Mount Kailash - A Trekkers' and Visitors' Guide

This 3–4 day trek follows the pilgrims’ route around the isolated and remote Mount Kailash, 6714m (22,028ft), in western Tibet, sacred to several world religions. Also included is a visit to the lost kingdom of Guge, still almost unknown in the west.

View Sample Route Map

Darchen

Stage 1: Darchen to Chuku monastery

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Altitude range    4650m to 4810m
Time                   3–4hrs
Distance             9km
Altitude gain      260m
Altitude loss      100m
Highest point     4810m

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The trek begins in Darchen at the chorten and mani wall at the northern edge of the village. The obvious trail from hre heads west along the base of the ridge that obscures Kailash from view. Within 15 mins of leaving Darchen, you see the first prayer wheels. Turn these (clockwise) and send a prayer for a safe, rewarding trek. There are some small gullies on the right carving up the hillside. This path can be quite dusty, particularly when the wind is strong.

After a wide, steeply rising valley to the right and some rest houses below the path, the trail climbs steadily but not steeply to the first chaktsel gang. The site is marked by stones, some covered with texts, cairns and prayer flags. This point is about 4km from Darchen and takes between 1.5hrs and 2hrs to reach.  To the south, given clear skies, the great mass of Gurla Mandhata and the Nepalese peaks of Api, Saipal and Nampur rise dramatically.

From here the Kora trail turns north into the amazing and forbidding dark canyon of the Lha Chu, which means ‘divine river’. Soon the first view of Kailash comes into sight, peeping above the canyon walls. This western valley is known as the canyon of Amitabha, the red Buddha of the west. If you started very early from Darchen it is likely that this initial walk into the canyon will be bitterly cold. The trail, which is generally easy underfoot, descends very gently for an hour or so to Tarboche.

The significant feature of Tarboche is a tall, graceful flagpole. It is festooned, like a maypole, with hundreds of prayer flags.

The summit of Kailash towers above to the northeast, a great cone of ice and rock. Notice the rugged grandeur of the western wall of the canyon here; its reddish walls may well be a gorgeous bright pink as the sun rises. The Tarboche flagpole is replaced each year during the spring Saga Dawa festival, which occurs on the full moon in May (or sometimes in June). This festival celebrates the enlightenment of the Buddha. (See ‘Festivals’.)

To the right or northeast of the pole is the raised plateau-like platform of the burial grounds known as Drachom Ngagye Durtro. Few trekkers will visit this holy but sombre plinth, as this is the place of the dead. It is the haunt of the 84 Mahasiddhas, those mystic Tantric saints who have reached a higher insight or awareness. These burial grounds are where lamas, sages and saints have passed into the next life. Sky burials are sometimes performed here. Many pilgrims come up here to leave a piece of personal clothing, hair or a piece of their fingernail in order to gain merit for their rebirth. Countless personal items cover the ground here. Some outcrops of rock serve as sacred altars. 

A cave near the burial ground was used by the Bon magician Naro Bonchung in which to meditate. There is reputed to be a footprint of Milarepa above the cave opening. According to Tibetan mythology, Naro Bonchung and the Buddhist saint Milarepa, who fought each other for control of Kailash, engaged in one of their duels here. A small stream close by drains into the main Lha Chu river and is called the Tshechu, or water of longevity. Pilgrims may be seen here placing its waters on their heads three times. Just to the left of the cave is a bowl-shaped rock known to pilgrims as the Tshokzhung. It is considered to be a sacred pot used by the spirits.

Close to Tarboche is the Chorten Kangyi (also spelt Kangnyi), an archway that theoretically marks the beginning of the Kora. It is considered auspicious to pass under this or pass it on the left. Note the symbolic moon and sun on the top of the chorten. These signs help to purify the pilgrims against bad karma – the negative effects of one’s personal actions. A rough dirt track to this point is sometimes used by motor vehicles that carry ailing or disabled pilgrims, and some weary trekkers in order to shorten the walk!

From the chorten the path crosses a wide-open area known as Sershung, or ‘pot of gold’, because of an ancient legend. The trail is easygoing, allowing time to admire the defile ahead. It is now that the valley narrows, with the imposing ghost-like walls of the canyon looming overhead. This is the lair of the gods and it feels like it! The walls of the canyon on the Kailash side are surprisingly smooth, with fascinating forms. After passing the almost indistinct remnants of some chortens and mani walls, a solitary stone building is reached, no more than an hour from Tarboche.

Close to the building is the bridge that gives access across the Lha Chu to the path leading up to Chuku monastery (4810m). The monastery clings to the face of the cliffs of the Nyenri mountain, which is considered to be the abode of the Buddhist protector of the Kailash region, Kangri Lhatsen. The monastery is sometimes referred to as the Nyenri Gompa. It takes about 25mins to climb up the rough stony track to reach it. Take care here, as some of the rocks are unstable and at this altitude your concentration and climbing skills are apt to be below par. Belonging to the Kagyu-pa sect, this monastery was founded in the 13th century by a sage called Gotsangpo, who is credited with being the discoverer of the Kora route.

Inside the monastery, the main object of interest is a marble statue known as Chuku Rinpoche. The origin of this gem is shrouded in legends; one suggests it came from a sacred lake across the Himalayas in the Spiti-Lahaul region of northern India. Two other venerated objects, which may also have come from India, are a conch shell with a silver lining, called Chodung Thongwa Kundrol, and a copper vessel. The conch shell is said to remove bad karma. For Tibetan pilgrims, these three items represent the body, speech and mind of the Buddha.

A cave in the back of the monastery is the meditation place of Gotsangpo, who was born in the latter part of the 12th century. Another cave nearby is said to have been used by Milarepa (See Appendix 2). Much harder to find nearby is yet another cave known as the Elephant Cave, in which the Tantric master Padma Sambhava meditated. The eponymous elephant’s tusks are apparently sometimes displayed in the chapel of the Chuku monastery.

Across the valley from here there are considered to be 16 arhats, who are revealed in the rocks of the cliff face almost opposite and to the north of Chuku monastery. An arhat is a being who has divorced himself or herself from the cycle of life or existence. Only well-informed pilgrims are likely to appreciate these mythical figures. The views from Chuku monastery are amazing, with Kailash dwarfing the canyon from here.