郎木寺格桑马队的一日游

马队提供了很多路线，郎木寺这个小镇上有很多家的马帮，值得信赖的我选择了格桑马队，凑够了5个小伙伴以后，我们选择了穿越纳摩峡谷

So, yes, we did feel a bit like we were doing exactly what every single tourist was doing in Langmusi. But that was definitely worth it. Would do it again anytime.We went for the 2-day trip, and that was just perfect. The scenery is stunning, outstanding views of the lovely valleys and mountains. Meeting the Tibetan nomads was great, too, even though you can feel they're used to having foreigners wandering around and sleeping at their house. But that's okay.It is a once in a lifetime experience. If you are going there, just do it.PS: Your bum and knees WILL hurt after riding the horses all day.

TL;DR: Our visit in Langmusi definitely left me a deep impression, one that I will probably not forget for the rest of my life (I am not one for exaggeration), and I would highly recommend you check it out if you can.Here are the details:In Langmusi, a small town on the border of Sichuan and Gansu, we booked a three-days horse trekking trip through the grasslands. Liyi was very helpful from start to finish, and answered all the questions that we had in a promptly manner.Our Tibetan guide took us for many hours through the mountain ranges, cutting through the grasslands to his family’s yurt. The yurt contained only living essentials, including a stove (the heart of the yurt, fueled by dried yak sheep dungs), water, cooking utensils, beddings. Because of the high altitude, Langmusi already snowed in late October. Temperature dropped as low as -10 degrees Celsius, so everyone had to become really friendly.The three-day experience was surreal. We were completely cut off from modern technologies. Cell phones and computers were no good here. Water had to be fetched from the stream nearby and boiled before drinking. The stove had to be minded from time to time to keep the fire from running out and to keep the yurt warm and humid.In these three days I also developed great admiration for Tibetan women. The guide’s wife woke up before the crack of dawn and worked continuously until bedtime, which was around 11pm, without a word of complaint. While her husband was herding the animals or drinking tea with friends, she was not cooking, she would be milking yaks, collecting and spreading yak dungs for fuel, milking yaks, making butters, or fetching water. (She stood barely as tall as my shoulder, but I could barely lift the water bucket that she piggybacked everyday!) The whole experience left me rethinking about things big and small that I have taken for granted!If I have a chance, I would definitely come back to Langmusi, especially when the all the flowers in the Flower Ocean bloom.

just awesome. The owner speaks great english. Nothin else bad to say about the trip but the guides hit the horses few times more than needed, we had to say them to stop it and they did. If you are traveling with company and its possible to go just you and your friend(s) and one guide, do it! we had own guide but sometimes we joined to this other pack full of chinese tourists, who didn't kno how to handle the horses. And cause these horses are wild tibetan horses they want to settle things in narrow paths if other horse comes close to them. And it can get dangerous if you can't handle the horse.

I had a really nice tour with this company. I did the 2-day tour, a great value for the experience. It was really beautiful and well-run. The most impressive thing for me was the professionalism of both Liyi (the owner) and the guide. I was fully informed of the itinerary before we started, we got a riding lesson and some cultural pointers, and they even made sure I was insured for horseback riding before I signed up. Liyi's English is excellent, and she was also super helpful getting me and a few of the other people in our group back to town a little early to make our buses on the second day. The guide spoke no English; I was able to translate between English and Mandarin for the rest of the group, but if you don't speak any Mandarin, just be prepared to use some sign language.Because I was there in the fall (early October), there was no butter making or dung collecting going on, and it was chilly at night, though the stove in the tent made it quite warm. We all rented chubas (Tibetan coats) which was a very good idea.I highly recommend doing a trek with this company!

The horsetrek was amazing, we chose the 3days/2nights option which was really worth it and enabled us to get closer with the nomads (but painful for your butt..). Riding through endless grasslands with just your guide, three people, the horses and some yaks is not a common thing in crowded and noisy China, so if you like adventure, great landscapes of nature and don't mind having no bathroom facilities and sleeping on the ground, you will for sure enjoy it! Liyi has some good tips and advices about the treks, and will help you to organize your trip to langmusi, but the only thing is that we booked through her the accomodation in langmusi and payed quite a lot for what we had (300RMB for a very basic room with shared bathroom + breakfast, even the hotel owner was a bit surprised when we told how much we payed to Liyi..)

Although guides didn't speak any English, beforehand instructions by owner Liyi on what to expect and on how to handle the horses during our 2 day trekking were extensive and exceptionally clear. She also could provide us with poncho's and warm clothing, as the weather was not that good. We have had a warm welcome by the tibettan nomad family, and got to see many parts of their culture. And: al this is situated in one of the more dramatic landscapes we have come across. Wow!Liyi also got us on the way to Songpan afterwards, which came in very handy while outbound (bus) transport from Langmusi is scarce!

Going on a 2 day/1 night horse trek with Liyi's company was truly one of the best experiences we had in 9 months of travelling through Asia, and easily the best thing we did in our 30 days in China. We spent two days on horse back and a night with the Amdo Tibetan nomads in their camp in the hills surrounding Langmusi. We saw some of the most flawless scenery we have seen so far on our Asian adventure. We spent the days riding with our great Tibetan guide who showed us the ropes and the basics of horse riding, stopping at Tibetan homes along the way to share delicious meals (in our case vegetarian) and get a small insight into their daily lives. Very friendly and welcoming, the only thing that was a little bit awkward was the language barrier and the fact that sometimes we were left by ourselves in the peoples houses, so felt like we were intruding a little. This was only ever for a short time, and we were often able to just point to things to trying and spark a little bit of a sign language conversation.Everything was handled very professionally, safety forms and insurance papers were signed and we were given a couple of pages of information about the culture of the nomads and the activities we could join in with to read over on the night before we left. The horses were obviously well looked after, and we never felt in any danger with our very experienced guide leading us.Tip: The white horse is very naughty, so unless you are a very experienced rider that can show a lot of control, don't ride him as it made the trip just a little less than perfect having to worry about him running off all the time. However, this may have been sorted since then, just make sure you ask about your horses temperament before heading off.The accommodation (i.e. a Tibetan yak hair tent owned by a nomadic family) was surprisingly warm, considering it had been snowing the day before, and was very cosy and quite comfortable. We were given plenty of blankets, tea refills, and the food we were served was delicious and filling.My partner joined in the yak-herding with the young Tibetan guys at the end of the day, and judging by the pictures he took and his excitement when he returned, this was an amazing experience and one he won't soon forget.Overall we can not rate this highly enough, and would recommend going out of your way if you're in China but not planning on heading in Langmusi's direction. It is an unforgettable adventure of a lifetime, you surely won't regret it.We took over a thousand photos and many of them are at:

One of the best places I have visited in China. We went as a group of 14. Liyi, the organizer of the treks, was very good at communicating with me. Thr drive from Lanzhou to Langmusi was really long, took us 10 hours on the road with 2 extra hours for meals. Once we arrived, much of the town was under construction, likely to prepare for eventual massive migration of Chinese tourists. The hotel, while nothing amazing by general standards, served its purpose. Be warned, to use hot water, you need to turn the cold water valve off completely and turn loose the hot water valve. You may be wondering whats so good about this experience. Our group of 14 did both the horse trek and the biking tour. Both experiences were nothing short of amazing and unique in all of China. The views, the adventure, the hospitality, were all great. Most of us had never ridden a horse before and everyone said it was the best experience they have ever had in China. The trip to get to Langmusi is arduous, but the experience is amazing and well worth the trek. As another reviewer said, go expereince this treasure before they finish the express-way and tourists flood the area, much like jiuzhaigou.

If you're in to trekking then make your way over to Langmusi. It's definitely not the easiest place to get to (flight to Lanzhou, airport bus into town, public bus to the West Bus Terminal, then long distance bus to Langmusi cross roads, then taxi or walk 3km into town) but well worth the effort. The Horse Trekking 3 day trip was amazing. We decided to go on food rather than by horse but we still followed the same route. Langmusi region used to be part of Tibet when it was a separate state so there's loads of Tibetan culture to take in. We spent each night living with the local nomads in their yurts. These guys don't just dress up for the tourists, they are the real deal. A very simple, harsh lifestyle but one which they seem to treasure. We helped them herd the yaks, make butter and cheese with the yaks milk, cook the meals and the slept wrapped in tibetan rugs during the cold nights.The trekking was fairly tough and made harder due to the altitude but the views and whole experience was something I will never forget.One last tip: try and go sooner rather than later. We could already see the foundations being laid for massive property developments. As with places like Yangshuo in Guanxi province, it's not going to be long before this hidden treasure turns into a mass tourist destination.

I recently traveled through China with my brother and he got to set the itinerary. I admit when he told me about the "stay with Tibetan nomads" trek he had found online I had some trepidation. I needn't have worried. Liyi, the owner of the company was fantastic at answering our emails right away and was very accommodating, even though it was late in the season and pushing into winter, never a welcoming time on the Tibetan plateau. Getting to Langmusi takes planning and at least one day, but once you are there, it is like another world. What a fascinating place and deserving of a day or two on its own.As for the trek, it is hard to describe without resorting to meaningless superlatives. We were on the three-day tour and all I can say is that it came close to life changing. You travel and live with a family of Tibetan nomads for the length of your stay. You help them herd their yak and sheep, you help them cook dinner, you help them with the yak dung (fuel), you go with them to get water from the nearby stream. You basically live with them as a nosey houseguest/helper. The nomads who led our group, Cairan and Zhaxi, were great, full of laughter, character and caring. They really want you to have a good experience and do whatever they can to make you feel comfortable. I don’t want to describe the experience in too much detail, because everyone should go through it themselves, but let me say a few things that stood out:--Stumbling out of the tent on a snowy morning and watching the sun rise over the mountains of Amdo amidst the sleepy yak herd is something that words will never be able to describe. --The people you stay with have almost nothing, possession-wise. To us ambitious, Western, wound tight, urban professionals tethered to our technology and modern amenities, their lives seem almost incomprehensible. Then it me like a ton of bricks on the second day that they smile, laugh and sing so much more than I ever do. More than I ever think of doing. --You will ride through a landscape so incredibly beautiful and otherworldly that you will choke because you have forgotten to breathe.--If Zhaxi is your guide, you will end up nudging your horse to overtake your travel companions so you can ride right behind him and listen to him sing his soulful Tibetan songs. Then in the morning you will be glued to his side as he chants his morning prayers. Both sounds will reverberate deep within you. --The nomad guides speak a little English, but not much. I speak Chinese and ended up becoming the interpreter for the entire group. I do believe you get a richer experience being able to communicate with them. This is when their sense of humor, quirky character and rich personalities emerge. --As a hygiene freak, I had a little trouble with the complete lack of water and private facilities. Then I got over it and I am a better person because of it. --When they ask if you want rice or noodles for dinner, say noodles then help make them. I promise it will be an unforgettable meal. --Bring altitude sickness pills. You will need them and you might not get lucky like I did, with fabulous, generous people on the trek with us. --On the second night, I awoke with a layer of snow on my face that had drifted into the tent during a snow and wind storm. It wasn’t the highlight of the trip for me, it was the highlight of my entire year.

We (UK couple, 29/30yrs) had a great time on the 2 day horse trek in September. Liyi runs a very well organised operation, safe and professional, and the guides and horses were very happy too! We also had a great experience staying with the nomad family and this was a definite highlight of our 8 week trip in China!

We have sone the two day trekking. This has been one of the highlights of our trip from east to west China. The woman who organises the trekking has everything worked out with the local nomads. She speaks English very well. Don't be scared by the rules and safety instructions you have to sign. You get three guides in your group of eight. They lead you into the mountains where you sleep with a family and share their food. I have trust problems with horses and the riding wasn't always easy. But you get quite the amount of freedom, you don't have to ride all the horses in a line. I would advise this trip to anybody who wants to participate in Chinese nomad life and enjoys spending some time in the desolate nature. I advise a two day trekking as it's cold in the mountains and the days are exhausting.

My husband and I traveled for 3 weeks all around China and our Langmusi horse trek was definitely the most unique and interesting part of our trip. We did 2 days on horse with our guide, and saw most of the surrounding area, and stayed the night with our guide in his nomadic tent with his family. They cooked us a typical dinner and served us Chinese tea all night. They taught us all about their lifestyle, even with limited English, and showed us their typical chores each day. It was so interesting, and fun to live in their home for 1 night. The 2 day, 1 night option was best for us - we got to see a lot but we're too sore to enjoy it, as it was our first time ever riding horses. Liyi, the manager/booker of the tours, was very helpful in explaining exactly what we'd get to do and what was included in the trek options.

We had been in Asia for over six months, and this was one of our highlights. We did the two day / one night trek and it was amazing. We actually stayed with local nomads who still live the same way they have for hundreds of years. Neither of us had ridden a horse before, but the lesson was great and the guide we had was extremely helpful getting us used to riding. By the end of day two we felt like pros! Spending the night in the tent with the Nomads is one of the best cultural experiences we've ever had. The authenticity is the best part. There is no show or planned routine for tourists. You are simply a guest in their home and get to observe their everyday life. They made us homemade noodles for dinner which were great, and we had all the chinese tea we could drink!It is also worth mentioning that the owner of this company (Liyi) is the best English speaking person in town. Even if you aren't going on a trek, she is the best resource for anything in Langmusi or surrounding areas. They also own the Black Tent Cafe, so that is where you can find her.