Qinghai-Tibet Adventures Co. Ltd

Overview
The Mountain Minya Konka stands on the borders of Kangding, Luding and Jiulong counties and is 7 , 556m above sea l evel. It is the highest mountain in Sichuan and the 11th highest mountain in the world . So, the mountain is a holy mountain with ice prays. Around the Summit, and in area of 292 square kilometers, there are 145 Surrounding ice peaks whose altitudes are above 5,000 meters and 110 glaciers of various sizes. The top of Konka is hidden in cloud almost all year around as if it were wearing a mysterious veil. Mt. Konka possesses virgin forests, snow clod mountains. grassland, lakes, hot springs, waterfalls etc. and is wors hipped by the locals as the supreme holy mountain.

-All transfer with private vehicle

-Full board during the tour
-Mineral Water or other drinks in the vehicle
-All hotel/guesthouse accommodation
-All trek equipment (tents, mat t ress etc.)
-All entrance fees
- English-speaking Guides
-Visa and permits support
-Other acceptable requests

Experience Required
As in any physical endeavor, fitness is the most essential ingredient for success. That said, no previous Himalayan trekking experience is needed to take part in our Tibetan trips. In general, a love of mountains and hiking is all that is required. One should be physically fit, meaning that one should be capable of walking ) full day with a day pack. If you have any questions about your qualifications or abilities, those questions can be readily answered through a phone conversation with one of our guides.

Our trekking expeditions in the Minya Konka region can be customized to fit a particular group's interests, budgets and schedules. We can emphasize trekking activities if the group has a great interest in trekking, or we can emphasize the region's cultural riches if that's where our interests lie. Or we can design an itinerary that neatly balances the adventure and cultural aspects of travel in the Minya Konka region.

Day 0 1 Arrive at Beijing Airport and continue fly to Xining,1 N in 4* Qinghai Hotel

Xining, 2350 m, the capital of Qinghai province. This city is mainly inhabited with Tibetan but also a home of Uygur, Kasak and Hui minorities.

While traveling, visit Kumbum monastery (Ta'er Si) of Gelukpa-sect, which was built in 1560 and also one of the six grand monasteries in Tibet. Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Lamaistic "yellow hat sect", was born here. As Kumbum-monastery has always been playing an important role to connect the Mongolian with the Lamaism, today many Mongolian come to this place for worship. Then cross over Sun-and-Moon mountain (Ri Yue Shan). In 641 Wencheng princess of Tang Dynasty passed by this mountain where today a sun-pavilion and a moon-pavilion are built on the summit for people to have a break. The Sun-and-Moon mountain has always been an distinguish line between meadow and agriculture area. After that make a short trekking by the Koko Nor lake, the biggest salty lake in China, with an area of 4,500 square kilometers and an altitude of 3,194m high above sea level. The big lake is acclaimed as "pearl on the highland" and the scenery of which is unusually fascinating and appears different shapes even at the same time. "Koko Nor" in Mongolian language means "blue lake" because of the lunar shape and the color of the lake.

Drive to Madoi, a small city in the upper reaches of the Yellow river. The Yellow river is the second longest river in China with a length of 5,464 km. It is just in Madoi that the Yellow river takes its original course. If time is enough, go to the source of the Yellow river. It is hard to believe that these small trickles have formed the great Yellow river.

Leave for Yushu, accompanied by beautiful landscape. On the way, see the most enormous Mani-stone in the earth - Jiana Mani-stones. In Xinzhai village the last lama named WenBaoJianGong of the Jiegu monastery had led his old life there and he promised to try his best to build as more Mani-stones as possible. Till 1955, 250 million Mani-stones had already been piled up on top of each other. In 1958 the lama came into Nirvana. Then arrive at Yushu, a small Tibetan county with a population of 55700 and an area of 13547 square kilometers.

There are totally 43 monasteries in Yushu region, of which 12 belong to Sakya-sect, 8 to Gelukpa-sect, 2 to Nyingmapa-sect, 21 to Gagyuepa-sect. visit three monasteries in a whole day: Jiegu monastery of Sakya-sect,. Dongkar monastery of Gagyuepa-sect. Besides, it is worthwhile to visit monastery of Wencheng princess. In the legend the princess of Tang Dynasty once stayed in this monastery for a month.

Say goodbay to Qinghai province. The pasture landscape leads you to Sichuan province. After a picnic as a lunch visit the grand Sexu monastery of Gelukpa-sect, which was constructed in 1710 and up to now more than 1000 monks live there. Late in the afternoon arrive at Shiqu.

After driving approx. 60 km and trekking approx. 2 km enjoyably, arrive at Dzochen monastery of Nyingmapa-sect which was constructed in 1685 and owns the highest authority over the Kahm-Amdo region. Then drive southwards to Manigango (approx. 60 km), then turn west. On the way have a break to take photos by the Xinluhai lake (4500 m), which is so quiet, beautiful that you feel just in a fabulous world. Then cross over Que'er pass (4900 m). In the evening arrive in Dege which lies on the border between Tibet and Sichuan. The inhabitants in Dege are Khampa-Tibetans who have independently lived here for hundreds of years and the influence of Lhasa reaches this region just in a slight way. Different religions like red sect, yellow sect, white sect, black sect exist together in peaceful harmony.

In the morning visit Dege scripture printing press which was built in 1729 and the biggest scripture printing press in the world today as well as the Gengqing monastery of Sakya- sect.

Drive to Garze, the real cultural, religious centre for the Tibetans living in Sichuan, where there are numerous lama monastery. Here you can deeply feel the religious atmosphere.

In the morning visit Garze monastery of yellow hats-sect (Gelukpa), with more than 1100 monks living in this biggest monastery in Kham and the constructions of this monastery just like a huge free market. In the afternoon drive to Tawu and visit Nyitso Gonpa- a monastery of the Gelukpa school which formerly housed 400 monks.

Visit Lhagang Monastery on the way and crossing Drepa La Pass(4420 m), we arrive in the town of Kangding, which lies deep within a gorge of the Dardo River. It was formerly the capital of the Chakla Kingdom-one of the five independent kingdom of Kham.

Early in the morning, we will depart Kangding for the town of Laoyulin (10,200 feet), which lies at the head of the Moxi Valley. After assembling and preparing our pack animals, we will begin our trek into the Moxi Valley, making approximately 5 hours' progress before reaching our camp site for the day. The Moxi Valley landscape is characterized by pine forests framed against a background of high 20,000-foot peaks. These peaks mark the beginning of the Da Xue range. We will camp for the evening in a meadow (11,840 feet) near the Gyazi River.

We will continue our southward journey through the Moxi Valley. As we walk, our horses will follow, bearing our supplies. To the east as we journey will be a 20,000-foot high wall, formed by the peaks of the central Da Xue range. To the west will be a dense fir forest. We will walk for roughly five hours through an increasingly impressive landscape of mountains, rivers and meadows. We will stop for the evening at a camp near Tibetan yak herder's tents, at an elevation of 12,160 feet. For those interested in trying one of Tibet's staples, 'pur-cha' (or butter tea), the opportunity will surely present itself here.

After finishing breakfast, we will begin an uphill ascent, eventually reaching a plateau at 13,760 feet. We will cross the terminal moraine of Gyazi Kankar, which towers 20,000 feet above us.Relatively early in the day, we will reach our campsite, which is situated in a meadow (13,120 feet) beneath a glacier. We will spend an additional day at this campsite - surely one of the most spectacular camps of the trip. We will spend the extra day enjoying the splendor of our surroundings as we become acclimatized for the upcoming crossing of the highest pass that we will face on this trek.

We will be free during the day to explore some of the surrounding side valleys, taking in the wildlife and wildflowers of our high alpine setting. The photographers among us will enjoy the spectacular scenery, while the sun seekers among us will enjoy the opportunity (weather permitting, of course!) to lounge in the sun. And, best of all, without a lot of effort on our part, we will be accomplishing something very important: acclimatizing ourselves for the following day's crossing of the Bu-Chu La pass.

We will get an early start on the day's trek in order to assure ourselves of reaching camp at a relatively early hour. The ascent to Bu-Chu La requires effort, but it pays off in spades. The summit of the pass, at 15,808 feet, offers some of the finest views in all of eastern Tibet. On both sides, to the south and to the north, are the huge walls formed by the glaciated peaks of the central Da Xue range. Lording over them all is the massive summit of Minya Konka (24,179 feet). To the west are the seemingly endless expanses of the eastern Tibetan plateau. After enjoying our time at the summit, we will descend into one of the most beautiful sections of the trek. In the spring, the valley we traverse will be dotted with blooming alpine wildflowers, including the blue poppy, the clematis, the white rose and the jack-in-the-pulpit. Our camp for the evening will be alongside the Bu-Chu stream (13,440 feet).

In the morning, we will set out on the last southbound segment of our trek, passing through deeply wooded valleys interspersed with meadows on the way. We will camp for the night at a yak herder's clearing, at an elevation of 12,100 feet.

We will reach the fork in the Bu-Chu River, at the point where it pours out from the glaciers of Minya Konka. From that point, we will turn east, passing through stunning rhododendron forests. Those joining us for our springtime treks will experience the riotous color of 22 rhododendron species simultaneously in bloom. We will camp in a meadow (10,880 feet) for the night.

We will continue through the rhododendron forests before

suddenly coming upon the courtyard of the ancient Minya Konka monastery (12,750 feet). Looming above the monastery is the truncated summit of Minya Konka (24,179 feet). We will spend a memorable night here in our camp beside the monastery.

After marveling at the morning alpenglow on the stupendous west face of Minya Konka, we will depart our camp and begin retracing our steps for part of the day, until we reach our next camp, which is located near Zemi village (12,000 feet). No one will object to having a second opportunity to traverse this stunning terrain. For the night, we will camp near one of eastern Tibet's most picturesque villages, Zemi. A handful of Tibetan families live here in huge stone houses.

A largely uphill walk from the village of Zemi to the Zemi Pass (15,300 feet) will be our main focus of the day. The top of Zemi Pass is, like the Bu-Chu La, a fine vantage point from which all the mountains of eastern Tibet can be viewed. After crossing the pass, we will begin our descent into the Yulongshi Valley, where we will camp for the evening (13,600 feet).

The Yulongshi Valley is relatively well-populated. We will pass through a typical Tibetan village every couple of miles. Our destination for the day will be the town of Liu Ba (11,950 feet). Today's trek will be fairly ambitious and will involve a relatively long day of walking. Depending on our progress, we will either stay in a small guest house near Liu Ba or in Kangding.

We will ride back to Chengdu for an overnight stay in the Lhasa Hotel. After we enjoy a group dinner in the evening, there will be time to sample some of Chengdu's lively night life.

After breakfast, we will transfer to the Chengdu Airport, where we will connect to our various international flights.

CQTA01 Trekking around Mt.Minya Konka (24 days)