TRAVEL
On the roof of the world
PADMA RAMACHANDRAN
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The Kailash-Mansarovar trip is a tough one, but it is worth it.
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PHOTO: PTI
Resplendent: The snow-capped peak of Mt. Kailash.
"OM Gampala, Tayum Taya Tom Pa, Om Gampala... " This was the refrain in the tape in our Land Cruiser on the dusty desert wind-swept ups and downs of the Roof of the World, Tibet's expansive plateaus and hills. Our goal was Mt. Kailash (in the far south-west of Tibet) and a dip in Lake Mansarover, a large fresh-water lake.
Recently, many entrepreneurs have begun to arrange such trips. A lump sum charge (around Rs. 70,000) covers the air fare from Delhi to Kathmandu and back, bus and hotel accommodation in Kathmandu, the journey within Tibet by Land Cruisers, visa charges on the Chinese border, food and accommodation everywhere. There were more than 50 people on our tour — a good exercise in learning to live with each other for a fortnight.
Cold climb
In June, the temperature ranged from one digit to not more than 17 or 18 degrees. We must have driven through hundreds of kilometres of rough-hewn muddy roads wearing dust masks (even the poorest Tibetans use dust masks) to reach Darchen, from where you get the first glimpse of the magnificent snow-covered Mt. Kailash.
Dolma-la Pass, the highest point on Mt. Kailash, is 18,600 feet, very cold and a hazardous climb. Going round the mountain, Kailash Parikrama, is about 52 km and takes three days to complete. The whole trip took us about a fortnight.
Our driver was young, good-humoured Gumbo, a Tibetan, excellent at the wheel but who knew only Tibetan. So we communicated through signs and facial gestures, which provided many laughs.
Land Cruisers in Tibet are sturdy, high vehicles that can ride roughshod on that territory. There were long laps each day — sometimes we were on the road for more than eight hours. Each stop was higher than the previous one and gave us a chance to get acclimatised to the height and the cold.
In a couple of places there were "guest houses" — made of mud and stones, or "comfortable" hotels — guaranteed a good bed with a silk coverlet. Toilet arrangements were very primitive — literally the pits; in some places, the great outdoors were what you had.
Our way up to the Friendship Bridge from Kathmandu to the Chinese border was fraught with distractions. First there was a huge landslide, because of heavy rains, and a lorry was stuck on the marshy road. We waited for hours till a bulldozer appeared seemingly from nowhere and cleared the way. Earlier youngsters who were collecting money for their political party stopped us and would not let us go unless we paid up.
Rained out
By the time we reached Friendship Bridge and got down to get our passports stamped first on the Nepali side and further up on the Chinese side, we had lost many hours. And to make matters worse, the rain came down in torrents. There was no roof over us and we got drenched — most of us were on the wrong side of 60. There was no queue or order of any kind. We could not proceed as planned to Nielum, the next halt, and we had to make do with dinner and dormitory arrangements at Zwang Mo. It was a disastrous start. The rains persisted. Many of us bought raincoats in Nielum. True to Murphy's Law, there were no rains for the rest of the tour. Nielum is a relatively busy town — with many shops selling varieties of Chinese goods like locks, raincoats, trekking shoes and flasks.
On the way up, we must have covered thousands of kilometres through the plateau of cold western Tibet, stopping for night halts and lunch on the way.
All of a sudden, driving from Paryang, we came upon Lake Mansarovsar — the world's highest fresh water lake (at 14,950 feet). It is considered as the lake of compassion, tranquillity and bliss. We found many pebbles of different sizes and shapes on the shores. On my part, I was thankful for the lovely bath — cold at the first dip — but wonderful after that. Within the next 40 km, we got our first glimpse of Mt. Kailas, resplendent in the afternoon sun.
At base camp
We stopped that night at the base camp in Darchen. Next day we trekked over rocky cliffs for 15 km to reach our first camp at the base of Mt. Kailash at Dehra Puk. It was night by the time we reached and snowfall had also begun. We slept that night in our tents, exhausted and looking forward to climbing up to Dolma-La Pass at 18,600 feet next morning.
But the weather had changed in the night and without a yak or a horse as a stand-by, we were discouraged from proceeding further though we wanted to do the 52-kilometre parikrama (going up to Dolma-La Pass and coming down). We had to return disappointed from Dehra Puk to Darchen the way we had come.
The whole trip was great for its many scenic opportunities and for walking/trekking. It was also a lesson in learning to be and learning to do. We felt renewed in spirit and mind as we went through each of the arduous things we had coped with to attain our goal of meeting Mount Kailash face to face and having a bath in the Lake Mansarovar.
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