Explorer Kham Tours 17 Days

Day 1: Arrive to Chengdu

Welcome to Chengdu!  This day you will meet the driver and guide at the airport who will escort you to the hotel. You will also do last minute preparations for the upcoming Kham Cultural tour.

Overnight: Chengdu

Day 2: Chengdu—Dartsendo (Kangding) Distance: 6 hours  Elevation: 2560m

You will leave early this morning and head toward Dartsendo, a famous Tibetan trade center in ancient times.  Now it is the main capital city of Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture with population of over 95,000, most of who are Tibetans

Overnight: Dartsendo

Day 3: Dartsendo—Drango (Luhou) Distance: 6 hours  Elevation: 3250m

Today our destination is the pleasant Tibetan town of Drango, known as Luhou in Chinese. Along the way we will visit one of the great sacred places for Tibetan

Buddhists–Lhaghang Monastery. It was built by King Songtsan Gampo during the 7th century. Lhagang Monastery houses the most important statue of Buddha Shakyamuni. Local Tibetans believe that this statue will give the same spiritual blessing of the one found in Lhasa. For this reason, Lhagang is an important pilgrimage destination.

Overnight: Drango

Day 4: Drango—Serta (Seda)  Distance: 3 hours  Elevation: 3900 m

After breakfast, we leave for th world’s largest Buddhist institute found at Larung Gar in Serta County. The drive along the way is quite nice as we will pass through several traditional Tibetan villages where you can see huge stone and wood homes.   Serta Larung Gar Buddhist Institute was founded by Kenpo Jigme Phuntsok in 1980.  He started in the  in Lorog valley with only a few disciples and a tent to practice Buddhism. After hearing his great fame of the Buddhist teachings, more students gathered and now  has more than 40,000 Buddhist monks and nuns.

Overnight:  Serta

Day 5: Serta

In the morning we explore more of the Serta region. We will start by making a pilgrimage at the Gyutril Lhakhang (Magical Temple) . Then we leave for sky burial site to experience how Tibetan people react to the death and funeral of loved ones. Here we will witness Tibetans donating their bodies to the vultures after their death. Overnight: Serta

 Day 6: Serta—Garze (Ganzi) Distance: 4 hours  Elevation: 3390m

This day will take us Donkor monastery the pleasant lake of  Kasar as we make our  our way to Garze. This small Tibetan town is surrounded by beautiful mountains and stunning landscape. The villages, temples and monasteries here are perfect for photographers! We will visit Garze monastery in the afternoon, which has 500 years of history.

Overnight: Garze

 Day 7: Garze—Dzogchen (Zhuqing) Distance: 5 hours  Elevation: 3800m

Today’s destination is the isolated region of Dzogchen, known in Chinese as Zhuqing. Dozgchen Monastery was established in the year 1685 and is one of the 6 most influential monasteries in the Kham region of easern Tibet. Many famous Tibetan Buddhist teachers have studied here over the past 300 years.

Overnight: Dzogchen

Day 8: Dzogchen

We will spend a full day in Dzogchen exploring, hiking and photographing this beautiful region that few outsiders get to experience.

Overnight: Dzogchen

Day 9: Dzogchen—Derge (ch:Dege) Distance: 4 hours  Elevation: 3220m

After breakfast, we will begin our drive to Derge, the cultural center of the Kham region. Along the way we will stop at the spectacular lake of Yilhun Lha Tso, one of eastern Tibet’s most holy lakes. The lake is lined with hand-carved prayer stones that are more than 600 years old. From the lake, we will drive over the 5050 meter Trola Mountain Pass, which offers breathtaking views of glacier covered mountains. We will then arrive in Derge, the cultural center of the Kham region.

Overnight: Derge

Day 10: Derge—Palpung (Babang) Distance: 2 hours  Elevation: 3200 m

In the morning,  we visit Derge Barkhang Printing Press. This printing press produces a majority of the Buddhist scripture books used across Tibet. At the printing press, we will see artisans carving these scripture tablets by hand using wood blocks. After lunch, we will go to the Palpung Monastery, established in the year 1729. This monastery is well-known for the teaching of Tibetan medicine and a traditional for of Tibetan painting known as Karma Gadru.

Overnight: Palpung

Day 11: Palpung—Dzongsar  (Zongsa) Distance: 2 hours  Elevation: 3200m

Today’s destination is Dzongsar Monastery, which was built in the year of 746. This monastery is famous for keeping its Tibetan philosophy teaching system from ancient times up until now. The current lama for this monastery is a world-known teacher, His Holinness the Dzongsar Jamyang Kyentse. In the late afternoon, we visit a local handicrafts center where, if you are interested, you can buy souvenirs for your families or friends.

Overnight: Dzongsar

 Day 12: Dzongsar—Pelyul (Baiyu) Distance: 4 hours  Elevation: 3300m

Our journey today will begin with visiting Katok monastery, one from the three important  Nyingma Sect monasteries of Tibet. In the year 1159, Katok Danba Deshek established this monastery. It is beautifully located on a  high rocky mountain. After our time there, we leave for Horpo handicraft center to experience their unique crafting skill, especially the famous Tibetan swords they produce. We will arrive to Pelyul, known in Chinese as Baiyu, in the afternoon.

Overnight: Pelyul

Day 13: Pelyul—Garze (Ganzi) Distance: 6 hours  Elevation: 3390m

After breakfast, we  will visit Pelyul Monatery, one of the six main monasteries in the Nyingma  tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.  Rigdzin Kunzang Sherab built this monastery in the year of 1665. Next,  we will head to Yarchen Gar on our way to Garze. Yarchen Gar is another major Buddhist institute in addition to Larung Gar. It was built in 1985 by Khanpu Achu Rinpoche.

Overnight: Garze

Day 14: Garze—Danba Distance: 6 hours  Elevation: 1800m

This day we will explore the unique Gyarong region, which has different dialect, architecture, dressing, and local customs compared to other Tibetan areas. The region is well known for its huge, castle-like homes and tall stone watchtowers.

Overnight: Danba

Day 15: Danba—Chengdu Distance: 6 hours

Our Great Kham Cultural Tour is comes to an end today as we arrive back in Chengdu. We hope you enjoyed the tour as much as we expected. We wish you a safe journey back to your home!