In Sichuan's Danba County, the mountains soar up to 3,000 meters (9,845 ft) above sea level over pleasant little river valleys, and it can seem to trekkers as if each sharp turn in the rocky trail might open into a narrow valley with sturdy painted wooden Tibetan homes perched upon the cliffs, some so high on the mountainside that from dusk through dawn they can be mistaken for stars.

You'll notice as you travel through Tibetan regions from the Tibetan Autonomous Region well into Sichuan province that every community builds its homes a bit differently. The Gyarong branch of the Tibetan people living in Danba build miniature castles of stone and wood that can withstand virtually any storm, have great natural insulation and more than enough space to harbor all humans and livestock in the general vicinity.

These relatively modern homes and their older precursors—the tall watchtowers of crumbling stone that dot the landscape like broken-down siege engines frozen in time after an ancient battle between forgotten gods—provide a number of possibilities for overnighting. You can arrange to stay in most of the Tibetan homes in Danba or camp out amidst hillside ruins.

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