Alpine Tour in China!

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Alpine Tour in China!

An Alpine Tour with a difference awaits a handful of keen travelers in China in July.

Just four spaces are available at a bargain all-inclusive $NZ5500 for a 17-day tour through the spectacular alpine region of Sichuan Province in China.

A team of keen motorcycle adventurers is making the trip and has spaces available in the van accompanying them.

"At present, we have a team of five Australians and three New Zealanders making the trip," says Michael Esdaile of AD-HOC & Associates, the New Zealand organiser of the tour.

"In addition to Chengdu-based guides in a lead four-wheel drive vehicle, we have arranged a van to travel the route, primarily to carry our baggage. However, our Chinese ground operators tell me they have plenty of seating in the van so we could take up to four addition passengers. And because the van is going anyway, we can offer the seats at $5500 ­ which is well below what we are paying to rent and ride motorcycles," Mr. Esdaile adds.

The 17-day tour, which departs Auckland on July 8, will provide specatcular alpine vistas as well as the opportunity to get close to pandas, not to mention yaks. And there may even be the possibility of seeing snow leopards.

In addition, there are historic archeological sites, a Ming dynasty temple, the United Nations World Heritage listed Jiu-Zhai-gou valley deep in the Min Shan mountain range with its Tibetan peoples¹ villages, dense virgin forests and more than 100 lakes.

The tour will also visit the lakes of Huang-long which are bounded by naturally calcified borders set amongst snow-capped mountains and traverse an unpaved road across the Rou-er-gai Grassland, a high plateau populated by Tibetan people.

Then it is on to Tang-ke to see the nine-curves of the Yellow River before tracking into Jia-rong ­ the Valley of Tibetan Beauties.

Then, affter traversing the Mount Ba-lang pass at 4487 metres (14,721 feet), the tour continues on to visit the Giant Pandas at Wo-long ­ the world¹s only Panda sanctuary.

After that, it¹s all down hill (literally) back to Chengdu at a mere 600 metres passing the 2000-year-old Du-jiang-yan water project along the way.

So there you go ­ 17 days of unparalleled Alpine Adventure, with a night in Bangkok to get your bearings before returning to the Lands Down Under.

"We supply airfares, transport, accomodation, all meals, guides and scenery. All you have to do is stump up $NZ5500," says Ad-Hoc & Associates Michael Esdaile.

Departure is July 8 ex-Auckland.

ENDS

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