Ice Mountain Horseback Trek

The first day of your China adventure will begin by travelling from Chengdu (altitude 500m) to Songpan (altitude 2850m). The trip will take somewhere between 9 and 12 hours. The bus will stop regularly at petrol stations with stores where you can buy food and drinks.

Songpan is idyllically located between green hills and low mountain ranges. The look and feel of the town is typically Chinese; many people on foot, on horseback or in a rickshaw, wooden houses, bridges and cosy tea houses. You’ll stay at a basic 3 star hotel where the water supply and electricity may falter at times, but that’s all part of the experience. Your room will have its own bathroom and there are thick blankets in your room for the colder evenings. It may take a little while to acclimatize to the high altitude, so take it easy and relax. You could have an evening stroll into town and prepare your backpack for the horse trek tomorrow. Any luggage you won’t need for the next few days can be left in the town.

Once you’ve reached the top of the hill, it's time to continue your China adventure on foot as you decend the hill. The guides will set up camp for the night in the valley near a mineral spring. The horses will be unloaded where the tents will be set up. The Chinese guides accompanying you are very resourceful and will have camp set up in no time; if you like you can help them a bit. The tents will be set up and something resembling a comforter will be taken out of the saddle bags for you to sleep under, the saddle will be your pillow. It may be cold in the double occupancy tent at night, however the warm sleeping bags and the blankets will help keep you warm.
Before lying down to sleep you’ll enjoy a simple yet tasty dinner of potatoes and large succulent pumpkins. Dinner, fine company and the large campfire will keep your mind off the cold; but be sure to bring along enough warm (thermal) clothing. 

You may wake up a bit stiff, so start off day three of your China adventure with a hearty breakfast and a cup of hot tea. Today you’ll climb even further up the Mountains and you’ll experience the true Chinese outback, which actually feels like you’re in Tibet. You’ll continue to ride for another four hours until you approach Ice Mountain. Once the sun climbs the heavens the temperature will rise swiftly. All at once you’ll see the glistening glacier top of Ice Mountain. You’ll continue on foot, further and further, higher and higher. When you reach the first lumps of glacier you’ll have climbed to an altitude of 4500m and it will feel like you’ve climbed Mount Everest. It’s quite impressive to finally reach the glacier wall and to actually touch the ice. The actual top of the glacier is 750m higher up. Enjoy the silence at of the moment and then return back down the mountain to base camp. Once you reach the wooded valleys you’ll start to feel better again. On reaching camp you’ll see that preparations for dinner will already be in full swing. A little later you’ll have dinner by campfire and afterwards enjoy a Chinese night cap with your guides. Then it’s off to sleep for one more night on your rustic bed.

On the last day of your China adventure you’ll take it nice and easy and descend through the hills for about 6 hours until you reach Songpan again. At the end of the afternoon you’ll ride into town over Songpan’s hanging bridge; tired, yet full of adrenaline from the incredible experience you’ve just had.

In Songpan, you’ll have the evening to spend as you choose. The population of Songpan is made up of a mix of Tibetans, Hui Muslims and Han Chinese. All religions and traditions coexist here. At times you’ll see someone walking with prayer wheel and other times you’ll see someone walking around wearing a kippah with a cell phone in hand. Even this remote part of in the world is feeling the effects of modernisation.