The Route: A 21- to 25-day trek to the sanctuary valley of 22,107-foot Kawakarpo, aka Mind Mountain, a sacred Buddhist peak in the remote Yunnan Province, whose mountains shelter Tibetan culture. On the approach, you'll explore the more traditional towns of Lijiang and Dechen.

When to go: May-June and October-November

Difficulty: Difficult

Travel advisory: Don't be offended when these Himalayan villagers stick out their tongues at you. It's a traditional Tibetan Buddhist greeting that was originally meant to demonstrate that they were not disciples of the black-tongued devil god.

High/low points:

• Sitting in the courtyard of a red-lacquered Lijiang home as nonagenarians play ancient instruments that survived the Cultural Revolution thanks only to Yunnan's distance from Beijing.
• Driving by jeep down the terrifying road to Dechen — a sheer gorge on one side of you, a mountain on the other.