To Where the River Begins: Tibetan Water Guardians

Mirrored Journey will take you to the Roof of the World - the highest plateau on Earth. Countless small springs emerge here to form the three great rivers;  the Mekong, Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. Which is why it is called the San Jiang Yuan ("Three River Source").  Also known as the "Water Tower of Asia" as these three rivers together sustain the lives and livelihoods of over one billion people, accounting for roughly one-fifth of Asia’s total population.

During our 8 days trip, we will mainly visit villages in the source region of the Mekong River. The Tibetan people who guard this land have, over generations, woven a moving path of symbiosis between themselves, the land, and the river—with hearts that remain pure. We’ll start at the volunteer center, visit local environmental heroes, and learn about Tibetan water culture. We’ll ride alongside the ecological horse caravan, witness how communities live in harmony with bears, and experience the first zero-waste village where simple, mindful living is practiced. At Nasoni, a sacred village full of stories and care for the land, we’ll walk with local volunteers and feel their dedication to protecting this beautiful grassland. Along the way, we’ll share meals, stories, and moments that bring us closer to the heart of this extraordinary place.

Our journey begins with a visit to one of the earliest grassroots environmental NGOs in the Tibetan Plateau — Sanjiangyuan Great River Environmental Protection Association (SGR).

For over 20 years, SGR has been working with local herding communities to protect the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Mekong Rivers — not by imposing solutions, but by reawakening the ecological knowledge already held within the land and its people.

They’ve supported the growth of 100 local environmental leaders and 1,000 volunteers, who have documented over 10,000 water sources — building a community-led network of care for these vital rivers.

This is not only the first stop of our journey, but also a point of connection — a place where we begin to understand the deep relationships between people, land, water, and culture, which we’ll continue exploring in the communities ahead.

Our second stop, we’ll meet a group of Kham Tibetan herders who, with support from SGR, formed the Ganda Eco Caravan. Blending traditional horse culture with environmental care, they’ve created a thoughtful model of community-led eco-tourism.

They host only a few groups each year, offering deep experiences of nomadic life while protecting the land and supporting those in need.

We’ll ride with them to a restored water source and take part in a quiet offering ceremony — a moment of connection, gratitude, and trust in the wisdom already held by this place.

The caravan leader, Tsetan Wengci, is one of its founders and a key environmental leader in Ganda. He is the main bridge between the association and the caravan

“We must protect our natural ecology and traditional culture. In past learning journeys, I found that tourists come to the grasslands to see beautiful landscapes and to experience our unique traditions. We’ve been trying to collect, revive, and reinterpret our nomadic traditions—because traditional culture and ecological protection are the very soul and meaning of the caravan.”

Tsetan Danzhou, a caravan rider and well-known pastoral photographer from Ganda, used a donated camera during summer herding to document 145 plant species, over 70 bird species, and 13 wild animals.

“Now, nomadic culture—especially horse culture—is disappearing. We formed the caravan to revive and pass on these traditions. For example, we no longer use plastic bags and have returned to reusable cloth and yak-hair saddle bags. Since the caravan’s founding, we’ve continued monitoring local flora and fauna. My dream is to someday publish a field guide of our region’s native wildlife.”

On a land where people refuse to kill, how do they face growing conflict with wild animals?

In Sanjiangyuan, brown bears often enter homes in search of food — yet local herders, guided by deep ecological values, chose not to harm them.

With SGR’s support, they built the first bear-proof houses: structures designed to protect people without hurting bears. We’ll visit these homes and speak with herders about what coexistence truly means here.

In a remote village at the headwaters of the Mekong, 54 herder families and two monasteries have committed to a bold path: living without waste.

Guided by Khenpo Jampel Sherab—a meditation master turned environmental leader—they stopped burning and burying trash, and instead asked a deeper question: what if we simply stopped creating waste altogether?

With support from SGR, Dejia became the plateau’s first zero-waste community, returning to traditional tools, banning plastic, and embracing organic, local living. Today, the Dejia Environmental Learning Center welcomes visitors to learn, walk the land, share meals with monastics, and reflect on a quieter, cleaner way of life.

Guests are asked to join this practice—by carrying out their own trash and leaving no trace behind.

At the headwaters of the Mekong River lies Nasoni, a quiet Tibetan village where people live by deep ecological values. Here, you’ll find a sacred tree adorned with livestock skulls, a palace built with yak milk, and a community dedicated to protecting its land.

In 2015, villagers formed their own environmental group. Since then, they’ve patrolled the mountains to prevent poaching, documented local wildlife, and worked to revive and pass on their cultural traditions.

With support from SGR, the community came together to build the Genni White Palace—using traditional rammed-earth methods, donated wooden beams, and milk from hundreds of female yaks. It stands as a symbol of collective care and respect for the earth.

Nasoni is now a zero-waste community. On one wall hangs a piece of cloth, marked with red handprints—a public vow made by herders to protect the land, the grasslands, and all living beings.

We will spend a day here, walking with environmental leaders into the mountains, learning how they observe and record nature, and feeling how their vows have shaped their daily lives.

These are the main people and places we’ll be visiting — but the stories behind them are far richer than what I’ve been able to share here. Whether or not you ultimately join this journey, if you’ve read this far and feel something stir in your heart, then the purpose of Mirrored Journey has already been fulfilled.

Simply knowing that somewhere in the world, there are people doing these kinds of things — that alone is more than enough. And if your home lies along the middle or lower reaches of the Mekong, I hope you feel a sense of warmth in knowing that the headwaters of this river is being protected in such a way.

If you do choose to join us — know that this won’t be an easy journey. Set at elevations between 3,700 and 4,100 meters, it will be a physical and emotional challenge for many. Yet don’t worry — we’ll be walking alongside you, supported not only by our local community partners, but also by the spirits of the mountains, rivers, and land itself.