By far the best way to experience and understand traditional nomadic life is to spend time in that environment. Our Nomad Home-stay package allows you get an up-close look at nomad life in several different parts of the Amdo region. By living and eating with families and participating in daily life, you will have a chance to live close to the land and appreciate the subtle inner-workings life with a herding family. The home-stay option is especially geared towards travelers who want a deeper and more enriching experience than what is allowed by a standard tour. The experience takes place on the high grasslands around Rebgong and Labrang. As we travel from home-stay to home-stay, we will drive through deep gorges that open onto expansive grasslands filled with yak and sheep. Many of the herders still live in tents today. Days are spent in the fields moving the herds and at night the family gathers again around a warm fire and overflowing bowls of milk tea and beef soup. Sharing stories and laughs with one another is an enduring Tibetan institution, and you will be amazed at the warmth and openness of our hosts. For people seeking potentially transformative experiences on the Plateau, A Nomad Home-stay is for you.
Day 01: Xining-Shachong-Rebkong, 200km, 4 HRS.
Meet your guide and drivers and drive from your hotel to Rebkong (Chin: Tong Ren Xian) via Shachong Monastery. This is one of the six great Gelukpa (i.e. Yellow Sect) monasteries of Tibet. Founded in 1567, it is where the founder of the Gelugpa, Je Tsongkhapa, received his monk ordination at age of six. One of the most hidden monasteries in Amdo, located on the top of Amnye Shachong Mountain, it is the home and academy of over 500 monks. There is a 2-hour scenic hiking trail around the monastery (the Kora for the pilgrims), where you can have a panoramic view of the yellow river running through the valley. Please consult with your guide about the length of the Kora and whether it might be physically challenging for you. Meet with your driver, and continue to drive to Rebkong. Rebkong is famous across Tibet for the outstanding scholarship in Tibetan Buddhism and its unique art traditions for centuries. Rongwu Gonchen Monastery, located next to the town, is a mother monastery of 35 branch monasteries in the region, and regarded highly as one of the most intellectually vibrant Buddhist institutes. Continue driving to Gyawogang village. Your host family will welcome you at their door. Dinner with the family.
Day 02: Gyawo Village.
Breakfast with the family, then take a short hike to Amnye Gyawo Mountain. Picnic lunch on at the mountain. Return to your family in the evening.
Day 03: Gyawo Village-Rebkong-Labrang, 140km, 4 HRS.
After breakfast, say goodbye to your family and drive to Sang Ge Shong monasteries (Chin: Wu Tun Si), where you will get chance to see some of the most well-known local thangka painters, they will show you their works and offer you tea in their cozy court yard. Afterwards, you hit the road again and drive to Labrang via Ganjia grassland. You will arrive in Labrang in the evening. Over night in Labrang.
Day 04: Visiting Labrang monastery surroundings.
Labrang named after one of the greatest Gelukpa monasteries and higher institutes of Tibet, and literally means the Great Teachers’ Palace. Labrang monastery sits at 2900m/9500 feet with high mountains and alpine forests surrounding it. Labrang is home and academy to over 2200 monks, and a popular pilgrimage destination for all Tibetans. After visiting the monastery, you will have free time to explore the town on your own. In the evening, follow local pilgrims to do a Kora around the monastery. Please consult with your guide about the length of the Kora and whether it might be physically challenging for you. Stay over night at the hotel.
Day 05: Labrang-Gartse Village-Xun Hua. 180km, 4 HRS.
Drive from Labrang to Weido county (Chin: Xun Hua Xian) via Ganjia, the expansive nomadic pastures where the nomads camp for summer. Arrive in Xunhua County where the major residents are Salar people (Muslims) and Tibetans. Dinner at a local Salar Restaurant. Over night in a hotel at Xunhua.
Day 06: Xun Hua-Xininig, 150Km, 3 HRS.
Visit camel spring, an important ancestral site marking an epic migration of the Salar People into the region. Salar people are of Turkish origin, and speak a Turkish-based language with borrowed vocabularies from Tibetan. The Town is lively shopping center for the region. After lunch we drive back to Xining. The tour ends
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