Kham is a region of China located in between Chengdu and Tibet. This region can be visited without foreigner permit (which is not the case of Tibet), and offers the opportunity to witness authentic Tibetan life as most of the people living in this quite hostile environment (3 000-5 500 meters altitude) are Tibetans. There are still a lot of Nomad people in the Kham region, who live on the Tibetan plateau. Reaching this region is the opportunity to set a first foot in Tibet and its amazing scenary, and meet some of the last remaining nomadic people on the planet!

I learned about Tagong, Litang & Yading national Park while browsing the net for information on Tibet and Sichuan. The inspiration for the itinerary was largely sourced from this fantastic website which I recommend for up to date info on the whole Tibet region: www.thelandofsnows.com

To reach there from Singapore, the best is to fly to Chengdu. Air China Operates A320 from Singapore to Chengdu, departure at 2am, arrival, 4 hours later, at Chengdu. The airport is very close to the city center, and taxis cost around 70RMB.

First day => We traveled from from Xinnanmen station in Chengdu to Kangding. The trip lasts 7:30h and costs 130RMB. The buses are comfortable and the journey through Sichuan allows a good transition from the bamboo valleys close to chengdu to the high mountains and monasteries of the Kham region. Buses leave every hour but its best to book in advance as they seemed quite full. In Kangding, I recommend Zhilam Hostel on the hights of town with a nice view on Kangding www.zhilamhostel.com

Second Day => Took the van at 7am to Tagong village (50RMB pp). The road is beautiful, crossing vast grasslands and climbing a high pass on top of snow covered mountain. As in all the area, the roads are quite bad and the drivers reckless. We had to stop to put the chains in the middle of a long slope in the middle of a snow storm, and a few minutes later, nearly collided with a truck who was sliding down the slope. After 3h, we reached Tagong Village, and met with the Tibetan family with whom we were going to travel on horseback the 4 next days, and our two co-adventurers! We left on horseback right away towards the grasslands and spent the reminder of the day horseriding in the grasslands and visiting Gyergo Monastery. We stayed overnight at the winterhouse of the nomad family, getting used to the altitude and "savouring" Tsampa, Yak Butter & Yak Milk.

The horseriding trip was organised by Dorjee (dorjee019@yahoo.com) who speaks a good english. He organised the trip very well, and we were welcomed by his father, mother & brother at the Zhara guesthouse. His father & brother are the ones who guided us for the whole trip and organised everything (horse, local food and tents). They are an adorable family, very helpful and fun. They don't speak a good mandarin but getting by was fine!

Third Day => Continued our horseriding through breathtaking scenery and camped overnight in front of a beautiful Monastery. We witnessed the amazing rituals of the monks and lamas; hundreds of colors everywhere, constant mumbling of mantras and loud sound of the trumpets during hours!

Fourth Day => Spent the whole day on horseback, slowly making our way back to Tagong village. The scenery on this last portion of the trek is stunning because it crosses very high passes (4300m) with great vistas on the 7000m mountains around, and on the valleys 1000m below. Enjoyed a great dinner at a great guesthouse in Tagong, held by an americano-tibetan couple: Khampa Guesthouse (Yak burger is just fantastic after all this time spent in the grasslands!!)

Fifth Day => Visited Tagong Village all morning. There is alot to see in this little village: Tagong Temple, the monastery, a huge stupa, and little paved streets flanked by prayer wheels. We took a van at 1pm for Litang, a very old Tibetan village. The trip takes 5 hours, and crosses beautiful landscapes, through a region known as Shangri-La. Several passes have ot be crossed on the way to Litang, all of them more than 4000m, the highest being nearly 4800m! The snow-covered summits are quite eery, especially with low clouds and very strong winds and the ocasional snow storm. Considering the driving style, the state of the road, and the scenary, 100% of the trip si done with eyes fixed on the road!

Sixth Day => Visited Litang Tibetan town. The very big monastery has a huge buddha with great paintings and alot of decorations. It is situated 10minutes away from the town center, and assisting to the lamas' prayers is a great experience! Litang has an old town with a lot of traditional stone houses, and the 800 years old house where the 7th Dalai Lama was born can be visited. There is also a huge stupa, buzzling with activity, with hundreds of Tibetans relentlessly turning worn prayer wheels. At 4pm, we took a local car to reach Daocheng, 2h away. The drive was made extremly nerve-racking due to the reckless-mad driver who fancied accelerating on the ice-covered slopes. Skidding twice in a sharp snow-covered turn at 4000m, while going downhill with a steep fall on the side was hardly enough to calm him down... Anyway we reached Daocheng safely and with much relief, enjoyed a beer at the Drolma Guesthouse General advice for trips in Kham region: It is best to travel in the morning, as it usually does not snow and the roads are safer.

Seventh Day => Made the trip to Yading park. It takes 2hours to reach the town of Riwa where the tickets are purchased (150+120RMB). Once at Riwa, it is compulsary to take a bus to enter the park. The trip takes 1:30h from park entry to the actual spot where the treks start. Don't miss the littl Yading Village on the way down, where a few hostel can be found. Be warned that food & room rates are more expensive because in the park, but are not better! We spent the afternnon trekking from the start of the trek near the monastery, to the pasture area. The trek is 7km, and all the way is actually made from either wood or metal pavements. The scenery is great with the three 6000m high mountains all around. On the left side of the path, slightly hidden, is a small road, for the electric cars. For 80RMB, it is possible to take a ride directly to the pasture. We didn't see many people actually walking the 7km...

Eight Day => Returned to the pasture point by foot, and attempted the climb to the milk lake at some 4600m. The trek is very nice but quite steep, and the high altitude makes the climb quite tiring. The weather ensured that we had our fill of emotion for this climb, as the heavy snow made it both wet and slippery! This trek is great, and can be completed by a small detour to the five-color lake, and the Yading park pass at 4700m. It is then possible to complete the loop around the sacred mountain and return to the park's entry.

Ninth Day => Spent the morning visiting the temple at the entry of Yading park, and made our way back to Daocheng. In the afternoon, we visited daocheng which is small town, getting bigger thanks to the airport and the increasing number of tourists. There still is a busy local market, small paved streets selling all sort of equipment for nomads, horses, etc The stupa, slightly away from town but still at walking distance, is very large and offers great views on the grasslands around and on daocheng town

Tenth Day => Flew back to Chengdu with China Eastern Airline, taking off at 8am from the highest airport in the world at an altitude of 4334m! In chengdu, I recommend Sim's Cozy corner which is really a fantastic guesthouse with pretty much anything you would want! They can organize trips all around chengdu & sichuan province and rooms are specious and clean. We spent the afternoon visiting the Tibetan quarters and the old town.

Eleventh Day => Visited the Panda reserve of chengdu 30mins of taxi away from city center. Visited the city center of Chengdu, the people park and main square. We flew back to Singapore at 8pm, reaching Singapore at midnight!