Tibet horse festival holiday
| country: | China, Tibet |
| departures: | 2008: 20 Jul |
| price: | From £2150 (22 days) excluding flights. We can arrange flights from the UK. Max group size 12 people |
the amazing things you'll be doing
This trip takes us, in just one day, from the steamy fields and tea plantations skirting Chengdu, onto the Tibetan plateau near to a snow peak, thought at one time to be even higher than Mt Everest.
Continuing northwest through the mountains and nomad pastures, we spend two days at the colourful and exciting Horse Festival at Jeykundo (filmed by Michael Palin).
Further north, we cross the vast grasslands of Quinghai, stopping at the village where the Dalai Lama was born.
Reaching Xining, capital of Quinghai Province, we will travel to Lhasa on a 27-hr journey along the highest railway in the world (in some parts up to 3 miles above sea level), which opened in July 2006. After two days exploring Lhasa, we head east to the great Samye monastery across the Tsangpo River, stay overnight in Tsethang, from where we can reach the ancient hilltop palace of Yumbulagang. We will visit nomads and cross many mountain passes under fluttering prayer flags, throughout our journey experiencing the essence of Tibetan culture.
Jeykundo Horse Festival, East Tibet: Home to the Khampa warriors, Kham is a remote, rugged and seldom visited region in Eastern Tibet, characterized by high mountains, deep alpine gorges and spectacular fortress homes. For three days in August the Khampas erect hundreds of tents on the grassy plains above Litang and fill the air with jangling horse-bells, thundering hooves and whooping cries of riders showing off their equine skills. Almost unknown by the outside world, this is a festival that has remained unchanged for centuries.
Continuing northwest through the mountains and nomad pastures, we spend two days at the colourful and exciting Horse Festival at Jeykundo (filmed by Michael Palin).
Further north, we cross the vast grasslands of Quinghai, stopping at the village where the Dalai Lama was born.
Reaching Xining, capital of Quinghai Province, we will travel to Lhasa on a 27-hr journey along the highest railway in the world (in some parts up to 3 miles above sea level), which opened in July 2006. After two days exploring Lhasa, we head east to the great Samye monastery across the Tsangpo River, stay overnight in Tsethang, from where we can reach the ancient hilltop palace of Yumbulagang. We will visit nomads and cross many mountain passes under fluttering prayer flags, throughout our journey experiencing the essence of Tibetan culture.
Jeykundo Horse Festival, East Tibet: Home to the Khampa warriors, Kham is a remote, rugged and seldom visited region in Eastern Tibet, characterized by high mountains, deep alpine gorges and spectacular fortress homes. For three days in August the Khampas erect hundreds of tents on the grassy plains above Litang and fill the air with jangling horse-bells, thundering hooves and whooping cries of riders showing off their equine skills. Almost unknown by the outside world, this is a festival that has remained unchanged for centuries.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | UK – Beijing |
| Day 2: | Beijing – Chengdu |
| Day 3: | Chengdu |
| Day 4: | Kangding (Tibetan Dartsedo) |
| Day 5: | Bamei (Tibetan Garthar) |
| Day 6-7: | Ganzi (Tibetan Kandze) |
| Day 8: | Manigango |
| Day 9: | Shiqu (Tibetan Serchul) |
| Day 10: | Yushu (Tibetan Jeykundo) |
| Day 11-12: | Jeykundo Horse Festival |
| Day 13: | Huashixia |
| Day 14: | Xinghai |
| Day 15: | Xining (Tibetan: Ziling) |
| Day 16: | Kumbum Monastery - Lhasa |
| Day 17-19: | Lhasa |
| Day 20: | Tsethang |
| Day 21: | Lhasa - Beijing |
| Day 22: | Beijing – UK |
what this trip includes
Trips are on full board basis, and include international flights if mentioned in the price details, transport as outlined in itinerary, twin-share accommodation, mineral water and entrance fees. how this holiday makes a difference
 In 2001 our guide Carol agreed to help a monk who was teaching a few Tibetan children in the mountains above the Upper Yangtze River in northern Yunnan. She set up the Shuxiong Tibetan Schools Fund, which has now helped four schools in Kham, eastern Tibet. We contribute financially to these projects and every year our groups visit Tondashun School where the building programme is nearing completion. The fund is now concentrating on projects to help the nomads who live around Mt Genye, a sacred snow mountain where the first Karmapa built his first monastery over 800 years ago. This remote region lies south west of Litang where the annual Tibetan Horse Festival is held. The nomad projects include building a school, bridges and community centres. We are affiliated to the Ladakh Project – an NGO set up to help Ladakh citizens retain their traditional farming methods and lifestyles, whilst adapting to and ever-changing world. We fund various programs including seed-sowing of local grains and legumes, awareness of the dangers of chemical pesticides and the introduction of solar powered greenhouses for year round cultivation. When you take one of our trips, we make a contribution to “Climate Care” – an organisation devoted to ‘offsetting’ or ‘neutralising’ harmful greenhouse gas emissions caused by your flight. This is done by funding projects across the world that will reduce greenhouse gases on your behalf through sustainable energy or rainforest restoration. We also support several NGOs around the world such as the Hope Foundation, A-Cet and Adopt-A-Minefield, which are all carefully selected to improve the standard of living for the communities we visit. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've lead the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |