Updated May 2025: Tibet Snow Leopard Expedition. Contact us for more details at: info@thelandofsnows.com
Tibet Snow Leopard Journey
The Land of Snows is the Himalayan Travel Magazine, which combines the expertise of North American and Tibetan staff. We are experts in Himalayan travel, with decades of experience traveling, climbing, photographing, and trekking in the Himalayan Mountains. For more about us, including reviews, go to the following link: Why Use Us?
Guides: Rinchen Tsebtrim is from the Kham region of Eastern Tibet. He has led dozens of snow leopard expeditions over the past 10+ years, including for Disney on their Born in China documentary. Tsebtrim is fluent in English and studied eco-tourism at Columbia University in the US.
Snow Leopard Journey Highlights:
- Snow Leopard viewing on the Tibetan Plateau
- Wildlife: gazelle, White-lipped deer, wolves, fox, brown bears, Pallas’s cat, and more
- Birds of prey including Himalayan griffon and Bearded vulture
- Journey to the Spiritual Source of the Mekong River
- Buddhist monasteries and temples
- Traditional Tibetan culture
- Camping and trekking in remote, beautiful areas of the Tibetan Plateau
- Lectures on Tibet history and culture by 2 expert guides
NOTE: The Land of Snows / Himalaya Journey is a financial supporter of Snow Leopard Trust, which is dedicated to the conservation and protection of snow leopard inhabited areas of the greater Himalaya Region. Himalaya Journey is also a supporter of Leave No Trace. At no time during this expedition will we place wildlife or the environment at risk of danger or destruction.
We were less than 30m/100 feet away from this snow leopard in September 2019! Photo taken by our client Linus Hjelm.
Snow Leopard Safari
We offer this Tibet Snow Leopard Expedition as a private tour. It can be done by a group with more than 4 pax.
This expedition focusing on sighting and photographing the elusive snow leopard, along with wolves, Himalayan brown bears, blue sheep, White-lipped deer, musk deer, gazelle, marmots, foxes,Pallas’s cats, lynxes, pika, as well as many birds of prey like Himalayan griffon and Bearded vultures.
Leading this journey is veteran Tibetan wildlife guide Rinchen Tsebtrim, a native of Yushu Tibet Autonomous Region. Rinchen is fluent in English and studied eco-tourism from Columbia University in the US. He has led dozens of snow leopard expeditions the past decade. Some of his past clients include BBC, Wildlife photographer Vincent Munier and Disney. In 2016, Rinchen worked for 6 months on the snow leopard section for Disney on their Born in China documentary.
Tibet Snow Leopard Expedition Itinerary
Day 1:
All participants must arrive in Xining, China by 4:30pm. Himalaya Journey will give you detailed instructions on how to easily get to the 4 or 5 Star hotel we will be staying at. We will eat dinner together during a time of meet and greet at a restaurant near our hotel. The elevation of Xining is 2300 meters (7500 feet).
Day 2:
After breakfast, we will depart for the Xining Airport to take a mid/late morning flight to Jyekundo (Yushu in Chinese). The flight is about 75 minutes long and is included in the journey price. In Jyekundo, we will stay at a locally rated 3 star hotel in the middle of town. We will spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the cultural sites in town. The elevation of Jyekundo is 3700 meters (12,140 feet).
Day 3:
We will spend this day exploring areas just outside of Jyekundo as our bodies continue to adjust to the altitude. Just outside of Jyekundo is the Gyanak Mani Temple, which is a major Buddhist pilgrimage destination. The temple has the world’s largest collection of hand-carved prayer stones. Over 2 billion (yes, billion!) prayer stones are stacked here, which draws Tibetans from across the region. From there, we will make the short drive to the Leba, a scenic valley not far from town that has some great day hiking opportunities. We will then return to Jyekundo later in the afternoon.
Day 4:
Today we will spend another day exploring areas in and around Jyekundo as we continue to acclimatize to altitude. Today, we will do some light hiking just south of town near the Princess Wencheng Temple area. This is a great place to go hiking and learn more about Buddhism and Tibetan culture. This area often has a lot of Himalayan griffons that we can spot. In the afternoon, we will return to Jyekundo for the night.
***NOTE: If everyone is acclimatizing well to altitude, we will depart for Dzadö this day, giving us an extra day in the wilderness for wildlife viewing/photography.
Day 5:
In the mid morning, we will depart Jyekundo and drive west to the town of Dzadö (Zaduo in Chinese), located 215 kilometers (135 miles) away. Dzadö, elevation 4075 meters (13,370 feet) is the largest town on the far upper reaches of the Mekong River. The drive along the way is spectacular with amazing mountain scenery that follows the Mekong and its main tributaries. In Dzadö we will stay at a hotel (best in town) in the middle part of town.
Day 6-9:
Today, the real adventure begins! Up to this point we will have seen some amazing cultural sites while our bodies have been adjusting to high altitude, but today is when we leave civilization for some of the best wildlife areas in Asia. From Dzadö, we will drive 125 kilometers (80 miles) to a place known locally as “Tege Camp”, elevation 4340 meters (14,240 feet). The road out here is a rough dirt road, but is highly scenic. When we arrive to Tege, we will set up our camp in an area that is considered one of the best in all of the Tibetan Plateau for viewing snow leopards along with many other different types of wildlife and birds of prey (blue sheep, white-lipped deer, Pallas’s cats, gazelle, musk deer, marmot, pika, lynx, Himalayan brown bear, foxes, wolves, Himalayan griffon, Bearded vultures and more). There is a chance that we may mix up camping with homestays with local Tibetan nomads. We will spend 4 days at Tege Camp while viewing and photographing snow leopards. We will be doing day hiking in the surrounding mountains each day, but at all times will make sure to not disturb this unique area.
Day 10:
Today, we will travel another 50 kilometers (31 miles) into the wilderness to a place called Tashi Chewal (known in Chinese as Zaxa Qiwa). This is regarded as the Spiritual Source of the Mekong River. It sits at an altitude of 4665 meters (15,305 feet) above sea level. The 5th Dalai Lama traveled thru this region in the mid 17th century and declared a set of pools at Tashi Chewal as the source of the Mekong. Modern exploration has traced the true source of the Mekong to a slightly different area, but this area remains sacred to the Tibetan people. This area is rich in wildlife including blue sheep, white-lipped deer, Pallas’s cats, gazelle, musk deer, marmot, pika, lynx, Himalayan brown bear, foxes, wolves, and more. We will camp one night near the Spiritual Source of the Mekong. There could be Tibetan nomads in the region that we will meet with to learn more about their unique lifestyle.
Day 11-12:
After a night at the Spiritual Source of the Mekong, we will return to Tege Camp for 2 more days to view and photograph snow leopards and other wildlife. We will continue to day day hiking in this spectacular region.
Day 13:
We will break camp in the mid morning and make the drive back to Jyekundo, located 335 kilometers (210 miles) away. In Jyekundo, we will stay at a nice 3 star hotel in the center of town; a welcome site after spending a week in the wilderness of the Tibetan Plateau!
Day 14
After breakfast, we will be transported to the Jyekundo (Yushu) Airport to take a flight back to Xining or to Chengdu (choice is yours). There is a slight extra charge if flying to Chengdu. The journey concludes with your flight leaving Jyekundo.
More Information on Tibet Snow Leopard Expedition
Learn more about this Snow Leopard Tour by emailing us at: info@thelandofsnows.com