Amnye Machen Guide

The Best Guide to Mount Amnye Machen and how to plan a Mt Amnye Machen Trek

The Amnye Machen mountain range is located in the Golok Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, traditionally this region belongs to Amdo Tibet. It is one of the four most sacred mountains in Tibet, the others are Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, Mount Minyak Gongkar in Sichuan Provice and Mount Karwa Karpo in Yunnan Province. It is revered by both Buddhists and Bon adherents. The protector deity Machen Pomra is said to reside in the mountain’s highest peak. The pilgrimage circuit around the mountain is popular among Bon followers and Buddhists as well as adventurous trekkers.

The Amnye Machen Kora has two options, one is full circumambulation of the mountain which takes 8 days and the other one is 4 days trek in front of the snow mountain. The average trek distance is about 15-16km with 6-7 hour per day.

Contents of this article:

1. What Is It Like about the 8-Day Mt.Amnye Machen Kora?

• Mt.Amnye Machen at a Glance
• Highlights of Mt. Amnye Machen
• Mt Amnye Machen Trekking Map
• 8-Day Mt.Kailash Kora Schedule

2. How to Get to Mount Amnye Machen and What Tours Available to Take?

• The Most Popular Way to Reach Mt.Amnye Machen and the Most Classic Tour Itinerary

3. How to Plan a Lifetime Mt.Amnye Machen Tour?

• Pre-Book Your Mt. Amnye Machen Tour with a Reliable Travel Agency
• Travel Documents Needed for Mt. Amnye Machen Trek
• When is the Best Time for the Mt.Amnye Machen Trek
• Do Prepare A Good Level of Fitness
• The Cost of Mount Amnye Machen Trip
• Accommodation and Dining for Mt. Amnye Machen Trek
• What to Pack for Mt.Amnye Machen Trekking
• Taking some Measures are necessary, But You Can’t be Too Careful with the High Altitude Sickness 

1. What is it like about the 8 days Mt Amnye Machen Kora ?

Mt Amnye Machen at a glance

Route:Around Mt Amnye Machen

Distance: 140km full Kora and 70km half Kora

Duration: 8 days for full kora and 3 – 4 days for half kora

Travel Permit:Not required

Start point: Tawo Sholma from west of the Mount Amnye Mmachen or Tsanak Khamdo from east of Mount Amnye Machen

Finish point:Tawo Sholma from west of the Amnye Mmachen or Tsanak Khamdo from east of Amnye Machen

Highest pass:Tamchok la 4900m

Difficulty: Medium

Accommodation: Camping

Food:Outdoor Cooking

Highlights of Mt Amnye Machen trek

The traditional starting point is the Chorten Karpo near Chuwarna village, although most pilgrims and trekkers at present set out from either Tawo Sholma or Tsanak Khamdo. Some of the highlights of Mt Amnye Machen trek involves. 

• Trek around the holiest and highest snow mountain in Amdo Tibet

The Amnye Machen range, which forms the large bend of Yellow River, is the ancestral homeland of Golok, The sacred abode of the protector deity, Machen Pomra, revered by the Bonpo and Buddhists alike. There are many Tibetan pilgrims taking Kora every year and you will be encountered with pilgrims when you are doing in Kora. The Bon pilgrims take their pilgrimage tour in counter clockwise.

• Golok nomad and vast grassland dotted by the high altitude lakes between Bayankala and Amnye Machen range.

The Bayankala and Amnye Machen ranges of Amdo Tibet demarcate the upper reaches of the Yellow River, the homeland of Golok, This is an area rich in natural mineral and forest resources and is characterized by vast grasslands covering high mountains and deep valleys. We’ll ride out into this rugged countryside where you often see nomads camping with their herds of yak, horse and sheep and grazing on these grasslands.

• There are 4 – 5 temples and monasteries around Mt Amnye Machen

— Guri Gompa, a branch of Dzogchen and Dodrubchen of the Nyingma school, which recently became the seat of the late Thubten Tsering, a charismatic lama descended from Lhalung Paldor. It was who founded the original tented camp at the beginning of the 20^thcentury.

–Chuwarna Lhakhang, contains central images Padmasambhava with his two consorts, flanked by Shantaraksita and King Trisong Detsen, the temple is surrounded by a wall of Mani wheels.

–Zangdokpelri Temple, contains a lifelike image of the late lama Thubten Tsering of Guri Gompa, Alongside it are a row of eight stupas and a cluster of prayer flags. 

 

Mt Amnye Machen Trekking Map

 

Mt Amnye Machen trekking Itinerary: 

• Day 1: Tawo Sholma – Nagchog Do(4020 m)
• Day 2: Nagchog Do – Dragde la pass – Drag Gyago(4600 m)
• Day 3: Drag Gyago – Chuwarna (3650 m)
• Day 4: Chuwarna – Tsanak Kamdu – Dolma Bumdzong(3960 m)
• Day 5: Dolma Bumdzong –  Tamchok (4650 m)
• Day 6: Tamchok – Tamchok la pass (4700 m)– Tagkhen Latsetsa (4400 m) 
• Day 7: Tagkhen Latsetsa – mountain pass – Shari Phagyab (4210 m) 
• Day 8: Shari Phagyab – Dradi Latse (3980 m)

Please take a look at the details of this tour here.

How to get to Mt Amnye Machen and what tours available to take ?

The most popular way to reach Mt Amnye Machen and the most classical tour itinerary.

Xining(2270m) – Tsigorthang (3300m) – Tawo Sholma (3950m) – Amnye Machen

Xining(2270m) – Trika (2250m) – Machen (3670m) – Tsanak Khamdo(3960m) – Amnye Machen

Based on our years of experience of running Mt Amnye Machen Kora tour, most of the travelers or trekkers will choose to reach Xining first either by flight or train from any main cities in China like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu, and then after one or two days acclimatization in Xining, decide to approach the Mt Amnye Machen from Xining either to the west start point or east start point of Kora depends on individual interests.

How to plan a lifetime Mt Amnye Machen Kora ?

Amnye Machen is one of the four main holy mountains of Tibet along with Kailash in west Tibet, Mt Gongkar or Kunga in eastern Kham and Mt Kawa Karpo southern Kham. Located in the northern Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Amdo, it rises to 6282m / 20,605 feet above sea level. It might be less-known as a holy mountain but it is equally as important to the Tibetan people as the well-known Mt. Kailash and attracts Tibetan pilgrims from all across eastern and northern Tibet during the summer months.

Mt Amnye Machen kora is medium level trekking route, as its altitude is not as high as mountains in Tibet Autonomos Region, The trekking route average altitude is 4000m / 13123ft. You are expected to trek on the rugged mountain trials over 52km. The thin air, eye-blinding sunshine, unforeseeable snow at the passes, plus complex travel formalities and long distance of travel prompt you to have a full-fledged preparation. But if you follow our professional advise for Mt Amnye Machen trek, we will guarantee that you will have a safe and unparalleled spiritual journey.

Book Your Mt. Mt Amnye Machen Tour with a Reliable Travel Agency

Since Mt Amnye Machen is located outside TAR(Tibet Autonomous Region) and you can avoid the complicated process of Tibet Travel Permit, but like all Tibet trekking tours, we strongly recommend to arrange everything in advance through a licensed Xining based Tibetan travel agency.  As well established and licensed Tibetan travel agency, our company has offices both in Xining and Lhasa, making it us a good position to arrange Mt. Amnye Machen tour as well as arrange your other logistics such as food, camping gears, yaks and horses to rent from local nomads.etc.  

No Tibet Travel Permit is required to visit Mt Amnye Machen

Both Amdo Tibet and Kham Tibet do not require to obtain Tibet Permits to visit. The traditional Tibetan region of Amdo and Kham, is located on the northeast and south east corner of the Tibetan Plateau . Though most of Amdo lies in modern day Qinghai province, large regions also are located in southwestern Gansu and northern Sichuan provinces. Roughly 1.6 million Tibetans live in Amdo which accounts for over 25% of the total Tibetan population. Most importantly, no Tibet Travel Permit is required to travel this region of Tibet, yet you will receive a better experience with Tibetan nomadic lifestyle.

When is the Best Time for the Mt.Amnye Machen Trek

To decide the best time for the Mt. Amnye Machen trek depends on the weather condition of each year.

Weather and Precipitation at Mt.Amnye Machen:

Average Annual Temperature: -2.9 C/-20.2F

Average Annual Precipitation: Aug. (119 mm, Highest)/ Nov. (6 mm, Lowest)

Highest Temperature: July, 6.5 C/43.7 F

Lowest Temperature: Nov. -12.0C/10.4F

April to September is believed to be the best time for Mt. Amnye Machen trekking, esp. traveling in April, May, June, Sept. and first half of Oct. You will enjoy the incredible clear blue sky, crisp air and high visibility, with temperature staying at around 8 or 9 Celsius on average. July and August (monsoon season) see half of the rainfall in the whole year. However, the constant downpour is rarely seen here. You’d better double check a week’s weather before coming.

At Tamchok La Pass (4650m) and Dragde la pass (4600m) are the highest points for Mt.Amnye Machen kora, the unexpected snowfall and severe gale can happen at any given time in the whole year. If you come in April, you are likely to walk on rugged mountains trail covered with snow.

The most auspicious time to visit Mt.Amnye Machen is in the Year of Horse. We believe that the blessings and Merits you made is multiplied by 13 times more than regular years and the wish you made will be more likely to come true.

Do Prepare A Good Level of Fitness

You need to be physically fit even you are not planning to do the challenging treks in Tibet, visiting Tibet as a normal tour is also very challenging for those people who are living low altitude. Therefore, you’ve got to prepare a good level of fitness. Swimming, hiking in mountains, jogging, cycling, etc. before coming for this trip.  All these aerobic exercises will help you build up a better level of fitness and stamina for the arduous trek.

Tips:

Small oxygen tanks are available for purchase in Xining. It may also be worth talking to your doctor about taking Diamox, the“altitude sickness”medicine.  If you are already in China, then diamox is not available. So the herbal medicine called 红景天－Hong Jing Tian is a good substitution. Hong Jing Tian can be purchased in most of pharmacy shops in China.

Accommodation and Dining for Mt. Amnye Machen Trek

There is no accommodation (Hotels and Guesthouses) during the trek or Kora of Mt Amnye Machen. Therefore, the camping is only option for entire trek.  

Food during the trek, there is no tea house or restaurants like you find during Mt. Kailash Trek. You need to prepare food in advance either in Xining or Haianan Prefecture or Golok Prefecture. During the Trek, you can cook yourself or you can also hire a cook who cooks for you. But some dry fruits, chocolates, energy pills or other things you may want to have on this trek bring with you from your home country. You will find hard time to buy them in this place.

What to Pack for Mt.Amnye Machen Trekking

The two main rules of thumb when packing are to pack light, and to layer. Temperatures can vary greatly in one day, and it is common to experience all four seasons when driving through Tibet. As such, it is recommended to pack lightweight, breathable, easy-to-wash layers of clothing to suit whatever weather you encounter. For Xining, just a lightweight jacket is fine, but if you’re headed to high mountains like Mt Amnye Machen , you’ll want a down jacket.

During the Mt Amnye Machen trek, you have to bring your own sleeping bags although we can also arrange sleeping bags for you, but the sleeping bags from us are may be old and used as we have several trekking or camping tours in this region every year. The other essential is warm clothes with you. The weather conditions and terrain vary significantly from one region, or even from one trail to another. Seasonal changes can significantly alter any track. Moreover, the wind is very strong at some passes. Thus, wind and rain-proof clothes and proper warm jackets are strongly recommended.

The temperature in mountain areas of Tibet may be very low even in day time. At night, the temperature will drop to below zero. Besides, the weather may change greatly in a day. Thus, down jacket and thermal trousers are necessary for Mt.Amnye Machen trekking even in summer. Meanwhile, the sun protection like sunglasses, sunscreen, lip balms are also a must. Since no one can precisely predict the upcoming of rain and hail, a waterproof jacket or rain coat shall be taken with you. After all, getting soaked at a place of above 4000m might put you in serious trouble.

Don’t forget to bring some high-calorie snacks and refreshing coffee and tea, in case you need the energy for another round of adrenaline rush. Of course, for responsible travel, some plastic bags to collect your garbage will be so considerate.