hotel in Xiahe / 2 nights double room in the hotel in Langmusi / 2 night double room in the hotel near Jiuzhaigou / 2 nights double room in the hotel in Songpan / horse riding on day 8 including lunch
*Excluded: all meals, except lunch on day 8 / entrance fees
Minimum 6 people / maximum 14 people
Price per person: RMB 3000
Departure dates from Lanzhou (day 1):
29 June 2010
27 July 2010
08 August 2010
24 August 2010