Yading and Yarchen Gar

Hello,

I'm planning on spending 8 days in Western Sichuan in early September. I'll be flying in and out of Daocheng Airport. I was wondering, is there any word on whether Yarchen Gar is open to tourists? Also, what is the best route to take to get to Yarchen Gar from Litang, and around how much time should I count on for the drive? Besides Yading, Litang, and Yarchen Gar, I would be grateful for any suggestions on where to stop.

I'm Japanese solo traveller and also planning to travel West Sichuan during 15-24/Sep with following itinerary in case Larung Gar and Sertar are still closed to foreginer :-
1.CTU-Flight-DCY-Air-Yading(亜丁)-Daocheng(稲城)-Litang(理塘)-Yarchen(亜青寺)-Ganzi(甘孜)-Chengdu(成都) or
2.Chengdu-Siguniang shan(四姑娘山)-Danba(丹巴)-Ganzi-Yarchen-Chengdu

I got some information for your itinerary:
-Ganzi and Yarchen Gar is opened to foreign traveler though Larung Gar is still closed.

-Japanese traveller took the Taxi Daocheng airport to Litang with RMB400 in 2017.
-There is shard geep service from Yarchen to Kangding. However not sure if can catch the geep at Litang.

Please let me know once you got more information for above, thanks. , thanks.

Hi!
I'm Japanese solo traveller and also planning to travel West Sichuan during 15-24/Sep with following itinerary in case Larung Gar and Sertar are still closed to foreginer :-
1.CTU-DCY-Yading(亜丁)-Daocheng(稲城)-Litang(理塘)-Yarchen(亜青寺)-Ganzi(甘孜)-Chengdu(成都)

or
2.Chengdu-Siguniang shan(四姑娘山)-Danba(丹巴)-Ganzi-Yarchen-Chengdu

As you know shared minivan and local bus are covering between Daocheng, Litang, Ganzi, Yarchen respectively and you can see more information at Trip Advisor Sichuan Travel Forum.
I got some more information for your itinerary:
-Ganzi and Yarchen Gar is opened to foreign traveler though Larung Gar is still closed.

-Japanese traveller took the Taxi(包車) at Daocheng airport(DCY) to Litang with RMB400 in 2017 but he could not find airport bus(only for Daocheng) nor shared taxi at that time.
-There is shard geep service from Yarchen to Kangding. However not sure if can catch the geep at Litang.

Please let me know once you got more information for your itinerary, thanks.

As far as I know, Yarchen Gar is open to tourists including foreigner, but things might change quickly if something hapended, so double check before you hire a car/driver. Useually people go there via Dege in the north, from Litang to Yarchen Gar is about two hundred something km but I'm not sure the road condition nowadays, better count it for one day. If you leave earlier you can reach there in late afternoon, included few short stop for photo and visiting some temple, scenery along the way is stunning.

There is a place north of Litang called Tuca Lake (near Xinlong) is worth to visit, you can make a round trip like Litang->Yarchen Gar->Tuca Lake->Litang. At lease count three days for this trip, unless you just want to take quick look then leave.

kxpn,
May I ask how to spell in chinese for Tuca lake?
Also Dege for 徳格 and Xinglong for 新竜?

Takahiro, thank you for your advice. I read somewhere that there will soon be an airport built in Ganzi. I was wondering, are you planning on flying out of Ganzi? Or taking the long drive all the way back to Chengdu?

Kxpn, thank you also. I would rather take things slowly, break the trip up, and see as much along the way as possible. Tuca lake looks like a good option.

The road between Yarchen Gar and Tuca Lake might be a bit rough, 4W is better but not necessary. And I don't think Ganzi airport is in operation, not until next year.

@sakakitakahiro, in Chinese: Dege(徳格), Xinlong(新龍 or 新龙), Tuca lake(措卡湖). As I heard Sertar is still off-limits for tourists. Personally I found Yading is better than Siguniang-shan. There is also an option you can consider, if you start from Chengdu your can group up other people to share a car, youth hostels in Chengdu are good places to do that. (I did that last time, joined up with other tourists hired a car from Chengdu to Yading and finished in Shangri-La in Yunnan.) If your time is tight you can leave the group at some point and fly back to Chengdu.

mattweisbard,

Thanks for yours.
Yes, I wiould take shared van or long distance bus back to Chengdu at both itineraries as it takes 2days from
Ganzi/Sertar to Daocheng airport and cannot find advantage for it.
1.CTU-DCY-Air-Yading-Daocheng-Litang-Yarchen-Ganzi-Chengdu
2.Chengdu-Siguniang shan-Danba-Ganzi-Yarchen-Chengdu

Thanks kxpn!
I could not find Tuca lake(措卡湖) in Google map nor Maps.Me. So I may ask local people overthere.

Oh, new airport will be available in near feature. Heard that highway to Sertar and Kangding and railway to
Tibet are under construction. So it's gonna be much easier to travel Western Sichuan near feature.

So far I'm thinking to take route 2 and would visit Yading next time as flights to DCY are only in the early
morning and also it takes 2days from Yading to Ganzi or Yarchen.
I would appreciate if you could guide followings:-
1. Shared taxi/van from Chadianzi to Siguniang shan
-Is available even in the afternoon like (1500-16000hrs) after arriving Chengdu airport 1320hrs?

-Where is exact location whether inside bus terminal or outside of terminal?
2. Shared taxi/van or Bus from Dujiangyan to Siguniang shan
-There is direct bus service between Chengdu airport and Dujiangyan.
-Is there shared taxi/van from Dujiangyan to Siguniang shan?
(If yes, is available in the afternoon like1500-16000hrs?)
-How many buses running to Danba, Xiaojin, Siguniang shan?
3. Heard that 雅康高速 opened this year though currently closed due to land slide.

Do you think bus route between Chengdu and Kangding will be changed via highway before September ?

4. May I know which Hostel you stayed in Chengdu last time? Was it Mrs. Panda?

It is about 30 km southwest Xinlong and approx 120km north of Litang, up on the mountain from Marixiang (麻日乡). Using the Chinese name to search both Google return some result, sadly all in Chinese, but at lease you can look at the pictures.

1. long-distent buses towards Danba (pass through Rilongzhen (日隆)) leave in the morning from Chadianzi Bus Station. As for 'share taxi', they are actually private cars (local called '野的', meaning wild-taxi), not allowed inside the station. They are not run on schedule, usually leave when the car is full. They are used to take a direct route so travel time would be much shorter then bus. According to internet, share taxi charges about CNY150+ per person to Rilongzhen.

2. No idea about shared taxi in Dujiangyan. Bus to Xiaojin depart in early morning, pass through Rilongzhen and Danba.

3. landslide only affect the new built expressway, not the regular road (G318).

4. It was some years ago, I can't remember the name, only remember it's in an alley called Kuanxiangzi (宽巷子).

Thanks all. Just one last question. Is it a risk, weather wise, to go around September 10 to 18? Or, will the rain likely still be coming down?

kxpn, many thanks for helpful information.
Re 3. 雅康高速, I wanted know if time between Kangding and Changdu by bus would be much shorter than now(abt 7hrs).
Now I'm thinking to rtake following itinerary:-
1. basis Sertar and Larung Gar are opened and able to buy direct bus ticket to Larung Gar/Setar:
Chengdu- Larung Gar-Ganzi-Yarchen-Ganzi-Danba-Siguniang shan-Dujiangyan-CTU
2. Oterwise:
CTU-Dujiangyan-Siguniang shan-Danba-Ganzi-Yarchen-GanziKangding or Dujiangyan-CTU
(also for altitude acclimatization)

@mattweisbard,
September is at the end of rain season, still high chance to rain, but shouldn't be too bad. Sometimes rain in the lower place but sunny in higher altitude area, or vice versa, hard to predict.

@sakakitakahiro,
A good news about Sertar, it's open, reportedly some Taiwanese and Korean have been visited their recently.
I don't know which road buses would take, expressway or G318.
It's not easy to make a 100% accurate travel plan for that region, for example the road is under construction when you are there, or temporarily close due to bad weather on a high mountain pass, or you are very unlucky stopped by police for entering Sertar...
I would recommend you do the difficult part first, leave the easy part to the end. Like: take a direct bus from Chengdu to Sertar, after Sertar going to Ganzi and Yarchen, and then Danba, Siguniang shan, Dujiangyan on the way back.
According to internet, minibus from Sertar to Ganzi (甘孜) take about 5.5 hours, from Ganzi to Yarchen Gar time is almost the same. In Ganzi, minibus to Yarchen Gar (寺廟班車) is at around intersection (川藏路/東大街).

@kxpn,
Whao! That's really good news.

Did Taiwanese and Korean travelers visited Setar with public transportation? or just managed to avoid check point on the way?

It would be helpful if you could advise where you heard such informaion from and kindly advise if it's from web site.

Yes, I will go Larung Gar first with direct bus (12-14hrs) if officially opened for foergin travelers and able to purchase bus ticket to there as it's much easier.
Thanks for useful information for local transportation in eastern Tibet!

It's mentioned in a post written by Taiwanese who visited there one month ago, he/she said the hotel staff told them two Koreans were stayed there a couple of days before them. See the last post (post #5) from the thread below:
https://www.backpackers.com.tw/forum/showthread.php?t=1925799#post10479311

Even if you can manage to avoid the checkpoint, you probably can't find any place to stay. No hotel will willing to let you stay cause they may face serious consequence.
The checkpoint is in Wengda near the main road G317, so if you are in very bad luck stopped by police, you can catch another car/bus keep going to Ganzi, having a contingency plan is always a good idea.

From the thread above you can also find a facebook link that owned by car rental people based in Chengdu, I suppose they can understand English, try to contact them see if you can get more up-to-day information:
https://www.facebook.com/rentalcar88

@kxpn,
Thanks for the above.
My understanding is correct for the first and last part?
6/30 They took the Bus to Sertar which left Chengdu 06:45 and ticket inspector took photo.
7/1 Hotel reception told that two Korean travelers stayed few days ago
But I could not translate properly middle part of post especially

"公安揮揮手說不必，約6:00到學院山腳下，坐公交上山"
What happened at Wengda check point? Police officer allowed them to enter Larung Gar?
Or they went Larung Gar by themselve from Wengda next day though police officer stoped them?

我們6/30坐6:45往色達的大巴，過檢票口，見檢票員有多一個動作，照相。
過翁達檢查站司機叫我們下來，公安揮揮手說不必，約6:00到學院山腳下，
坐公交上山，住喇榮賓館。
7/1到縣城，青旅前台告知有兩個韓國人前幾天也進來了

I'll translate the relevant part, if you don't mind:

"When we went through the Wengda checkpoint, the driver asked us to get off the bus, but the officer at the checkpoint waved his hand and said that it wasn't necessary [for us to get off the bus]. About 6:00, we arrived at the foot of Xueyuan (College) mountain. We took a bus up the mountain, and stayed at the La Rong Hotel."

@Giora
Many thanks for your helpful assistance.
It's still unclear whether Setar and Larung Gar officially opened for foergin travelers and how they purchased bus ticket.
However hope this is good news for foergin travelers.

I also hope for good news on Larung. If it's open for foreigners I hope to revisit Larung in October.

Wengda is 80+ km before Sertar, I believe if you can pass the checkpoint in Wengda that means you are allowed to enter.

Sorry I can't confirm that news. Just bear in mind that even it's official doesn't mean much, things can change at anytime for any reason. (for example if someone do something that might cause tension, they will close the road immediately)
So, take your chances, plan for the worst, hope for the best, enjoy an adventure journey...

Sure I know. But my travel is flexibel. I will see when I'm there.

@kxpn,
Checked Japanese travel agent in Chengdu and they advised that as of today Sertar and Larung Gar are still not opened for foreign travelers and unable to purchase the bus ticket for Chengdu-Sertar even dropping off on the way to there (e.g. Wengda).

That's shame. I'd did some digging, Sertar is 'officially' opened to people from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan since this year, about those Koreans, is still a mystery. It happens sometimes the guard doesn't take the id-check seriously.
If you are giving up Sertar, I would like to recommend two places to you, Baiyu Temple and Dege Parkhang (Tibetan Sutra Printing House), they are not far from Yarchen Gar. If you want to see how the monks print the sutras in Dege Parkhang, go there in the morning.

Thanks for your further investigation.
Oh, easy to understand for Hong Kong and Macau but Taiwan too.
Agree with you. Acutually No official announcement from Gorvernment about this issue and it's case by case or depends on poice officer.
Thanks for your recomendation. Baiyu Temple in 白玉 where 3-4hours from Yarchen? Seems no time to visit Dege(徳格) this time.

Dege is approx 100km from Baiyu, and it's on the main road G317, Yarchen Gar to Baiyu is ~130km. It would be perfect if you can make it to Baiyu visiting the Temple then keep moving to Dege in one day. On the main road it supposed be easy to find car/bus back to Ganzi. The problem is no one can guarantee the traffic situation in Sichuan West, especially if you rely on public transport. I would say if you can't visit both, leave them for next trip.

Yes, It would be perfect circle trip if I have more time.
But I prefer to take more time at Siguniang shan and Danba this time due to uncertain transportation at those area.

Thanks if anyone can help please.

I plan to go to Yachen and Baiyu from Ganzi. May I check whether which option will be easier to take a trip since the next day from Ganzi-Litang. Try to see whether it make sense to have long vs short time spending in the car.

Ganzi-Yachen by share van 3 hours and stay Yachen 1 night. Then Yachen-Baiyu by share van 4 hours (direct?) and stay Baiyu 1 night. Then, Baiyu-Ganzi bus/share van 7 hours.

Ganzi-Baiyu by bus/share van 7 hours and stay Baiyu 1 night. Then Baiyu-Yachen by share van 4 hours and stay Yachen 1 night. Then, Yachen-Ganzi share van 3 hours.

Just back from Eastern Tibet.
Now it takes only 2hours between Ganzi-Yachen by shared van and easy to get share mates during in the morning like 7-9AM, otherwise you may need to wait 1-2hours for departure.
Not sure about bus/shared van between Yachen-Baiyu.

Have a nice trip!

Thanks. I hope you had a great trip from Eastern Tibet.

In that case, that will be good that it take 2 hours only. I might consider option 2 then. So it will be long-short-long on minivan.

@jpunpuck971922
New tunnel opened between Ganzi-Yachen last year and that made much shorter.
As of 20th Sep 2018, Larung Gar and Seda were still closed to foreigner.
FYI, you could negotiate with driver (price 70-100RMB) and melt away into passenger of shared van Ganzi - Larung Gar (one person/car is preferable and easy to get other local passangers in the morning) if you look like Chinese.

Heard that it's not difficult to find accommodation or transportation out from there without Chinese ID once you passed check point on the way and in front of Larung Gar.

Good Luck!

Thank you so much. That is really fantastic to have a shorter route.

For Larungar I will think more about it since it take 5 hours to reach there if it work.

Oh, I forgot to ask how long it took for Ganzi-Larungar directly.
But Ganzi-(2hrs)-Luhuo-(2.5hrs)-Larungar.
So direct route may be shorter than deviated route via Luhuo.

Ah i see. Thank you so much indeed sakakitakahiro769130. Very useful information.

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