Recommended Flight: MU5281 from Chengdu to Yushu

5:40am- Departs Chengdu CTU airport

7:25am – Arrives Yushu YUS Batang airport

7:40am – Pick up at Yushu YUS Batang airport

Transfer  via 1 hour drive to hotel  at 3,600 meters, rest and acclimatize

4:30pm – Meet in the lobby of the hotel and go out for dinner

5:00pm – Tour officially begins.

Eat dinner and introduce the schedule for the week

8:00pm – Return to Hotel in Yushu to sleep and rest

8:00am – Breakfast in hotel in Yushu

9:00am – In the morning we will see Jyeku Monastery with a great view of Yushu town and then walk around the largest Mani Stone Pile in all of Tibet where you can watch 100’s of pilgrims make a religious pilgrimage around millions of stones hand-engraved with sacred Buddhist prayers.

12:00 noon – Lunch near Yushu town

2:00pm – Drive from Yushu (Jyekundo-Nangchen ) 200kms

3:30pm – Explore mountains and forests along the drive to Nangchen

6:00pm – Dinner in Nangchen.  Nangchen is one of the most beautiful counties in Yushu Tibet Autonomous Prefecture and in all of Kham. The county sits at a lower elevation than the other counties of Yushu  (3,650 meters) so the climate in the winter is less harsh. Thick forests are found in some parts of the county and the Mekong river runs from the northwest part of the county down to the southeast.

8:30am – Eat breakfast at hotel in Nangchen

9:30am -Ten kilometers south of town is Nabgyama Monastery, located along the banks of the Mekong River. This beautiful monastery has a great hiking path around it with great views of the Mekong River.

12:30pm- Lunch with monks in the monastery or in a nomad house

2:00pm -Explore ancient monasteries near Nangchen

4:30pm-Return to Nangchen

6:00pm – Eat dinner in Nangchen

8:00pm – Rest in hotel in Nangchen

8:30am – Eat breakfast in hotel in Nangchen

9:00am – Today we continue our slow acclimatization so that we are well adjusted to the high altitude for our long trek.  We will drive 4 hours (200km) along the banks of the Mekong and the Kyichu River through forests, grassland, and mountains spectacular to the remote  town of Varka

1:30pm- Lunch in Varka town

2;30pm – In the afternoon we will visit a remote natural hot spring near Varka and enjoy the healing properties of this relaxing hot spring

5:30pm – Return to Varka town

6:30pm – Dinner with a nomad family in Varka then sleep in an authentic homestay as we listen to stories of wild yaks and snow leopard spotting from the local nomads

8:00am – Breakfast in homestay in Varka village

9:00am – Drive 30 minutes from our homestay to the Janar Mani.  This Mani stone pile, located on the scenic Kyichu River, is the 2nd largest Mani Stone pile in all of the Tibetan Plateau and is one of the oldest relics of Tibetan Buddhism in the world. A

11:00am- After exploring the mani stones we will start our trek from the Janar Mani as we make our way back to Nangchen by foot. Over the course of the trek we will be between 3,600 to 4,500 meters in elevation.

Trek 10-15km to Shal.  Lunch along the trail

6:00pm – Reach Shal, set up camp site, sleep in tents

8:00am – Eat breakfast in camp, break camp

9:00am – Depart for our second day of trekking, hiking 10-15 km in some of the most remote mountains in Tibet.  Today we may have a chance to see all sorts of unique alpine animals like wild donkeys, Tibetan Antelope, Blue Sheep, Himalayan Golden Monkeys, and the Tibetan Fox among the Tibetan highlands.

12:30pm- Picnic lunch along the trail

5:00pm – Arrive in camp near Trushik Monastery, rest and set up tents

5:30pm- Cook dinner

6:30pm – Eat dinner

8:00pm – Rest and sleep in tents under the stars

8:00am – Eat breakfast in camp, break camp

9:00am – Depart for our third day of trekking, hiking 10-15 km in some of the most remote mountains in Tibet. Today we will ascend the Yerchen La Pass, a high point of the hike at around 4,500 meters in elevation.

12:30pm- Picnic lunch along the trail

5:00pm – Arrive in camp near Yerchen La, rest and set up tents

5:30pm- Cook dinner

6:30pm – Eat dinner

8:00pm – Rest and sleep in tents under the stars

8:00am – Eat breakfast in camp, break camp

9:00am – For our fourth day of trekking we will descend from the high point of the trek from Yerchen La Pass.

1:00pm- Picnic lunch along the trail

5:00pm – Arrive in camp, rest and set up tents

5:30pm- Cook dinner

6:30pm – Eat dinner

8:00pm – Rest and sleep in tents under the stars

8:00am – Eat breakfast in camp, break camp

9:00am – For our fifth day of trekking we will continue to make our way back to Nangchen town as we spend our last full day in the majestic mountains of Nangchen County.

1:00pm- Picnic lunch along the trail

5:00pm – Arrive in camp, rest and set up tents.  This night will be our last night in the wilderness.

5:30pm- Cook dinner

6:30pm – Eat dinner

8:00pm – Rest and sleep in tents under the stars

8:00am – Eat breakfast in camp, break camp

9:00am – For our sixth and final day of trekking we will walk back into Nangchen town and return to the hotel where we slept on Day 2 and 3 of the trip.

1:00pm- Picnic lunch along the trail

5:00pm – Arrive back in Nangchen town and warm up to some nice hot showers in the hotel

6:30pm – Celebrate a wonderful trek with a final dinner in Nangchen

8:00pm -Sleep in hotel in Nangchen

8:30am – Eat breakfast in the hotel and have a relaxing morning to recover from our long trek. 

11:30am -Here we start our return back to Yushu and drive 200 km back to Yushu

5:00pm – After a satisfying day in the high grasslands, check into a hotel and have our last dinner in Yushu

7:00pm – Sleep in hotel in Yushu at 3,600 meters in elevation

8:30am – Eat breakfast in hotel

10:20am – Depart Yushu, drive 1 hour to Yushu Batang Airport to catch a short one hour flight back to Chengdu

11:20am- Arrive at Yushu YUS airport, check into flight (flights depart to both Xining and Chengdu airport) 

Recommended Flight:  MU2094 from Yushu to Chengdu

1:20pm-  Depart Yushu YUS Batang airport

2:55pm – Arrive Chengdu CTU airport