Eastern Tibet was long time in my travel plans. It is a less known part of this famous highland,
since it is located outside of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China, far from Lhasa and
far from the Himalayas and Mt. Everest. That’s why it is also less crowded than TAR, and since no
travel permits and organized tours are required, it is easier for foreigners to travel there.
So we arranged our trip to explore this area by the best way- by car. And since I had a Chinese
driving license, we planned our route from Chengdu to Xining and rent a car. We were five
people in the car.
I have planned a route, which passes through everything that one would like to taste of Tibet. It
started from Chengdu, passed through the western part of Sichuan province- Kangding, Tagong,
Garze, Yilhun Lha Tso lake and Serxu. Then proceeded through Qinghai province- Yushu, Madoi,
Amnye Machin and the largest lake of China- Qinghai lake, until it ended in Xining.
We wanted to see the Tibetan grasslands. There were a lot of grasslands during the whole route,
starting from Tagong, almost all the way to Xining.
We wanted to see the Tibetan nomadic life. And we saw a lot of it- Tibetan yak herds, horse
riding Tibetans, and Tibetan yurts.
We wanted to see the Tibetan religious culture and education. And we saw it in two
monasteries- Dzogchen and Serxu, where we faced a local celebration and a school student’s
class.
We wanted to see high snowy mountains. And we enjoyed Mt. Zhara, Mt. Zhuoda, Mt. Chola and
Mt. Amnye Machin, rising up to more than 6000 m altitude.
We wanted to see stunning landscapes. And we saw a lot of them, almost all the way, from
which my favourite was Yilhun Lha Tso lake.
The result was a great trip, with great memories. If you want to make such trip in this amazing
part of the world, or just want some inspiration, you can see more HERE.