Tibet Kham The Ultimate Dege Trek

Arrive in Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan, China’s most populated province and the “rice bowl” of the country. Upon arrival, we transfer to the hotel for an orientation meeting and welcome dinner. Overnight in Chengdu D.

Early morning visit to the Panda Breeding Centre when the Pandas are the most active. Afternoon free to explore the city on your own. Overnight in Chengdu BL.

From the lowland plains, we ascend the foothills of the Hengduan Shan Mountains, driving on the Sichuan-Tibet highway through a 10km long tunnel to reach Kangding (formerly known as Dartsedo), a small city at 8300ft that was once the cultural boundary between China and Tibet. In the past, Chinese porters laboured to here up the steep trails from Chengdu and Ya’an carrying huge loads of tea on their backs, which was then transferred onto large yak caravans that would deliver the tea to the far reaches of the Tibetan Plateau. Overnight in Kangding BLD.

This morning we begin with the long winding ascent to Gye La (14,075ft), the gateway pass to the Tibetan Plateau. The architecture on the far side of the summit is noticeably different, with large multi storied Tibetan homes made from stone that resemble small fortresses. As we descend into the valleys of Kham, the architecture of the local homes continues to change, often subtly, with more wood and varying roof styles.
Our journey through this impressive landscape brings us to the expensive river plains of the Yalung Jiang River, a major tributary of the Yangtze, and to Kandze, a “wild west” sort of town that is the prefectural capital of Kandze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. We will have a chance to wander through the market area of this prefectural capital, striding alongside the impressive Khampa “cowboys” dressed in their wild looking garb of high leather boots, large knife scabbards on their belts, and hair swirled majestically with long red braids on top of their heads. Sprawling across the mountainside above town is Kandze monastery, home to some 500 monks. Overnight in Kandze BLD.

From Kandze we drive to south, soon leaving the Sichuan-Tibet Highway and the fertile agricultural river plains to begin climbing toward Zota La pass (15,640ft) over the Kawalori Mountains. From Zota La we descend through the rugged mountains and valleys of the southern Kham region known as Nyarong, crossing two more passes before reaching to Dri Chu, the Tibetan name for the upper Yangtze River. The Chinese name is the Jinsha Jiang, the river of Golden Sand. Although the Dri Chu is still thousands of miles from the ocean, it is an impressive swirling muddy river that clips along at an impressive flow below steep forested hills.
The towns and settlement across the river are in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), of which Lhasa is the capital, and we will pass through the small city of Pelyul, with its huge monastery on the mountainside above the town. The former head Lama of Pelyul infamously recognized the American actor Steven Seagal as the rebirth of a Tibetan Buddhist scholar. As we drive along the Dri Chu we meet two main tributaries flowing from the Trola Range, first the Me Chu and then the Pal Chu. We will be hiking in the headwaters of both rivers during the course of our trek. Eventually our road peels away from the Dri Chu to enter a tunnel to rejoin the Sichuan-Tibet Highway along the Zhil Chu River, which we follow to reach Dege, the largest town in this part of Kham and the traditional seat of the Dege Kings. Overnight stay in Dege BLD.

Dege is a fascinating mini-city nestled between steep hills alongside the crashing Zhil Chu River. Although many of the original buildings along the main street hae been replaced by taller, more modern buildings, brightly colored traditional log cabin-style homes lap up the hillsides surrounding the town. Like Kandze the streets bustle with swashbuckling Khampas from the surrounding regions who’ve come to shop for supplies.
A short walk from our hotel is the Parkhang, the most important printing house for Tibetan Buddhist texts on the Tibetan Plateau. Founded in 1729 by the Dege king Tenpa Tsering, this 3-storeid maroon-walled complex in the center of town has a steady stream of pilgrims circumambulating the building from early morning until late in the evening. Inside is a sacred library with more than 200,000 hand-carved wooden printing blocks for religious texts arranged in extensive rows of shelves. The ground floor of the Parkhang boasts one of the oldest temples remaining in Kham; the ancient blackened wall murals here were painted in gold ink. The second floor bustles with energetic workers rapidly inking the carved boards to print text onto long strips of handmade paper, and the rooftop offers panoramic views of the picturesque local homes surrounding the town. A short distance above the Parkhang is Dege Gonchen, the main monastery in Dege. Overnight stay in Dege BLD.

It’s a more leisurely day today as we stroll down the valley beside a tumbling creek to reach the first villages of our trek, in the upper Mesho Valley. The homes here are beautiful examples of Khampa log-cabin style architecture. Like Sherpa homes, the animals are kept on the ground floor and stairs lead to the living area on the second floor, while the flat roofs are used for drying food and grains. The villagers here are Sa-Ma-Dro, which means they are both farmers and herders. Our camp for the next two nights will be along the banks of the Me Chu near Dzochungda, the hometown village of Karma, our trek organizer. Camp BLD.

High up on the ridge above our camp is Kagu Changchubling, an active hermitage with several hundred monks and nuns who come here to meditate and study Buddhist philosophy. Although a road now leads up to the site, we’ll follow the traditional walking route that leads up the nose of the ridge to the spectacular setting, providing us with outstanding views which include the snowy summits of the Trola Range, the bullet-shaped protector peak Dorgyal Melong, the dramatic Dophu valley where we’ll spend the next few nights, as well as Sharchen La, a pass crossing leading into the neighbouring Rongme valley. Camp BLD.

We saddle up the horses again to trek up into the Dophu Valley. It’s only a short walk from our camp along the road to Martang, the last village in the valley. Beyond here we leave the barley fields to follow wide yak trails along the tumbling Me Chu River to reach the riverside pastures at Noguma. The hillsides here are clad in the think spruce forest, which are home to the elk-like white-lipped deer. Keep an eye on the rocky cliffs above camp for blue sheep, which are quite common in the Dophu region; they are the favourite prey of the snow leopard. There are a good chance one of these magnificent cats may be watching our movements from their mountain perch as we hike up this valley. The dramatic pointy peak at the head of the valley is known locally as Itra Tsaga. Camp BLD.

Our journey continues along the Me Chu River up the Dophu valley, which is now a classic U-shaped glacial valley typical of Nepal and the Alps. After crossing the river on a wooden cantilever bridge just beyond our camp, we’ll come to a forested hill of moraine on the valley floor decorated with prayer flags. As we hike along the impressive rocky summit of Dorgyal Melong, the protector peak we’ve been seeing for the past few days comes into view up to the northwest. We’ll pass a large ta-gur, a tall “tent prayer flag” of colourful cloth prayer flags on to the eastern riverbank, where locals from the Mesho area congregate for an annual festival to make offerings to this local protector. After passing several more herder settlements with small wooden huts, we reach the broad grassy Dileke meadows, where we’ll camp for the next two night. Camp BLD.

What a location for a layover day! Surrounded by spectacular craggy peaks and forested slopes, we have several options for day hikes including a trek to the head of Dophu Valley below Itra Gyaltse, the peak we camped below on our first two nights of the trek, to reach the Shode Lung meadow (14,725ft) near the foot of Yake La pass. Locals consider this a “people” pass, meaning it is too rocky to cross with pack animals. It leads over the mountains to Mondrak Gompa where we started our trek. Camp BLD.

We return down this stunning valley to camp at either Noguma, or continue on for another hour of so toward the base of Sharchen La pass, which we will cross tomorrow. Camp BLD.

Our journey east along the Trola Range now takes us into the Rongme Valley, another of the tributaries draining the southern side of these mountains. While the main yak trail over the mountains crosses Sharchen La, there is a higher, more challenging pilgrimage route that peels off to the north about halfway up to Sharchen La that crosses Seng-go Yutse (16,100ft), yet another “people” pass that pack animals cannot cross and includes a hole in the rock ridge that we must squeeze through to access the pass.
From the summit, which has a pile of walking sticks left as offerings by pilgrims, we have a short rocky descent to Seng-ngur Yumtso (15,600ft), the Lion’s Roar Turquoise Lake, a sacred tarn where Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, a famous Buddhist Lama from this area, discovered treasures of gold and prayer texts. Beside the lake are the remains of small stone huts where meditators where once enclosed for weeks, months, even years, to contemplate the finer aspects of Buddhist philosophy. From the lake we have a steep descent beside a rocky stream course to eventually arrive at Rongme Karmo Takstang hermitage (14,225ft), one of the three main “Tiger Lair” hermitages of the Indian Buddhist sage Guru Rimpoche; the best known of his tiger lairs is Paro Taktsang in Bhutan. It’s a short but steep climb up from the main trail to reach this remote mountainside hermitage. The local caretaker may allow us to visit on of the temples, but we must check first for its important not to disturb the 10 or 20 monks who are residing here for a 5-year meditational retreat. From the Taktsang the trail takes us through Thuk-rima (13,700ft), a settlement of herder huts, then continues descending to the lovely setting of tonight’s campsite at pond camp BLD.

A short descent from camp leads us to ta dirt road and on to the attractive log-cabin style homes of Rongme village (12,275ft). This will be one of our last glimpses of village life before we head back to the wilderness of the Trola Range. We’re not on this road for long before we turn off and head up the steep, forested slopes of the Rongme Valley to camp in a meadow near the Rongme Chu River. If the weather is kind we’ll have views up the valley toward Rongme Ngatra (20,236ft), the highest peak in the Trola range. Camp BLD.

From our Rongme Valley camp we descend back to Go-tre Dungma meadows (13,400ft), the site of a da-gur, the “tent” prayer flags where locals come to make offerings at an annual festival for the Yul Lha, the country protector called Rongme Ngatra that resides on the snowy glaciated peak of the same name. From there we head east up into the forest to start climbing toward a set of adjacent passes. Go-tre Dungma La and Drechen La, which we’ll cross tomorrow. Our goal for today is a high meadow camp where yak herders stay during the summer months, set in a small basin directly below Go-tre Dungma pass. Camp BLD.

Our camp in in a huge granite valley with several high hanging valleys and waterfalls tumbling down their faces. For those who are keen for a soak in a hot spring, it’s a 2 hour hike each way along this stunning canyon to reach the pool. It’s also possible to hike farther up the valley for an hour or more along the creek to enjoy the higher meadows. Camp BLD.

It’s long, steady but beautiful climb from our camp to Dzin La (16,400ft), our final pass crossing. Looking back from the summit are grand views of U-shaped glacial hanging valleys that spill into the Ting Chu canyon. Throw three stones onto the rock chain at the pass as an offering to the protectors who have overseen our journey, shout La-So-So-So! (Food to the gods) into the wind, walk three times around the chain, then begin our final descent that leads to the picturesque glacial lake Dzin Tso and onto our last camp near Yilung Lhatso. Camp BLD.

The trail from our lake camp descends quickly through tall shrubs to reach the first of a series of small yak herding settlements. It’s a pleasant stroll along the creek draining the valley, then it’s about an hour’s walk beside the paved road to reach our riverside camp near the holy lake Yilung Lhatso, regarded by the Tibetans as a life-power lake, or Latso. Because the lake is now a nature reserve, we cannot camp near the shores but we can camp along the river near the reserve entrance.

Camp BLD.

Transfer to the newly constructed Gesar airport in Kandze County for your flight back to Chengdu.