Mt.Kailash and Lhasa visit in Tibet

The trip to Mt. Kailash and Lhasa in Tibet was an amazing experience that is filled will moments and places that cannot be replicated anywhere in the world. The trip to Tibet started from Kathmandu with visa application. Everyone visiting Tibet needs to apply for group visa from the embassy. I would be travelling with 10 guests from Czech Republic. We arranged all of the documents and applied for the visa from the Chinese visa center in Kathmandu. We were also required to be there physically as our biometrics would also be takes. After 4-5 days we got the good news of receiving the visa. I collected the passports and headed to Syabrubesi where I would meet up with the guests who were doing the Langtang Valley Trek. After meeting with the group, we headed to Keyrung Border side where we would be staying for the night. Next morning, we made our way towards the border to cross towards Tibet. To cross the Land border and immigration took around 3 hours and the Chinese side were very strict with boarder control and immigration regulations. They even checked everyone’s photos in their phone’s gallery. Kunchok, who was guide during the whole Tibet tour also came inside the Immigration area to assist us during the crossing. Once we crossed the border we were warmly welcomed by Kunchok and our driver and they greeted us with traditional Khata. We than took a group picture, then got into our bus and headed for Saga. The ride was around 6-7 hours long with lot of police check points on the way. We stopped at Keyrung Town for lunch. We stopped at a Nepali restaurant and had Dal Bhat. This would be the last place we would have Nepali food during this trip. After that we continued our ride. One the way we stopped at Khomtang La Pass, which is situated at an altitude of 5236m. We reached Saga around 9pm. Saga is a small urban town that seems to be quite modern and has a lot of development taking place with a nice urban feel. After checking into the hotel, we went for dinner and had Chinese food. The food was very tasty and I even tried the Lhasa beer. After that we headed back to the hotel for rest.

Next day from Saga we continued our drive to Manasarovar Lake. The drive was around 10-11 hours long and took whole day to reach the lake which would be our stay for the night. Manasarovar Lake has a religious importance for 4 religion including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Bon. It is also considered the second highest fresh water lake in the world located at an altitude of 4,590m. The lake is quite round in share with a circumference of 88km. The Lake was very beautiful and lot of people take a bath in the holy water of the lake. We also visited the Chiu Monastery. The monastery was beautiful and also offered beautiful view of the lake due to its height. We stayed in a trekking lodge near the lake. There was even a hot spring bath place in the village where you can shower in natural hot springs water. I would also get to witness the typical toilet in rural tourism locations in Tibet and I have to say they didn’t offer a lot of privacy. The dining area was like a typical Nepali trekking lodge and was quite cozy. From Manasarovar the next day we continued the drive to Darchen. The drive was one of the shortest during the whole trip as it was just 2-3 hours long. The rest of the day was a good time to rest and prepare for the start of the trek that would be coming from the next day. It was also nice to explore the town of Darchen as there were lot of shops and restaurants and there were also lot of constructions work going on.

Next day after breakfast we drove for 1 hour to reach Tarboche. The location of Ashtapat was special at this day as it was the day of the Sagadawa Festival. Thousands of Tibetan had come here to celebrate the festival. It is one of the most sacred Buddhist festival all over the world and it is celebrated to worship the life of the Buddha Shakyamuni who is the founder of Buddhism. This festival honors the instruction of Buddha to follow his teaching. In Tarboche the monks perform religious ceremonies before a big flagpole is pulled down and thousands of prayer flags are replaced with new ones. That the flagpole is pulled again to stand perfectly vertical in order to ensure the safety and continuation of Tibet. Once its erect than the lamas and local people perform kora around the flagpole. After witnessing this amazing festival, we made our way to Dirapuk which would be the village to stay for the night. The hike to Dirapuk was quite easy as the terrain was a very slow uphill. The village is located at an altitude of 5,210m. The village has a very beautiful monastery but the main highlight is the amazing and unblocked view of Mt. Kailash. It was such a surreal feeling to see the Holiest mountain in the world in all of its glory. The stream from the melted glaciers from Mt. Kailash also flowed through Dirapuk. I collected water from the river to take back to holy water for my family in Nepal. Since it was the time of Sagadawa Festival there were many local people doing the Kora of whole of Mt. Kailash like us. Because of this the trekking lodges were all packed and it was nice to see the local people enjoying the festival and each other’s company.

The next day we left the village at around 5am. This was important as it would be the longest and most challenging trek day. This was because we had to cross the Dolma-la pass situated at an altitude of 5630m. The climb to the top of Dolma-la pass was quite challenging due to the altitude and also the last 300 meters were fully covered in snow and lot of Black ice that made it quite slippery. But thankfully everyone on the group were able to cross the pass. The climb down from the pass was quite challenging too as the path was very slippery and I also fell down once in my back but thankfully too no one were injured. After a long day of trek of almost 9-10 hours we reached Zutul-Puk. Everyone had early dinner and went to rest and recover their body from a long day of hiking.

Next morning was quite fascinating cause it had snowed all night and was still snowing in the morning. The landscape changed completely due to the snow. We continued walking on the snowy path. Thankfully todays hike was only 3 hours long and mostly mountain flat terrain. After 3 hours of walking we reached Zong Dho Teahouse. This would officially be the end of the trek as from here we would take a local bus to Darchen. It was a surreal feeling to be able to complete the Kailash Kora and it brought a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment to be able to complete it. From Darchen we got into our tour bus and drove another 11 hours to reach Saga. On the way we stopped at Tatun monastery. It was very beautiful and it reminded me of monasteries in Nepal. It was a good feeling to be able to take hot water shower in Saga and take a good sleep after finishing the Kora.

Next morning after breakfast we again got into the bus for a long journey of reached Shigatse. On the way we took a detour to visit the famous Sakya Monastery. The monastery is the birthplace of Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism and it was founded in 1073 by Khon Konchok Gyalpo who became the first Sakya Trizin. The monastery was very large and the whole village was beautiful will many monasteries. After the visit we continued the drive to Shigatse. Today’s journey was quite long as it took 12 hours to reach Shigatse from Saga. Shigatse was fascinating as we got the chance to see the urban side of Tibet as Shigatse is the second biggest city in Tibet. It had the metropolis vibe to it. We enjoyed dinner in a Chinese restaurant with some local Tibetan beer and headed back to hotel to sleep.

Next morning the group went to visit the Pelkor Chode Monastery but I had to go to the immigration office so unfortunately, I missed the visit to the monastery. Later we continued our last long drive to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The drive was around 8 hours long. We reached Lhasa at early night time but we got to see the Famous Potala Palace in the night light. The palace was so beautiful and majestic and it definitely was everything I imagined it to be in real. We continued the drive to our hotel. We checked into the hotel and that we went out for dinner. We walked around Jokhang Temple area and it was truly breathtaking to see Lhasa in the night lights. Everything was so beautiful. We had our dinner in a local Tibet restaurant. We stayed much later than normal while drinking beer. After that we walked backed to our hotel and went to sleep.

Next day we went on a tour of Lhasa where we visited Jokhang Temple (The first Buddhist temple in Tibet), Norbulingka (The summer palace of Dalai Lama) and Ramoche Temple (most important temple after Jokhang Temple). There were still so many places left to visit but we couldn’t visit them all due to lack of time. It was nice to Lhasa where there was an amazing blend of urban life with so much rich history and culture that dates back thousands of years. All the people were very nice and welcoming and I really enjoyed the food. Today I also got a change to visit a Nepali restaurant in Lhasa where I tried momo. We had the dinner in the hotel itself tonight. Next morning, we drove to the airport which was around 2 hours’ drive. From the airport we said our farewell to our guide and drive who were with us for the whole trip and had turned into family. From Lhasa we took a flight to Beijing. I also had to go to Beijing as our visa was a group visa and we had to cross the immigration together. In Beijing we crossed the immigration where the group would take their flight to Europe and I would make my way back to Nepal. It was a real please to travel with Rudy and the group and they were really welcoming and friendly to have me with them in the group. I feel immensely lucky to have been able to travel to Tibet especially as it had only opened to foreigners 3 months back. The trip was amazing but I still feel I have so much more to still witness in Tibet and I hope to go there soon and experience more amazing places, meet need people, try need food and create wonderful memories.