MONLAM: THE GREAT TIBETAN PRAYER FESTIVAL

January 28 – February 13, 2020

17 day Tibetan New Year Festival Tour organized by himalayawander.com

This unique trip takes you to the Eastern part of Tibet in the Amdo region. You will visit the New Year festivals and rituals in a dozen monasteries and villages, across two provinces, showing the diversity of traditions and festivities in this traditional Tibetan region.

Tibet in wintertime is very special with landscapes displaying their majesty with snowy mountains, solemn waters and local pilgrims taking part in the annual rituals of the beginning of a new year. In the villages the New Year Year is celebrated with decorations, feasts, traditional dresses, dance and ceremonies.

Visiting Aba (Ngawa) is also special, here monasteries of Gelugpa, Nyingma and Bön coexist together with their own colorful rituals and celebrations. This is going to be a trip to witness a Tibetan culture that is still vibrant and alive in these times of drastic changes.

You will travel in a well equiped 4WD drive and stay in comfortable accommodations, guided by an experienced guide, who has been traveling this area already for 20 years. Be prepared to learn about a unique culture, experience majestic landscapes and meet friendly local people and pilgrims, making this an unforgettable journey to the heart of Tibetan culture.

This is a small group trip of maximum 6 people to a unique part of Tibet during the most important festival of the year. Because of the high-altitude of this region (3.500m) acclimatization in Labrang is included.

Tour highlights:
Historical Buddhist and Bon monasteries
Tibetan Culture
New Year celebrations in different Tibetan villages
Great Prayer Festival in Labrang
Breathtaking scenery of pasture, valleys and snow clad mountains

Trip details:
17-day trip, price per person 1698,- euro
Including: all overland transfers, with private vehicle and dedicated driver,
16-night hotel accommodation based on single-occupancy, including tax and service charge
English speaking & experienced tour guide.
Excluding: China visum, international flights, local flight to Lanzhou, meals, travel insurance, tips, banking transfer costs

Program:
Jan 28: arrival Lanzhou and drive to Labrang
Jan 29: Labrang acclimatization
Jan 30: Labrang acclimatization, kora
Jan 31: Labrang Monastery, nearby Nunnery and Red Sect Monastery
Feb 1: Labrang, Free Animal Festival, drive to Rebkong (3 hrs drive), Thangka Display at Wutun Xia Monastery
Feb 2: Rebkong, visit Gomer and Shaman Festival in Yangjia village
Feb 3: Rebkong, visit Wutun Xia Cham Dance
Feb 4: drive to Sog (2,5 hrs drive), visit Tsekok and local Mongolian town
Feb 5: drive to Langmusi (3hrs drive), visit Festival
Feb 6: Langmusi, Thangka revealing, drive to Aba (6 hrs drive)
Feb 7: Aba and around, visit Kirti Monastery Cham Dance
Feb 8: Aba and around, visit Monastery and Bon ceremony
Feb 9: Aba, reserve day
Feb 10: drive to Taoping (7 hrs drive)
Feb 11: drive to Chengdu (3 hrs drive), visit Wenshu Monastery
Feb 12: Chengdu, leisure day at your own
Feb 13: depart Chengdu

Info and booking: eschoorl@hotmail.com
More info: wout@dejongfoto.nl
Download itinerary: Monlam2020.pdf

Disclaimer for Monlam  The itinerary may be subject to alteration due to unforeseen circumstances, local conditions or schedule changes. While we will make every effort to provide the itinerary as presented this is sometimes not possible and your patience and understanding are requested if the itinerary should change and we can not guarantee that we will reach all the places we want to go.

During the Monlam celebrations the program can sometimes change because of the monks change the program or other upcoming reasons. At the time of making the itinerary not all the programs of the specific villages were already known, so that can influence the program that we want to follow but we come up with interesting alternatives. Also the conditions of the road can make that we have to change the itinerary. Sometimes the local government can suddenly decide to close one area for foreigners and nobody is informed in advanced for such action so then we have to find other interesting places that we can visit and try to give you the best alternative. If the program has to be changed, we try to keep the costs limited and within the budget, but sometimes it can mean that the participants will be charged an extra contribution according to the change and which should be paid in cash at the spot. There will be no refund.