Day 1 → Depart Xining, at 2,500 meters above sea level, to drive 5.5 hours through the open grasslands to Tongde
9:00am- Meet at your hotel in Xining
9:10am- Drive 2.5 hours to Guide
12:30pm- Lunch in Guide and visit the banks of the Yellow River
2:00pm - In the afternoon , drive 3.5 hours to Tongde, a high grassland communIty in the heart of Amdo Tibet
5:30pm - Check into homestay and rest (or if you are feeling energetic take an afternoon hike above the monastery).
7:00 pm - Tibetan dinner in Tongde
8:00pm - Return to Homestay to sleep and rest in Tongde
Day 2 → Drive from the grasslands of Tongde to the capital of Golok Tibetans, Machen town (Dawu in Chinese)
8:00am - Eat breakfast in homestay
9:00am - Depart Tongde, Drive 4 hours (183km) to Machen town. Along the way stop at Rabgya Monastery seated inside a cliff face overlooking the Yellow River.
12:00 noon - Stop for lunch along the way
1:30pm - 60 kilometers north of Machen is the large monastery of Rabgya at 3,100 meters (10,170 feet) with around 500 monks. Rabgya Monastery is situated right along the banks of the Yellow River with towering red rock cliffs above the monastery.
3:00pm -Drive over a high pass to Machen town, explore the pass and prayer flags
5:00pm - Arrive in hotel in Machen. After a satisfying day, we arrive in Machen town at 3,753 meters (12,253 feet). This is the capital of the Golog Autonomous Tibetan Prefecture and is the largest town of the Golok Tibetan people with a population of 10,000 people.
6:00pm - Dinner in Machen
8:00pm- Sleep in hotel in Machen
Day 3 → Acclimatization Day
8:30am - Eat breakfast in hotel in Machen
9:30am - Today we will spend the day acclimatizing in Machen town and getting our supplies ready for our trek.
10:30am- Drive 10 minutes to Machen Lhagong Monastery, watch pilgrims walk around monastery in the morning
11:50am- Early lunch in Machen town
12:00 noon- Depart Machen town to Amnye Machen Tibetan homestay
5:30pm - Arrive at Amnye Machen Homestay
6:30pm - Dinner in homestay or tent stay
Day 4 → Trek Day 1, Start the Trek at Tsanah Khado
8:30am- Depart Machen town, drive 40 minutes along a nice highway
9:30am- Arrive Tsanah Khado, the start of the the trekking at 3,920 meters
10:00am- Walk 5 km over fairly easy, flat road
12:30pm- Picnic lunch on the trail
1:30pm- Walk another few hours
5:30pm- Set up camp at the base of the high point of our trek (we will camp close to the high point and tomorrow we will cross the high point).
8:00pm- Camp in tents at 4,400 meters
Day 5 → Trek Day 2
Today will be the hardest day of the trek as we cross the high pass of the trek over the Domchok La, at 4,720 meters.
Total walking distance: 15km (4km uphill and 11km downhill)
Elevations: Start at 4,400 meters, trek up to the high point at 4,720 meters, descend to 4,200 meters
8:00am - Wake up and have breakfast in camp
9:00am- Depart to hike 4km to the highest point of the trek at 4,720 meters
12noon- Arrive at the high pass filled with prayer flags. We will have lunch here and rest.
This pass presents the best view of the trek as we look upon the south face of the Amnye Machen glacier and look up to the 6,282 meter peak of Amnye Machen.
1:00pm- Start to descend the high pass down to our camp for the afternoon. This section of the hike has the best views of Amnye Machen and is the closest point of the trek to the actual snowy peak.
5:00pm- Arrive at camp at Guige Thang and enjoy the “thicker air” from our 500 meter descent off the high pass
6:00pm- Dinner and sleep in camping tents
Day 6 → Trek Day 3
We will continue to stay around 4,000 meters on this day and there is only a very slight uphill walk up to 4,200 meters
Total walking distance: 18km (mostly flat with a gradual 200 meter increase in elevation)
Elevations: Start at 4,200 meters, stay around 4,000 meters most of the day
8:00am - Wake up and have breakfast in camp
9:00am- Depart Guige Thang to hike. The beginning of the day has a little gradual uphill and then the rest of the day is mostly flat walking on a dirt path.
12:30pm- Lunch on the trail
1:00pm- Hike for the afternoon
5:00pm- Arrive at camp at Getong Guo, at 4,000 meters
6:00pm- Dinner and sleep in camping tents
Day 7 → Trek Day 4, Finish the Trek at Xia Dawu
Today we make our final descent to Xia Dawu, a small Tibetan village on the western edge of the Amnye Machen range where we will sleep. We will continue to stay around 4,000 meters on this day and there is only a very slight uphill walk up to 4,200 meters. By the end of the day we will descend to Xia Dawu at 3,980 meters.
Total walking distance: 15km (mostly flat with a gradual 200 meter increase in elevation)
Elevations: Start at 4,200 meters, stay around 4,000 meters most of the day
8:00am - Wake up and have breakfast in camp
9:00am- Depart Getting Guo to hike
12:30pm- Lunch on the trail
1:00pm- Hike for the afternoon
4:00pm- Arrive at Xia Dawu, a small Tibetan village at 3,980 meters
6:00pm- Enjoy a nice warm, homecooked meal by our Tibetan host family
8:00pm- Sleep in a Tibetan homestay (or camp in tents nearby the homestay family)
Day 8 → Drive Xia Dawu - Xinghai
Today we change from using our feet as our mode of transport to riding in a car as we say goodbye to the high, snowy, remote peaks of Amnye Machen. We will depart Xia Dawu and drive 5 hours to Xinghai town as we make our way back in the direction of Xining.
Elevations: Start at 3,980 meters in Xia Dawu, drive to 3,800 meters in Xinghai
7:30am - Wake up and have breakfast in Xia Dawu
8:30am- Drive 5 hours to Xinghai town along a paved highway
2:00pm- Late lunch in Xinghai and check into our comfy hotel
3:30pm- Drive 1 hour from Xinghai to Serdzong Monastery. This drive will take us down through a rocky canyon and up into the high grasslands surrounding this important monastery
4:00pm- Arrive at Serdzong Monastery at 3,500 meters. We will spend the afternoon doing a short pilgrimage walk around the monastery and exploring the dramatic cliffs and prayer flags around this very scenic monastery.
6:00pm- Return to Xinghai and enjoy a nice celebration dinner at a nice restaurant
8:00pm- Sleep in a Tibetan decorated boutique hotel in Xinghai
Day 9 → Xinghai - Qinghai Lake - Xining
Today we continue our descent back into Xining as we drive another 3 hours to Qinghai Lake at 3,200 meters. Qinghai Lake is the highest salt lake in China and is one of the 4 main holy lakes of Tibet. We will spend the afternoon here relaxing by the shores of the lake and then sleep in a hotel in Xining
Day 10 → Depart Xining
In the morning we will have breakfast in our hotel and then drive 1 hour to Xining airport.
In the mid-morning we will drop you off at the airport and say our goodbyes as you check into your flight.