Code: TB17
Travel to Hoh Xil
Tibetan people
Golmud is situated in the center of the Tibet Plateau, south of the Qaidam Basin. It is an emerging city established in 1954, with a present population of 90,000. There are many good restaurants in Golmud, but we recommend the 2 star Golmud Hotel (Address: No. 157 Kunlun Road, Golmud city; Tel: 0979-412066), which has a good location. This hotel has two buildings, No. 1 building is the better one and the price is also higher, No. 2 building is a rest house, so the price is relatively lower. You can take a minibus from the railway station for CNY1.00 net per person. Or you can take a taxi for CNY5.00 net - CNY10.00 net. Stay overnight.
Your tour will start at around 6:30 in the morning, rent a car in advance. Drive south along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway; the vast boundless Gobi is around you on the way. At the elevation of 4767-meter Kunlun mountain pass, multicolored sutra streamers surround the Sanandaj Natural Protection Station. Sanandaj was sacrificed after a gun battle with criminals who stole the Tibeten antelope in Hoh Xil. A stele records this environmental protection martyr's biography.
From Mountain Kunlun to Tanghla Mountain, you pass the Not Frozen Spring, Five Liang, and Mountain Fenghuo pass. The average elevation along the route is above 4500 meters. Although the oxygen here is insufficient, the scenery is fantastic. The plateau sky changes rapidly; sometimes the blue sky is like water, sometimes it is dark with clouds.
Namtso Lake, Tibet
When you travel through the unpopulated area in Hoh Xil, you may seegroups of Tibet antelope run freely. At the foot of Mountain Kunlun, Hoh Xil, which means 'beautiful young girl' is the biggest unpopulated area in China. Hoh Xil is located in the center of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, The average elevation for the whole protection zone is above 4600 meters, which is called 'the third extreme in the world'.
Going south for hundred kilometers, it's the Tuotuo River, the source of the Yangtze River. The best place to see the Nyainqentanglha Range is from the Tanglha Mountain Pass with its perennial snows. Since the altitude of this mountain is very high, most people will have altitude sickness. Since the weather changes and road condition are not very good, make full preparations beforehand.
Cross the Nyainqentanglha Range; you will enter the Qiangtang plateau in the Tibet area. Nagqu means 'Heihe' in Tibetan, and it's situated in the north of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The average elevation is above 4500 meters and the maximum altitude is 6500 meters. The famous festival in Nagqu is the annual Naqu horse racing festival, which is also called the Qiangtang horse racing festival. Nagqu hotel is the best hotel in this area, the suite room rate is CNY480.00 net per room per night, and the deluxe twin room rate is CNY220.00 net per room per night.
About 100 kilometers from Nagqu is the Gulu village, and it is 70 kilometers from Gulu to Damxung. You may visit the famous Eight Pagodas of North Tibet, which commemorate a senior general who died in battle.
Geothermal energy, Yangpanchen
From Damxung you can go to the highest salt water lake in the world - Nam Co, South of the lake is the magnificent Nyainqentanglha Range; North of the lake is the Qiangtang protected areas of northern Tibet. The lake is 70 kilometers from east to west, 30 kilometers from north to south. The area is about 1940 square kilometers, and the altitude is about 4718 meters.
Then the next stop is the famous geothermal energy Yangpachen pool, which is not far from the Tanglha Mountain. You may relax by taking a hot spring bath for CNY40.00 to CNY100.00. Be careful not to stay too long. Drive back to Lhasa for about 90 kilometers. Your tour will end.
More Hiking Routes:
Monastery Tour: Tibet hiking tour to Mindroling Monastery
A Buddhist Legacy Exploration: Hiking to Ganden Monastery and Samye Monastery
Discover Yangpachen: 5 Day Trekking from Tsurphu Monastery to Yangpachen