One daily bus runs from Xining's Nanchuan West Bus Terminal to Maduo, departing around 8am and taking roughly 10 hours for about 95 yuan. The road climbs steadily through the plateau, passing through Golog Prefecture landscapes of exceptional emptiness. Confirm the schedule locally before travelling, as it changes seasonally.
The faster option is to hire a vehicle from Xining or from another Golog Prefecture town such as Dawu. A private car allows stops along the way and avoids the altitude-related misery of arriving exhausted after a ten-hour bus journey with no time to acclimatise before bed. Shared taxis between Golog towns are sometimes available, though less reliably. Once in Maduo, private vehicle hire is the only practical way to reach the source lakes.