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A travelogue of Mt. Kailash tour

June,10 2023 BY Kham Sang 0 COMMENTS

Known as the holy centre of the universe, Mt. kailash is considered as an important pilgrimage destination where it will cleanse all your past sins and bring good fortunes. According to Tibetan calendar, the year of horse is the best year to do kora around lofty mountain and one circle equals to 12 circles in normal year. Whereas the year of sheep is the best year to do kora around holy lake and you can accumulate more merits & virtues at the same time. Therefore,  if you can do kora around holy mountain and lake, it will be the most memorable experience of a lifetime.

The map of Kailash pilgrimage tour from Lhasa

The pilgrimage tour starts from Lhasa. After arrival in Lhasa, we had a two-full-day sightseeing in Lhasa. We went around grand Potala Palace, holy Jokhang temple, and busy Barkhor street. The famous Potala Palace can offer the view of entire city. Stroll around Barkhor street where you can meet many pilgrims circling around the street that encircles the Jokhang temple. Also, you can find some Tibetan handicrafts, such as Tangka,Tibetan carpets, ambers, jewelry, Tibetan clothes, ect. Next day, we continued to visit Drepung Monastery and Sera Monastery. The highlight of Sera Monastery is dramatic monks debating at around 3-5:30 in the afternoon.

Grand Potala Palace

Then we moved forward to Shigatse via Yamdro-tso lake and Gyantse, where we visited Yamdrotso lake and Kubum Monastery. The Yamdrotso lake is so turquoise that takes my breath away. Kubum Monastery is the most well-known attraction in Gyantse. You can enjoy the  awe-inspiring 35m-high stupa with its white layers trimmed with decorative stripes and its crown-like golden dome.

Turquoise Yamdrotso lake in winter

After a quite a long drive, we arrived in Saga county. After a short rest, we moved to Lake Manasarovar, the invincible lake in Tibet. Visiting the Manasarovar is also a part of the pilgrimage. For pilgrims, taking a ritual bath in the lake is assured of reaching Lord Brahma’s paradise and a drink of its holy water can clean the sins of a hundred lifetime. Then drive to Darchen, the starting and ending point of Kailash Kora.

One will definitely be amazed when standing beside the Lake Manasarovar

Darchen is a small sleepy town at about 4750m. There are many pilgrims and tourists from different parts of Tibet and India. We met some pilgrims dressed in different traditional costume, sat in a local tea house for a drink. In the evening, the views at sunset were amazing, even though it was cloudy and Kailash was not all visible. 

The bustling town of Darchen

The Kailash Kora, refers to the outer circuit, is 52km long. Normal people and pilgrims need to take three days to complete the circuit on foot, although some devotees spend a month doing full body prostrations along the holy ground. Starting at the town of Darchen just south of the mountain, and going up the western valley, then crossing a high pass to the north of the mountain, finally walking down the valley to the east of the mountain all the way back to Darchen.

On the first trekking day, we had to trek to Drirapuk. We set off early in the morning. With us there were many pilgrims, some with children. There were also some Indian pilgrims, most of them riding yaks and horses rather than walking. After a short walk the mountain came into view at the first prostration point, where there were many colorful prayer flags on the Mani stones. Then went down from here and walked north to Lhachu Valley. After two hours trekking, the Tarboche flagpole came into sight, which is being replaced every year in Saga Dawa festival. All around are prayer flags, mani walls, sky burial sites, and other Buddhist religious signs. On the half way to Drirapuk, we arrived at Chuku Monastery (4820m), which is high on the west side of the valley. Some pilgrims gave donations and then a monk blew the shell and blessed them. It was quite interesting to watch.

The Tarboche flagpole will be replaced every year in Saga Dawa festival

The route of kora splits on both sides of Lhachu river. Later, I had to took off my shoes to cross the river to reach Drirapuk Monastery. The water was so cold that my feet almost froze, but I made it though. In general, today is not such a hard day, although I was a little short of breath several times.

The second day was the hardest and most tough day of the three day. The highest point is Dolma-la pass, which is about 5630m above sea level.The climb up the pass was hard. The air just refused to climb with us, and I had to stop for a rest every few minutes. It seems that the climb was almost over, but every time I saw another hill in front of me. It was really a tough journery for me. At a place called Silwutsel Charnel Ground, there were many clothes stretched on Mani stones. It is sad that pilgrims are supposed to go through a symbolic death by leaving their past lives behind, so they leave a drop of blood or a lock of hair to represent it.

The Drolma-La Pass with prayer flags

After a long climbing I saw the prayer flags that marked the pass itself – the Drolma-La, at 5630m. My knees were so hurt, and I had to have a short break. Then we started to go downhill along a steep gravel trail, which is the most dangerous part of the whole trekking. Our group continued to move on to the next monastery- Dzultripuk monastery, where we will stay overnight. I didn't see the Mt. kailash when I was circling, but I earned amazing views of snow-capped mountains and valleys, and it was well worth it.

The steep gravel trail on the way to Dzultripuk monastery

On the last trekking day, we visited the caves, the temple and shrines that have been built around Milarepa's cave. Overall, today was short, only 14km of trekking down the valley back to Darchen within three hours. Every time I turned back, I would take a picture of the beautiful valley with snow mountains. At the ending point of the valley, the driver came to pick us and took us back to Darchen. 

Stunning scenery of Lhachu valley

After some rest in Darchen, we drove all the way to Lhasa via Saga. And the kailash tour ends.

This is the whole journey of  my kailash pilgrimage tour, which is really an unforgettable experience in my life.

Kham Sang

About the Author - Kham Sang

Kham Sang is responsible and honest with more than six years of guide experience in Tibet.She has strong interpersonal skills and can communicate effectively with tourists.

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