Tagong Festival with More Challenges

Big race day! Drive to Lhakang, a small Tibetan town built around the Lhakang Monastery, surrounded by high grasslands. Mt Zhakra majestically overlooks
the mountains and green plains. Attend the horse festival above the town, with morning horse blessings, and then spectacular races of the town, with long races, short sprints, and stunt races. (Our Ecolodge, 3800 meters). (2 hour drive)

Acclimatization day. Ride 3 hours near the lodge, meet your horse, and prepare to enter the wilds. (3 hour ride, Ecolodge, 3800 m)

Take a 20 minute car ride to the trailhead at Gyergo Nunnery. Then ride over high Griffon Pass (4900 m) with stunning views of sacred Mt. Zhakra, 5900 m).
Then walk down into the back valley to camp at the Zhakra Hotsprings. (4 hour ride, 3 hour hike, camp at 4100 m)

Hiking day! Hike up from the hotsprings and cross over a high pass with close glacier views. This area is very wild and full of animals. Sleep near a high lake. (7-8 hour hike, 4400 meter camp)

Ride back to Gyergo Nunnery over the grasslands. (6 hour ride, basic nunnery hut, 3900 m)

Back in the saddle, ride up into the high nomad areas. Another lovely day on the horse to end at the home yak camp of our guides. We’ll watch as the herders bring in the animals, catch and tie the calves, and do the evening milking. Opportunity for a homestay if you like, or just dinner in the black yak hair tents. (7 hour ride, camp near nomads, 4300 m)

Ride across the grasslands to Badi Gompa, a small nomad temple. Pass many small nomadic camps. Camp with views of deep valleys. (6-7 hour ride, camp above deep valley, 4100 meters)

Ride in remote areas, past high lakes, to a meditation cave. Camp here or lower as needed by the group according to acclimatization. (6 hour ride, camp 4500 meters or lower as needed)

Today is a high ridge ride and walk with stunning views in all directions, reaching 4700 meters. There are parts of the ridges that are narrow and require walking the horses. This is a hard day for the people and a challenge for the horses, and gives a chance to really work with ones horse. End at Drapa Lake, a beautiful lake in a deep valley, with a small farmer/nomad village, and Choyu speakers. (6-8 hour ride and hike, 4300 meters)

Retrace our steps back out of the valley, walking part of the way, and then down a steep trail on the other side. We see extremely remote lakes and waterfalls from this barely-there trail. Again, it is necessary to walk the horses. End at a small village with a lovely gold-roofed temple. Camp here. (6-7 hour ride and hike, 2900 meters)

Back in the easy grasslands, ride back up onto the plateau and to Yibei Lake, a high sinkhole (cenote) lake. Yibei is a great lake for swimming, but cold! (5-6 hours, 4450 meters).

Ride to Genup Gompa, a 300-year old nomad temple perched on the side of hill. Then take a car to Zhonglu Village, near Danba. Stay in a lovely renovated courtyard hotel here. (6 hour ride, 2 hours car, small guesthouse 1800 meters)

Return to Chengdu by car over Balang Shan, and through Wolong Panda Reserve. (6 hour ride)

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.