The Mount Kailash Trek

The Mount Kailash trek in Tibet follows the pilgrims' route around the sacred mountain. This trek has been a pilgrimage site for more than a thousand years, and leads around the peak in 3-4 days. Also included is a visit to the lost kingdom of Guge, still almost unknown in the west.

Will we make it? That's the question Kavitha and her cousin, Pallu, ask themselves as they trek through Himalayan pine forests and unforgiving mountains in Nepal and Tibet. Their goal: to reach Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. The two women walk to ancient monasteries, meditate on freezing slopes, dance on the foothills of Kailash, and confront death in the thin mountain air. In Kailash and Manasarovar, the holiest of Hindu and Buddhist sites, they struggle to reconcile their rationalist views with faith and the beloved myths of their upbringing. Remarkably, it is this journey that helps them discover the meaning of friendship. Walking in Clouds is a beautifully crafted memoir of a journey to far-away places and to the places within. It mixes lyrical, descriptive storytelling with stunning photographs to bring to life a unique travelogue.

Bordered by the Himalaya on the south and the Karakoram on the west, Tibet offers trekkers an experience like no other. In this updated edition of Trekking in Tibet, McCue prepares us for a sojourn into this mystical, other- worldly land presenting detailed discussions of pre-trip planning, the most rewarding treks, as well as an educational glimpse into the country's history and culture.

**TOP TEN BESTSELLER** 'I would rather read Colin Thubron than any other travel writer alive' John Simpson Mount Kailas is the most sacred of the world's mountains - holy to one fifth of humanity. Isolated beyond the central Himalayas, its summit has never been scaled, but for centuries the mountain has been ritually circled by Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. Colin Thubron joins these pilgrims, after an arduous trek from Nepal, through the high passes of Tibet, to the magical lakes beneath the slopes of Kailas itself. He talks to secluded villagers and to monks in their decaying monasteries; he tells the stories of exiles and of eccentric explorers from the West. Yet he is also walking on a pilgrimage of his own. Having recently witnessed the death of the last of his family, his trek around the great mountain awakes an inner landscape of love and grief, restoring precious fragments of his own past.

Mount Kailash is a holy mountain on the western edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China. Over recent decades, this eerily symmetrical mountain, holy to Bonpos, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, animists and New Age seekers, has emerged as a globally important site for pilgrimage and tourism. This mountain lies close to the point where the borders of north India and western Nepal meet China. What has been relatively little known to the general audience is the central role that transborder interdependence has played in shaping the lives, livelihoods and culture of the communities residing in these borderland regions, in the proximity of Kailash. In the monsoon of 2016, an international team of social scientists, artists and members of the local community undertook a difficult 300-kilometre-long trek from district Humla, western Nepal, into the Tibetan Autonomous Region, China. The aim was to document and understand the contemporary rhythms of livelihoods, material culture and perceptions of the sacred among the communities living along an ancient southern route to Mount Kailash, which had been in use for transborder trade and pilgrimage for several centuries. This book, studded with lush photographs, brings to life several individuals and scenes encountered during this expedition-stories of the past, of change, of aspirations, of the sheer beauty and vulnerabilities of life in one of the least accessible but most sacred corners of the world.

The multiple routes to Mount Kailash by land and air, through Nepal and Tibet, and the Indian Government-sponsored routes from the west (Pithoragarh district) and east (Sikkim State) have been discussed. Under "Panch Kailashas," the author has briefly described the other sacred mounts, also called Kailash, located in India.

Kailash - The Heart and Soul of Tibet There are few places on Earth comparable to the mysterious, stunningly beautiful and completely isolated Mt Kailash, which lies well hidden in a remote and deserted region of western Tibet. In order to understand the importance of holy Mt Kailash it is necessary to know that it is considered the legendary abode of the gods. One circle around the mountain (54 km) is symbolically one revolution of the wheel of life or the cycle from birth to death. This, simultaneously, brings about the purification and forgiveness of all sins committed in this lifetime. This is the land of the Sun. In this spot I started to understand the difference between the world that I was coming from and the one that was standing before me. This is without doubt the most beautiful spot on Earth. This is Shambala! These were moments of great happiness, when all the struggles of travelling are forgotten and replaced by sheer joy. This is the physical and spiritual climax of the pilgrimage because the Drolma La pass is considered the most holy spot on the trail and arrival there marks the beginning of a completely new life.