Magical Kham - Experience Eastern Tibet

Magical Kham - Experience Eastern Tibet

Its climate, geography, flora and fauna all lend it a unique, almost magical atmosphere. The stone villages have more in common with neighboring Bhutan, the chortens (stupas) seem lifted from Mustang in Nepal and the forested scenery is more Swiss Alps than high Tibetan plateau. Geographically the region varies from the lush subtropical jungle and raging rivers of the southern borderlands to the arid plateau and purple gorges of the east, where the head-waters of some of Asia’s greatest rivers - the Mekong, Salween and Yangzi - tumble off the Tibetan plateau. The glaciated peaks of Namche Barwa (7756m) and the remote gorges of the Yarlung Tsangpo, the world’s deepest, form one of Asia’s last secret corners.

It gains much of its charm from its people. Khampa cowboys, dressed in sheepskin cloaks and braided hair, cruise the region’s highways on their motorbikes. Kham sometimes feels like the America’s Wild West, with the cowboys and buffalos replaced by Khampas and yaks. There are two main routes through the region, offering an once-in-a-lifetime route in or out of Tibet. The busier and strategically important southern road takes in the best of the alpine scenery. The unpaved northern road is a higher roller-coaster ride past ancient temples, remote Bon monasteries and herding communities.

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