Extravagant Yak

A relaxing and fun ride through the heart of Chengdu on a bamboo bicycle is the perfect way to feel the vibe of this ancient city! Chengdu’s laid-back lifestyle and flat geography make for a very bike friendly city. You’ll wind along rivers past tea gardens, cruise through quaint neighbourhoods, view famous sites, hear some good stories, capture some fantastic photos, eat some local cuisine, and want to do it all again the next day! All while riding a local hand made bamboo bicycle with a friendly guide along to keep you alive in a city of 12 million.

Meet your guide in central Chengdu at Gaoshengqiao Metro Station (Line 3) Exit C, then hop onto your handmade bamboo bicycle. Begin by riding through another world as you cruise through the Tibetan Quarter of Chengdu before heading up to the Jinjiang River and follow it past riverside gardens where locals sip tea and show off their pet birds. Explore the quiet lanes of the oldest medical school in China on Huaxi campus of Sichuan University before heading to Tianfu Square, the bullseye center of Chengdu. Getting iconic photos beneath the nose of the cultural revolution-era statue of Chairman Mao is a must!

Cruising North from Tianfu Square, you’ll enjoy 10 minutes of tranquility as you stroll through Wenshu Buddhist Temple (the oldest in Chengdu). The streets surrounding the temple offer all manner of both quaint and trivial souvenirs. Circling back to the city centre, a cruise past Kuanzhai Alleys allows for a taste of Chengdu’s past as you view former military barracks now transformed into one of the city's most popular leisure centers.

Following the noise and bustle of Kuanzhai Alleys, you’ll ride past Chengdu’s People’s Park – the oldest park in the city, renowned for parents who have come to matchmake on behalf of their adult children! A bike tour of Chengdu wouldn’t be complete without cycling down Chengdu’s oldest thoroughfare, Renmin South Rd, and hearing some historical stories this road is still telling. You’ll return to Gaoshengqiao Metro Station EXIT C by 12:30pm (approx).

Tucked away in the mountains of Amdo Tibet only five hours drive north of Chengdu, Muni Tibetan Village offers the distinct feeling of arriving at one of the most tranquil places on the planet. The village virtually floats in a green highland sea of grass and trees surrounded by high mountain ridges that have successfully held back the invasion of the outside world for centuries.

The drive into the valley is a surreal experience as you follow Muni River and view the ancient architecture of the Tibetan homes which line both sides of the river and are accessible only by quaint covered bridges. Hosted in the warm hospitality and comfort of a Tibetan home, the next four days will allow you the opportunity to immerse yourself in an ancient culture while enjoying first hand experiences of a way of life that is as rare as it is remote.

For this bamboo bike tour in Amdo Tibet, Extravagant Yak provides the bamboo bikes built by Simple Bikes, the logistics and your peace of mind. In addition to the relaxing planned excursions by bicycle, you are free to make your bamboo bicycle your mode of transport as often as you like.

As a cycling enthusiast you must have wondered: What would it take? Extravagant Yak specializes in taking care of the details for you. For each inspiring and rewarding day in the saddle, your only responsibilities are to find your rhythm and keep breathing. This is the perfect adventure for the cyclist who is prepared to tackle any terrain that lies in front of them (accompanied by a cushioned support vehicle and a knowledgeable guide to ensure a safe diet and a good sleep on the journey!).

Fixed tour? Custom? Either way, we are pleased to oblige. After all, if joining an upcoming tour does not appeal to you, we specialize in consulting with you to tailor make a route for you. After a friendly phone conversation, we’ll determine whether to include 35km Himalayan descents (with corresponding climbs) or to stick to a route where your breathing remains a little more steady (and the road a little more flat). Either way, the adventure ahead will instill in you an awareness of the intended meaning behind the word epic. Guaranteed.

We believe that on every tour, and especially on a physically demanding cycle tour, our clients deserve service beyond the expected.

This Mountain Biking Backcountry Tibet tour is designed for two-wheeled mountaineers.

This epic cycling challenge is best described as adventure biking. There are riders for whom 2-3 hours of climbing is worth an hour or more of non-stop descent. For these riders, when burning muscles and desperate pedal strokes are overshadowed by the seemingly futile experience of breathing, by screaming lungs gasping for one more mouthful of oxygen, their smiles get bigger and their sense of adventure grows deeper.

Simply put, the rider who thrives on a Mountain Biking Backcountry Tibet tour in Kham Tibet is one for whom no effort is too great to capture the prize of the descent. And combined with the task of daily falling victim to awestruck in the remote and mountainous world of Tibet, there is hardly a better prescription to discover (again) that the path to enlightenment is always ridden on a mountain bike.

For the backcountry cycling tour profiled below, all five days of riding do not offer a pedal stroke under 3200m (10,500ft), every day takes you to a maximum elevation of 4200m (13,7800ft) or higher, and one day will take you to a maximum elevation of 4350m (14,270ft)