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This is our 4th year working with Leman International School (LIS). At the beginning of April, seven students, three teachers, and two guides from Extravagant Yak took an adventure to an area in Eastern Tibet. Although the tour was short with a few challenges, they were willing participants and found ways to give back to their host communities through partnership with a local school and a few small businesses.
This was the hardest day as it was a long drive to Leman’s destination (Kangding) and the road was quite challenging. Even with this, the students enjoyed getting to see the mountains as they drove by, and what school trip wouldn’t be complete without a bus ride to provide plenty of time for group bonding?
In the evening, Leman joined some of the local people at the square to watch and learn traditional Tibetan circle dancing. Some of the students even gave it a shot, so hopefully they picked up some new moves!
After breakfast, the group packed a picnic lunch and started on a hike to the top of Kangding grassland where nomadic families herd yaks during the summertime. This hike takes two and a half hours, and the grassland plateau sits at 3,200 meters high.
While it is a decent hike for participants who aren’t used to hiking, the students were good sports about the adventure, and everyone made it to the top still smiling. The group enjoyed the gorgeous views from the grasslands as they got to marvel at the surrounding snowy mountains, colourful Tibetan prayer flags, and all the blue sky (something you don’t always get in the city).
In the afternoon, the group visited two local Tibetan restaurants to interview the owners as the students will be writing articles about these small businesses (to be posted on the www.Tibetpedia.com website in the future). For dinner, they enjoyed local Tibetan food, particularly as they got to try yak meat and Tibetan momos.
As the group left Kangding, they purchased some food for the local migrant school they would be visiting in Tagong and set off for the grasslands. The journey may have felt like the bus kept going up, up, and up because in order to get to Tagong, they went through Zheduo Mountain Pass which sits at an elevation of 4,200 meters. The students loved the beauty of the mountains and were captivated by the villages of nomadic families.
Continuing their exploration of Tibetan small businesses, the group stopped in Xinduqiao to visit a barley beer factory which is run by a Tibetan nomad. While at the factory, they learnt about the process of brewing, and the time and effort it has taken to start a new business and build the processing plant as they have. Two students interviewed the owner to prepare an article for Tibetpedia.
It was late afternoon when the group arrived in Tagong, and their first stop was the local school. Leman brought donations in the form of food and warm clothing for Tagong’s local school.
The local students and teachers were grateful for Leman’s generosity, and the students from both schools spent the rest of the afternoon painting, playing basketball, and generally spending some quality time with one another. These students might come from different backgrounds, but it’s amazing how much people (or children) can have in common. It was a busy day, but an overall enjoyable one for all involved.
The group spent the night at a beautiful homestay in a mountain valley where they star watched and enjoyed the amazing night sky! The students interviewed the owner about the homestay and the horseback trekking business.
One their last day, the group visited the Tagong Monastery that was originally built in 1644. After experiencing the amazing buildings and grounds, and hearing the history from our guides, the group headed to the airport which is the third-highest in the world.
The group took the short, 45-minute flight, back home to Chengdu. While they may have been sad to leave this place of beauty, and even more beautiful people, we think the students will be talking about this trip for quite some time.
We appreciate Leman International School and the partnership we have continued to have with them. Education is important to us as a company, and no matter the age of the guests we want to immerse them into the Tibetan culture so that they may take away an experience of a lifetime. We appreciate it all the more when our guests are young because we know they will carry the experience with them for a very long time!
To learn more about Extravagant Yak Student Trips click here or email us at info@extravagantyak.com for more info.