Shamalong Festival

Start trekking. Ride 5 hours through a deep gorge with lush forest to a riverside campsite. 3300 meters

Ride up and over a high pass into a land of high lakes. Then camp below in the low forest. This area now passes through a park with a road and tourists.

Ride to Zhakra Hotsprings. Spend the afternoon enjoying these medicinal springs with prayer flags all around, and hiking up into the hills as you wish. (3 hour ride, camp at 4100 meters)

Ride today over high Griffon Pass (4900 m) with stunning views of sacred Mt. Zhakra, 5900 m) onto the high Tibetan plateau to Gyergo Nunnery. Enjoy the nuns chanting this afternoon, and stay in a basic nunnery homestay with a local family. (7-8 hour ride, very steep terrain, hiking may be preferred for some riders. Hut at 3900 meters)

Ride up into the high nomad areas. Another lovely day on the horse to end at the home camp of our guides. We will settle in to spend the night at this camp, to be wined and dined by nomads, and experience their traditional life. Opportunity for nomad tent stay for interested guests. (7 hour ride, camp near nomads, 4200 m)

Spend the morning at Dashika Nomad Camp, enjoying the traditional life. We can try yak milking, butter processing, yak fiber spinning for string and rope, and yak herding. Then ride to Yibei Lake, a high sinkhole (cenote) lake. This is a short 3 hour ride across the high plateau where we will see many nomad camps dotted across the area. Yibei is a Great Lake for swimming, but cold! (3 hour ride, camping, 4450 m)

Ride to high lookout to the west, across wolf and gazelle country and the Lhagang plateau's highest area. Lunch at the lookout, at 4600 m, with views of
isolated hermitages nestled in mountains, after mountain, after mountain. Then drop down to see sacred Ragni Lake, home of lammergyer birds in cliffs and the site of many legends. Camp nearby. (5 hour ride, camping, 4200 m)

Ride across the Lhagang Plateau's most populated nomadic area. Some years we happen upon a religious festival in this area. Arrive after lunch to high Genup Gompa, an 300-year-old nomad temple. After visiting the temple, we’ll say goodbye to our guides and drive to our Ecolodge with a quick stop for snacks in Bamei. (5 hour ride, camping, 3800 m)

Spend the day at the Ecolodge. Enjoy the sauna, tubing in the river, hot showers, and a hike into the hills.

Leave early this morning for Shamalong Horse Festival. Attend the morning horse blessings, and then spectacular races of the local clan, with long races,
short sprints, and stunt races. Camp near the races for a final night in a tent with your guides. (Drive 1.5 hours, camp at 4100 meters).

Drive to Chengdu directly from the Festival. (6-8 hour drive).

A free day in Chengdu. Possible optional activities include visiting the Giant Panda Breeding Center (which usually has babies in the summertime), the QingYangGong Daoist Temple, and the Tibetan quarter. Last dinner. (BuddhaZen Hotel)

Sendoff to the airport.