Hiking and Trekking-9 Days Trekking Tour (May 5th - 13th, 2020)

Hiking and Trekking-9 Days Trekking Tour (May 5th - 13th, 2020)  

Day 1 Arrival in Lijiang

Transfer to hotel in Lijiang. Lijiang is the home of the matriarchal Naxi culture, which is protected as a UNESCO Cultural Heritage Site. Lijiang was at the end of the Tibetan tea caravan route that gave rise to the Naxi women’s strong commercial bent as successful shopkeepers and traders. 

Day 2 Visit Lijiang and drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge

Spend the morning to visit the old town of Lijiang to see the old houses and local market in the old town. Visit Zhiyun Monastery, one of the five main monasteries in Lijiang and this one is seldom visited by tourists, quite and peaceful. And visit Naxi villages near Lashi Lake. Drive to Tiger Leaping Gorge and overnight at Naxi Family Hotel in the Gorge.

Day 3 Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek

Start the trek from the hotel on the high path, trek up the hill on the zigzags called 28 Bends via villages, terraces, with great views of the Gorge and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain on the other side. Reach the top at 2640m within four hours, and take a rest. Another hour and half walk in the forest and bushes to Sanjianren village. O/n Tea & Horse Guesthouse. 

Day 4 Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek

Continuing walking to Tina's Guesthouse in the middle of the gorge via Bendiwan and a waterfall. Three hours and a half trek down to the Yangtze River to see a very narrow part of the gorge. The Gorge is 19km long with the drop of 3900m from the top of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain to the Yangtze River. There are three different parts of the Gorge. The narrowest part of the river is only 30m. It’s said that someone saw a tiger jumped from one side to the other, hence the name. Both sides of the Gorge are very steep, with rocky mountains, but you will see the changes of the landscape as walking on. Drive for one and half hour to Haba village.

Day 5 Drive to Haba village & Trek to Black Sea Lake

We use horses to take our bags and all the camping equipments up to the mountain. We just carry a small bag with some food and drinks, and it takes about five hours and half to hike up to the Lake, through villages, meadows, forests and small rivers. Black Sea Lake, with an elevation of 4170m, is in front of the Haba Mountain, and you can see the reflection of the Haba in water just from the camping site.

Day 6 Explore the Black Sea Lake area and Move to Base Camp

There are some small lakes, grasslands and mountain passes in the area near the Lake, so we spend half a day here to walk around the lakes and climb up to the mountain passes to get acclimatized to the altitude here. There are different kinds of the flowers and plants which grow in the area, esp. azalea, and you will see the different sceneries in different seasons. Move to the Base Camp at 4130m

Day 7 Topping Haba Mountain at 5396m

Get up early and top Haba Mountain. We walk up, on a rocky mountain in front of Haba, from the Base Camp to 4900m, and then we need to use ice crampons and ice axes to get to the top of the mountain. On the top, you can have a very good view of the mountains in distance, including Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang, Meili Snow Mountain in Deqen, Three Holy Mountains in Yading and many other nameless mountains.

Day 8 Trek to Haba village and drive to Shangri-La

Five hours half trek down to Haba village, Haba is a Naxi village which stands in front of Haba Snow Mountain and there are many rice terraces near the village. Drive to Shangri-La

Day 9 Day in Shangri-La

In and around Shangri-La. Visit the Songtzeling Tibetan Monastery, a yellow hat sect Tibetan Buddhist monastery has more then 500 lamas, we will visit the monastery and take a walk around the Lake in front of the Monastery. Visit Napa Lake and local Tibetan villages around the Lake. Visit the Shangri-la Old Town and see the big pray wheel. Overnight hotel and tour ends.