Botanical tour to Tibet

Take Flight CA424 and fly from London on 22 June 2024 at 22:00 to Chengdu Tianfu airport, arrive at 15:30 on 23 June 2024. Met and transfer to the hotel in Chengdu. Dinner at the local restaurant.

On 24 June we will fly to the the UNESCO world heritage site of Lijiang. After our transfer to the hotel we will travel in the afternoon to the Black Dragon pool park which has amazing views of the Jade Dragon Mountain. You have to visit Gang Ho Ba where Meconopsis delavayi grows on the stony banks. We leave Lijiang then head up to Shangrila and will visit Tiger Leaping Gorge and botanise on route and see Thermopsis barbata. Once in Shangrila we will take in Songzam monastery and visit Hong Shan by jeeps seeing Fritillaria delavayi and Corydalis benecincta.

in this video John talks about the plants and landscapes you will see on the tour

Our last stop in Yunnan will be Dechen and we pass by the famous Yangtze bend passing over Bai Ma Shan and we will spend a full day botanising here looking for Chioncharis hookeri and Paraqulegia.

This is where we change busses and enter into Tibet and botanise the Hung La. We will spend 2 nights Zuogong and explore the Dungda La pass at 5075m. Here we will see Gentiana urnula, Corydalis, Androsace, Meconopsis pseudointegrifolia and Saussurea. Our next stop is Ranwo and we pass over the Gama La with magnificent views. At Bomi we will spend 2 days and transfer to jeeps and visit Guzala Mountain where Primula russeola, P. dryadifolia and Androsace adenocephala grow.

The next day we will spend the day trekking up the Galung La looking at Primula agleniana, Meconopsis speciosa and Omphalogramma tibeticum. Linzhi is the next stop and we spend 2 days here. On the way we will see the mighty Namcha Barwa (7882m). We will spend a day trekking the Serkhyem La seeing Meconopsis baileyi, Primula cawdoriana and the magnificent Rheum nobile.

Our last pass is Mila and we will see Saussurea, Corydalis and Meconopsis. This brings the tour to the final destination, Lhasa, and we will spend 3 days here. We will visit the Potala palace, one of the most beautiful and stunning monasteries. You will have time on your own to take in the wonders of Lhasa and a farewell dinner.