Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain in Amdo

Itinerary

Itinerary
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DAY
1

Arrive in Lanzhou

Welcome in Lanzhou - the capital of Gansu Province

Today arrive in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, an important pivot of the Silk Road in history. The Yellow river flows through Lanzhou from west to east.

Overnight at 4*Legend Hotel

DAY
2

Lanzhou – Bingling Si – Xiahe

Grottos of Bingling Temple – a historical treasure of Buddhism

Drive to Xiahe. On the way make an excursion to grottos of 1000 Buddhas' temple in Bingling. The grottos of the monastery are firstly built in 420 AD. Statues and murals here are older than those in Mogao Grottos of Dunhuang. Late in the afternoon arrive in Xiahe, which is 2,900 meters above the sea level and almost exclusively inhabited by Tibetans.

238 km
4 hours 51 minutes
Overnight at 3*Labrang Civil Aviation Hotel

Breakfast

Grottos of Bingling Temple

DAY
3

Xiahe – Tongren

Labrang monastery

In the morning visit Labrang monastery, the most important religious centre on the northeast border of the Tibetan region. The monastery created in 1710, as one of the six grand monasteries in Tibetan area, has served for centuries there to connect the Tibetan and Mongolian Lamaism. In the afternoon visit Longwu monastery of Gelugpa, which was initially constructed in Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) as a monastery of Sakya-sect and Wutun village. It is the center of Tibetan Rebgong-Art, which is a successful mixture of religion and folk art. In the afternoon drive to Tongren.

104 km
2 hours 9 minutes
Overnight at 3*Shengyu Tianlun Hotel

Breakfast

Labrang Monastery

DAY
4

Tongren – Guide

Lijiaxia reservoir, Kanbula National Forest Park

Drive to Lijiaxia. Boating on the reservoir of Yellow River, visit the Kanbula National Forest Park with the scenery of red sand rock as well as three famous monasteries in the Namdzong valley: Achung Namdzong Monastery, the Namdzong Nunnery and Benben Monastery. Namdzong, also called as Dzong or Djung, is a natural valley and is one of four holy main places of Amdo. Here a popular place is for the Tibetan monks to meditate. Keep driving to Guide.

180 km
3 hours 41 minutes
Overnight at 3*Yinlong International Hotel

Breakfast

Danxia Landform

DAY
5

Guide - Tongde - Machen

Ragya Monastery (Lajia Si)

Drive to Machen, the capital of Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. On the way visit the Ragya Monastery (Lajia Si) of Gelugpa sect by the Yellow River (Huang He).

355 km
6 hours 47 minutes
Overnight in 3*Jinfeng International Hotel

Breakfast

Village

DAY
6

Trekking around Amnye Machen: Make – Sanchakou

Prepare for trekking

Drive 80 km to Sanchakou and prepare to trek. The guide is a Guoluo Tibetan, who is familiar with our trekking route. And we will use yak and horses to carry luggage. Try to walk about 5 kilometers in Sanchakou to adapt the next trip in advance.

Camping

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
7

Trekking around the Amnye Machen

Armani Hills, Gethung La Pass

After passing a narrow canyon, you will reach a wide plain where you can see the main peak of the Armani Hills and the surrounding glaciers. Then you should trek over the 4565-meter-high Gethung La Pass

Camping (4565 m)

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
8

Trekking around Amnye Machen

Mani wall, Machen Kangri

The pilgrimage leads to Mani wall (4665 m). In the main summit of Machen Kangri (6282 m) is the Taoist rites of Machen Pomra, the main deity of the sacred mountain.

Trekking about 25 km, 9 hours
Camping (4665 m)

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
9

Trekking around Amnye Machen

After visiting the Temple of King Gelsall who is considered as the incarnation of the Huashengdashi according to Tibetan legend, you will walk about 20 kilometers to 4000 meters above sea level, camp.

Trekking about 20 km, 8 hours
Camping (4000 m)

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
10

Trekking around Amnye Machen

Whole day , treking to the north side of Amnye Machen Mountain

Today is a whole day trek. You will trek around the Amnye Machen Mountain to its north side, and the whole tour will take some energy. But the landscape of the glaciers and forest will impress you deeply.

Trekking about 25 km, 10 hours
Camping (4000 m)

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
11

Trekking around Amnye Machen

The fantastic creatures of Amnye Machen Mountain

Enjoy the beautiful scene of the lovely nature. After watching the marmots, rabbits, mice, velvet grass and gentian flowers that live on the grasslands, then you walk about 20 kilometers and cross a 4,500-meter-high mountain

Trekking about 20 km, 8 hours
Camping (4500 m)

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
12

Trekking around Amnye Machen

Local nomads

There are a lot of Golok Tibetan shepherds who live on the north side of the mountain. They live in tents made of yak leather. If lucky, you can have an opportunity to visit their house and learn about their culture.

Trekking about 20 km, 8 hours
Camping (4000 m)

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
13

Amnye Machen Trekking, drive Xueshan Village - Machen BLD

Trekking ends

The first is trekking 15 km to Xueshan Village. After a short break, you drive to Machen.

Trekking about 15 km, 6 hours
Overnight at 3*Jinfeng International Hotel

Breakfast Lunch Dinner

Trekking around Amnye Machen Mountain

DAY
14

Machen - Guide – Koko Nor

Koko Nor Lake (Qinghai Hu)

The long way via Guide to Koko Nor Lake (Qinghai Hu) leads you through the plateaus of eastern Tibet Amdo, land of the Tibetan Golok nomads. Passing yak and sheep pastures lined with white mountain ranges, red sandstone canyons and high passes between 3300 and 4100 meters above sea level. Hiking on Koko Nor Lake and enjoy its beauty. "Koko Nor" is Mongolian and means "blue lake". The largest saltwater lake in Tibet at 3200 m is the shelter for diverse birdlife. The environment around the "Pearl on the Highlands" is an enchanting landscape.

482 km
8 hours 45 minutes
Overnight at the Qinghaihu Hotel

Breakfast

Koko Nor Lake (Qinghai Hu)

DAY
15

Koko Nor Lake – Kumbum – Xining

Sun-and-moon mountain, Kumbum monastery (Ta'er Si)

After the breakfast cross over Sun-and-moon mountain (Ri Yue Shan). In 641 Wencheng princess of Tang Dynasty passed by this mountain where today a sun-pavilion and a moon-pavilion are built on the summit for people to have a break. The suns and moon mountain has always been an distinguish line between meadow and agriculture area. The Second stop is Kumbum monastery (Ta'er Si) of Gelukpa-sect, which was built in 1560 in Huangzhong county and also one of the six grand monasteries in Tibet. Both Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Lamaistic "yellow hat sect" and the 14th Dalai lama were born here. As Kumbum-monastery has always been playing an important role to connect the Mongolian with the Lamaism, today many Mongolian come to this place for worship. Late in the afternoon arrive in Xining, the capital of Qinghai province. This city is mainly inhabited with Tibetan but also a home of Uygur, Kazak and Hui minorities.

170 km
3 hours 2 minutes
Overnight at 4*Rezen Jingding Hotel

Breakfast

Kumbum Monastery (Ta’er Si)

DAY
16

Leave Xining

Travel to next destination

Transfer to airport or railway station, leave Xining.

Breakfast

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