Mt Kailash Awaits

Into Western Tibet

Traveling into Western Tibet is one of the favourite stories that hardened travelers have to tell. Dodging checkpoints, excited police, fines, permits, roads that barely exist. So I wanted to go there??!! The lure ascending onto the Tibetan plateau from the western Taklimakan desert is what has attracted so many, and I was no different.

Starting point is a town in Western China called Yecheng. A low profile necessary not to attract too much attention. Western Tibet is a closed area. The route goes through an area that is still quite disputed with India. Recently it has become easier to travel into the area, even though it is technically illegal. Eventually I found the 'office' for the private bus company that runs to Ali in Western Tibet. They were prepared to take foreigners, but for a foreigner price! So myself and an Aussie that I met sniffing around as well set off a couple of days later on the next bus (see photo of lovely bus!). Twenty-eight hours they had said. I was highly sceptical. Just outside Yecheng any sign of tarmac disappeared. Over the course of twenty four hours, the bus climbed from about 1000m to 5,400m, what can be a dangerous altitude gain if you don't know that you can take it. Locals had oxygen cushions that were hanging out of their noses! Others were very fond of ampules of glucose. Some looked very groggy. The guy beside me waited until the top of the pass to light up his first cigarette!

The bus was my first real introduction to the Chinese. The girl behind me kelp hocking spits out the window (as least it wasn't onto the floor!). It was a sleeper bus with bunks. Watching the scenery, there was a continuous stream or rubbish coming out of the windows of the top bunks. Instant noodles containers, biscuits, broken ampules. They just kept coming.

After a spectacular bone shaking forty-two hour journey, I arrived at destination. Ali is just about the only place that civilisation (the Chinese at least!) has been heard about, and Western Tibet is not a small place! The Chinese have got in and built up their grey town and by the size of the hospital and army base, they certainly aren't expecting it to shrink in the near future. Tibetans were well outnumbered in the town. Any of them on the street almost looked like drifters that had just wandered into town. They looked at me as if a UFO had just dropped me off. They had a wild look, and actually looked very Latin American. Nothing like the Chinese.

Two missions to complete in Ali before departure: go to confessions to the police to get a permit to travel through the area and then try to get transport to get to the holy Mount Kailash. It took two attempts to find a single person in the police station. They're just happy to collect the Eu30 fine from another punter that has traveled through a 'closed route'. More casual than I could ever have imagined. The second battle, transport, turned out a little more difficult. There was a bus after a couple of days though. Six hours we were told. I was still on route with the Aussie, Neil, that I had met. The bus arrived in Darchen  twenty-three hours late after being pulled out of a couple of rivers along the route. One of the rivers we thought the game was up and everyone got out with luggage to wade through the remaining 50m of water (see photo). Luckily Mr. Earthmover arrived after about 30 minutes!

Again the journey was spectacular. The plateau is at about 4,400m, but it is just like a flat plain with snow capped peaks rising along the sides. Eventually we limped into Darchen. It took the poor bus driver about 45 minutes to revive the bus after it was stuck in the river. Lying under the bus trying to get the water out of the engine and enough diesel into it to get it started, he was physically shaking all over.

Mt Kailash and the Holy Route

Darchen is at the foot of Mount Kailash, probably the most holy mountain in the world. It has never been climbed for religious reasons, and is sacred for both Buddhists and Hindus. Pilgrims come from all directions to complete a kora around the mountain, the term they use for the pilgrimage route. A three day trek around the mountain with a high point of 5,630m. Next day I set off with Neil, and a Danish guy that I had first met carrying his bicycle over his head through one if the rivers that our bus was stuck in. Travel in the extreme! The fact that Mount Kailash is so difficult to get to has preserved it from the mass bands of camera wielding Chinese that have taken over other parts of Tibet. Anyone that has made the effort of traveling for days along non-existent roads wants to be there because they know it is a very special place. Local Tibetans ran past on us on the trail, wearing down their prayer beads as they went. Their food for the trip consisting of a piece of raw dried yak, and the mandatory local sampa, roasted barley flower kneaded with butter tea. Not actually as bad as it sounds!

Although the weather was not on out side for the trek, it was a beautiful experience. The more kora's that you do in a lifetime, the more merit you get. Once around washes away your sins. Three is a magic number for the soul. Thirteen is instant nirvana. Being able to trek for a day and then head up to a monastery to sleep for the night with the monks added to the whole experience. It also got us away from the Indian pilgrims. Not much in a Buddhist monastery for them, with their fleet of yaks and horses to cart them along the course.

The wilder nomads had what looked like the handle of a knife sicking from their pockets. On closer inspection, these were nothing short of swords. The blade was about eighteen inches long. Seemingly they need to be able to protect themselves when out on the plateau with their flock. The high pass treated me very well, and I was even passing the yaks on the way up. I was happy with myself!! On a day when it probably never got above 10 degrees, the sun never shone and it snowed quite a bit up high, I got myself a nice sunburn on my face. I really felt sorry for my nose over the next few days with the state it was in! Three days down, the trek was successfully completed.

Out of Darchen

The next task was to try and get transport towards Lhasa. Lots of Land Cruisers about town, but not a seat in sight. After two days of searching, I headed for what seemed like cross between a monastery and a retirement home. We struck a price and were off the next morning. The two drivers seemed like they were off for a road trip. I don't think they cart too many tourists around. They packed a big lump of raw dried yak into a backpack and off they headed. In the first village they stopped to get two sets of batteries for their shiny new tape player with a live recording of Tibetan tribal singing, a high pitched squeal that is far from pleasant when played at full blast.

We were convinced that one of the two 'dodgy brothers' was learning to drive. When he tried to reverse, it really was a comedy and I really don't know how he didn't do more damage. He really had no idea how to go backwards and steer at the same time! We got stuck a couple of times in dykes and rivers, the second guy would get out to put in the four wheel drive hubs, but they didn't know enough to actually engage the four wheel drive (until they were shown the lever that they needed to pull up!)

Eventually we got to Saga, final destination with the dodgy brothers. The little town consists of three streets. The two outside streets with Tibetans looking houses and shops. The main street like lego that the Chinese decided to put up overnight. We assumed that it was easy to bus it from there, until we actually tried. No shortage of buses, but none of them would take a foreigner, even with a nice shiny permit. Again, with not a seat to be had, I diverted south with a lift I got to a little Tibetan village called Tingri. Some things actually work out for the best as from Tingri there is a view across the plateau to Everest. A few stubborn clouds hung about the peak, but after smelling K2 up close, I now had the biggest of all in sight.

Luckily, from Tingri transport to Shigatse where I wanted to stop off to explore wasn't too difficult. There was even some tarmac. That was a luxury I hadn't seen in two weeks!!