Mount Kailash Trek

Day 1 - Fly London to Kathmandu

Depart London on your overnight flight to Kathmandu.

Overnight: In Flight

Day 2 - Arrive Kathmandu. Group transfer to hotel.

On arrival in Kathmandu you will be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel.

Overnight: Kathmandu Guest House Or Similar, Kathmandu

Day 3 - Drive to Syabru Besi, 1,420m/4,659ft - 6-7 hours.

In the morning, after an early breakfast, you will be picked up for the drive from Kathmandu to Syabru Besi, a small village on the banks of the Bhote Khosi. This is quite a long drive taking around 6-7 hours. You drive first out of the Kathmandu Valley, over the valley rim and descend to the bustling town of Trisuli Bazaar where you start the drive north up the valley of the Trisuli River, ascending from 546m/1,791ft, to Dunche, 1,950m/6,397ft, making the climb by frequent zig-zags in the road. Just before Dunche you reach the gates of the Langtang National Park where you have to sign in. From here you descend all the way to the Trisuli River at the village of Syabru Besi, 1,420m/4,659ft. Beginning your acclimatisation trek from here allows you to experience some of the best trekking country in Nepal.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 4 - Trek to Lama Hotel, 2,380m/7,808ft - 6-7 hours.

From Syabru Besi you start your trek eastwards into Langtang. The trail crosses the Bhote Khola by a suspension bridge and you soon reach the Langtang Khola which will be your companion all the way to Kyanjin Gompa. The trail starts as a moderate climb and zig-zags up the broad valley. Continuing up you will see the village of Thulo Syabru clinging to the high valley side and soon after you meet a trail which leads to and from the village. You then enter a deep gorge which marks the start of the Langtang Valley, and descend through a bamboo forest to the valley floor. Red pandas and Langur monkeys inhabit this forest. You reach the Langtang Khola and follow it up stream. You pass through the hamlet of Pairo (3 hours to here, altitude 1,700m/5,577ft) and reach the village of Bamboo, 1,950m/6,398ft, located by the riverside. The trail here is constantly being rebuilt due to the river flooding and washing the trail away. Snowy mountains now frame the end of the valley. After an hour or so you cross a bridge to the northern side of the river and pass through the village of Rimche. Shortly after this you will briefly climb out of the forest to reach the village of Lama Hotel.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 5 - Trek to Thyangsyap above Ghora Tabela, 3,104m/10,184ft - 5 hours.

Today is important for acclimatisation. Leaving the tea house at Lama Hotel, you continue the climb up the Langtang Valley. The area here is densely forested with hemlocks, oaks, maples and rhododendrons - if you are very lucky red panda can sometimes be seen along this stretch. After a short while, the mighty peak of Langtang Lirung comes into view to the north. Passing a waterfall, you continue up the west bank of the Langtang Khola and pass through the hamlet of Gumnchok, which means 'trekkers' corner'. After a further couple of hours the valley begins to widen and the trail flattens. You arrive at Ghora Tabela meaning literally 'the stable of the horse'. This was once a resettlement project for Tibetans but no longer has any permanent residents. From here it is a further gradual climb of around half an hour to reach Thyangsyap where you will spend the night.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 6 - Trek to Mundu via Langtang, 3,450m/11,319ft - 2-3 hours.

There will be no rush to leave today as it is a short walk to your next overnight lodge. It is important for your acclimatisation to the increasing altitude not to ascend too high too fast. Leaving Thyangsyap you will continue through the forest until you climb above the tree line at around 3,150m/10,335ft. You are now approaching the area where the village of Langtang used to be before its destruction in the earthquake of 2015. It is now a huge landslide area which you will cross on one of the many paths which have been constructed to allow passage up the valley. There is a memorial to all those who lost their lives where you can pause and pay your respects. Continuing on up the valley you soon arrive in Mundu where you will spend the rest of the day resting and acclimatising.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 7 - Trek to Kyanjin Gompa, 3,870m/12,699ft - 4-5 hours.

From Mundu you continue up the ever-widening valley to Kyanjin Gompa. To the east you will gain great views of the peak, Dorji Lakpa, with Urkinmang peak to its left. Also to the south, the peaks of Naya Kanga and Pongen Dopku will come into view. After a steep, undulating trail you cross a rise and Kyanjin Gompa will appear. Kyanjin Gompa lies in an elongated amphitheatre surrounded by high, snow-capped peaks. After lunch, your guide might suggest a hike up the small hill to the north of the village at the height of about 4,300m/14,108ft. This offers great views of Langtang Lirung, the Langtang glacier, Kimshing peak with its glacier and, to the south, a long ridge on top of which is the Ganja La, a high pass that leads to Helambu.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 8 - Day hike to Tsergo Ri, 4,984m/16,352ft - 5-7 hours.

Today you have a challenging hill walk up Tsergo Ri - a local conical-shaped peak just short of 5,000m/16,404ft. The high point of your trek, it's quite a tough climb, but you will be amply rewarded for your exertions at the top, with breath-taking, panoramic views of the surrounding snow-capped summits. This hike also provides valuable acclimatisation. You descend the same way back to Kyanjin Gompa.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 9 - Trek to Lama Hotel, 2,450m/8,038ft - 6 hours.

After your time spent in the upper valley it's time to return down the valley. As the next two days are mostly downhill you are able to cover a lot of distance. You will gain great views returning down the valley, especially with the sun filtering through the leaves once you have re-entered the forest.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 10 - Trek to Syabru Besi - 5 hours.

There are very often lots of small, pretty birds flitting through the forest in the next section. It will take about two hours to reach the village of Bamboo where you will probably have lunch. Then you descend down, down, down, past the gigantic land slide, past the thunderous rapids and over the suspension bridge back into Syapru Bensi. You will say goodbye to your Nepali porters here.

Overnight: Tea House

Day 11 - Drive to Rasuwagadi at the Tibet border - 15 km/45 min. Meet your Tibetan guide. Drive to Kyirong – 23km, 2,800m/9186ft.

Today you will set off on for your exciting adventure to Tibet! Firstly you drive to the border at Rasuwagadi where you will say goodbye to your Nepali guide and meet your Tibetan guide and transport. Rasuwagadhi only became Nepal's main modern international border crossing with Tibet in 2017 after the former Friendship Highway was damaged by the 2015 earthquake. There will be official immigration formalities to be covered on both sides of the border, which your guide will help you through. The Nepal side at Rasuwagadhi is considerably more laid-back and ramshackle than the larger and more formal border post on the Tibet/China side.

Formalities completed you drive to your overnight hotel in Kyirong on the Tibet side of the border. The population of Kyirong is a mix of Nepalese and Tibetan. Traditionally the town was important in the cross border trade between Tibet and Nepal, as it was located on a major traditional trade thoroughfare between the two countries, but this importance had lapsed with the construction of the Friendship Highway to Zhangmu. The town also has an important place in history as it is said to be where the early Tibetan king, Songtsen Gompa met his new queen, the Nepalese Princess Brikuti. The great Indian master Guru Padmasambhava is also said to have passed through Kyirong on his way to Tibet and seeing the beautiful landscape, called the place Kyirong, meaning Happy valley.

Overnight: Phuntsok Rabsel Hotel Or Similar, Kyirong

Day 12 - Drive from Kyirong to Saga, 4,460m/14,633ft, and continue to Drongpa - 293km, 7-8 hours.

This is a long and tiring driving day, but the scenery has to be seen to be believed. The sheer scale of the Tibetan plateau is staggering, with geological formations, and strata across all of the earth colours and views of the Greater Himalaya. You drive past the beautiful Pelkhu Tso Lake, where you can clearly see fish swimming in the cold clear waters. You pass through the town of Saga, the last town of any size you drive through where there are a few shops to stock up on any last minute items.

You continue next to Drongpa. The road follows the Tang Po River for much of the way and you pass through a number of villages before reaching Drongpa and you are likely to see herds of domestic yak, as well as wild ones, together with wild asses and marmots in the sandier areas. One area of sand dunes would not be out of place in a desert region with large crescent dunes encroaching on the road.

Overnight: Yajiangyuan Hotel Or Similar, Drongpa

Day 13 - Drive to Chiu Gompa,4,558m/14,954ft - 7 hours.

From Drongpa you continue to have good views and the road improves. Finally you cross the huge pass, the Mayum La 5,280m/17,323ft, from where you can see Kailash. Some of you may be moved to make your prostrations to the mountain at this point! You continue down from the pass and skirting Bo Po Mountain you will eventually come to the shores of the holiest lake in Asia, sacred Lake Manasarovar at 4,558m/14,954ft. The lake is located between Mt. Kailash, 6,714m/22,028ft, and the Gurla Mandhata Range (Memo Nani, 7,694m/25,242ft). For Hindus, Manasarovar floats beneath the shadow of holy Kailash as the lake formed in the mind of God. It was created to show the omnipotence of Brahma's mind, manas. Tibetans know it as Mapham Tso, 'the Unconquerable Lake'. In any language, this is the holiest, most famous lake in Asia.

You will spend your first camping night in a picturesque spot on the lakeshore close to Chiu Gompa. Here are large flocks of sea birds, gulls, plovers, sandpipers as well as ducks and barnacle geese. Wild hares and partridges are also to be seen near the site.

Overnight: Camp

Day 14 - Drive to Darchen, 4,575/15,010ft. Begin trek and meet yaks at Tarboche. Overnight near Chuku Gompa.

Today you will continue north west to Darchen, which is set at 4,575m/15,010ft, and is a tatty and rather rundown township. Your permits will be scrutinised here and your Tibetan guide will negotiate the Chinese bureaucracy and meet with the man employed by the local state prefecture to round up teams of yaks for paying pilgrims. This whole procedure may well be a rather protracted business.

Once everything is in order you will trek west from the edge of town, firstly heading to a cairn and prayer flags at 4,730m/15,518ft. This is the first of four chaktsal-gang 'prostration stations' on the kora and offers an excellent view of Kailash. Turning north up the valley of the Lha Chu, you descend to Tarboche, a tall pole adorned with prayer flags where you will meet your yaks. Nearby is Chorten-Kangri. It is considered an auspicious act to pass through the small archway formed by the two legs of this chorten. The trail continues across the plain to Shershong, an hour after which you will cross a bridge leading to Chuku Gompa high on the hillside above. All the monasteries on the Kailash circuit were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Chuku Gompa was the first to be rebuilt and contains a few treasures that were rescued from the original gompas. You will camp alongside the river below the Gompa.

Overnight: Camp

Day 15 - Trek past Damding Donkhang, 4,890m/16,043ft - 2½ hours.

The route today is easy to follow as you will be following pilgrims on the Kora. You will pass below Chuku gompa, (which you may have visited yesterday). This is one of four small monasteries that have been rebuilt after the Chinese Cultural Revolution. There are some very interesting and little known connections between these monasteries and Bhutan. If time allows and you are feeling strong, the gompa is well worth a visit.

The trail continues through a most fantastic gorge, with stupendous flying buttresses on the western side and views up to Kailash on the east. The cliffs are incredibly impressive, unique and awesome, and walking is likely to be slow as you take in the cliffs, hanging valleys, side peaks and enormously long thin waterfalls coming off these.

There are a variety of campsites towards the end of the valley, near a holy rock that has Milarepa's footprint, near the Second Prostration Point, but better is to turn east and follow the river to a beautiful grassy spot about 45 mins further. You will go past some stone huts and obtain a fine view of the west face of Mount Kailash before you see the bridge leading to Dira Phuk Monastery. Here, about 500m before the bridge, camp will be set in a small area on the northern bank of the river away from the busier trail on the southern side. If the river is flowing, you may be able to safely cross over on one of the snow bridges, or to be safe, walk up to the metal (Bailey) bridge - cross on that, and then back track to camp. It is a beautiful peaceful place to camp. You may choose to walk up to visit Dira Phuk Monastery in the afternoon or go there tomorrow instead of visiting the north face.

Note: Please ensure today that all your gear in your kit bag is fully waterproofed as the yaks will ford the river, perhaps 50 or 60 cm deep, and although usually all bags will remain dry, an animal can stumble and you don't want to risk wet gear at this altitude!

Overnight: Camp

Day 16 - Walk to visit North Face of Kailash or visit Dira Phuk Monastery. Trek to below Dolma La.

Crossing the bridge towards Dira Phuk Monastery you might choose to visit the monastery, or continue instead towards the North Face. You will eventually be rewarded with the most fantastic views of the north face of Kailash, framed between the two 'disciple-mountains, Chana Dorje and Chenresi. There is an easy path to follow, up towards the north face. You will undoubtedly feel the altitude as you climb, at times steeply, up the valley that leads eventually to the small glacier that comes down from Kailash. There are fine views from here but if you are fit and keen to go closer, time permitting it is possible to walk easily up the glacier for some way.

You will then continue to camp below the Dolma La.

Overnight: Camp

Day 17 - Cross the Dolma La Pass, 5,630m/18,472ft, and trek down Lham Chu Valley towards Zutal-Puk Monastery - 6-7 hours.

The kora route makes a serious climb onto a moraine, eventually meeting the trail from the east bank. As you climb further, you will pass piles of clothing at Shiva-tsal, 5,331m/17,490ft. Tibetans leave an article of clothing, or a drop of blood here as part of leaving their past life behind them. Continuing past thousands of small rock cairns the trail leads across a boulder field, and possibly snow slopes leading up to the Dolma La at 5,630m/18,472ft. Here a large boulder on the pass representing the goddess, Dolma, better known by her Sanskrit name, Tara, is festooned with prayer flags and streamers. This is the physical and spiritual high point of the Kora. It is traditional to leave something as part of the collection of coins, prayer flags, teeth and other offerings attached to the rock. Money is pasted to the rock with butter and pilgrims make the requisite three circumambulations of the rock. This must be the world's largest collection of prayer flags.

If you meet Tibetan pilgrims here you may be invited to join them for a picnic in celebration of completing the hardest part of the Kora; remember to take a little food to share with them. Descending, the trail is rocky at first then begins a series of switchbacks as it passes the lake, Gouri-kund, which at 5,450m/17,880ft is the highest lake in the world, although almost permanently frozen. Devout Hindu pilgrims are supposed to break the ice and bathe in its waters. More switchbacks lead down to the valley and a stone guest house alongside the Lham-chhukhir at 5,148m/16,890ft where there is a footprint of Buddha, called a shapje nearby. Yaks will be likely to be grazing around the area, and marmots may be out if it's a sunny evening.

The route makes a long, gentle, descent of the Lham Chu valley, the eastern valley of Kailash. When crossing the stream of the Khado Sanglam you reach the Third Prostration Station; look upstream for the holy view of the east face of Kailash.

You trek down towards Zutul-puk Gompa - Zuthul means cave and the gompa is named after a cave in which the Buddhist saint, Milarepa is said to have meditated, eating only nettles. Among the miracles he performed were adjusting the height of this cave to make it more comfortable and his footprint still remains on the roof. If you have any energy left you may wish to walk the distance up the valley to visit the gompa in the afternoon.

You will camp near the Zhong Chu River alongside fields full of grazing yaks and marmots - an opportunity to celebrate your successful crossing of the Dolma La.

Overnight: Camp

Day 18 - Trek to Darchen - 4-5 hours. Drive to Gung Gyotsho Lake or Seralung Gompa.

Your last day's trekking is a beautiful hike. Continuing south, you cross a bridge over a side stream from Kailash, and then contour up as the river descends towards the plain. Ensure you stop regularly to check the view behind you - it is superb. After an hour and a half the valley closes in and you will be walking high above the river in a kind of a steepening gorge. On the walk today you are likely to be walking alongside many pilgrims, also descending. And indeed this section is one of the loveliest on the trek. Looking to west side of the valley you can clearly see a defined crash zone of where the Indian tectonic plate crashed into the Asian plate all those million years ago. It's possible to clearly see the buckling of the front end of the Indian plate and a dramatic change in the geology. Two professional geologists in one group helped to identify the oceanic rocks here at 4,600m above sea level and to point this all out to the group!

You make a dramatic exit from the river valley on to the plain at the Last Prostration Station at 4,609m/15,120ft. Your truck will meet you and the yaks will unload once they arrive. Rakas Tal glistens in the distance as you pass mani walls decorated with carved yak skulls. You trek a further 1½ hours west to Darchen along the edge of the plain to complete the full Kora. As you arrive in Darchen you can see the route heading up to the Inner Kora, but you must complete 12 more koras before you would be allowed on this route!

After a regroup in the town you will board your vehicle to start the drive back to the east, camping either by Gung Gyotsho Lake or at Seralung Gompa near Lake Manasarovar for your final night with your trekking crew and some last views of Mount Kailash.

Overnight: Camp

Day 19 - Drive to Saga - 8 hours.

You will leave early today as it is a long drive, firstly climbing to the Mayum La (5,150m/16,896ft) from where you can savour your last views of Kailash. Then you drive down for half an hour to a police check post and head east on one vast plain which lies between the Greater Himalaya and the Trans Himalaya. You pass through Paryang, 4,600m/15,092ft, where you will probably have lunch. Driving on you cross a pass, the Soge La, 4,700m/15,420ft, and continue past a lake and on and on beside the Tsang Po river. The road now continues to the ferry near Saga, 4,480m/14,698ft, passing through the township of Drongba. (It is from here that a road now leads south into Nepal and the Kingdom of Mustang). You continue to Saga, very Chinese in character, where your hotel and (hopefully) hot showers await you!

Overnight: Mulinsen Hotel Or Similar, Saga

Day 20 - Drive to Kyirong – 4-5 hours.

You continue driving east and south. During today's drive, if weather permits, you should have views of Mt. Shishapangma, 8,046m/26,397ft, the world's thirteenth highest peak and the only 8,000m peak to lie wholly within Tibet. You will also have views of other Himalayan snow peaks including the mountains of Langtang, which you will have seen from the other side earlier in your adventure. You cross more plateau and over the the Gongtang La Pass and then the road starts its long descent, zig zagging down to lower altitudes, with the terrain changing from high Tibetan Plateau to the valleys and forests of the Himalayas.

Overnight: Phuntsok Rabsel Hotel Or Similar, Kyirong

Day 21 - Drive to Border. Drive to Kathmandu. 7-8 hours.

You will drive to the border and complete formalities to leave Tibet/China and enter Nepal. On the Tibet side this may take between 1-2 hours depends on how fast the formalities go. Then you cross into Nepal and go through Nepal immigration and customs. Your transport will be waiting for you there and you drive to Kathmandu, returning to your hotel there for a final celebration of your epic journey.

Overnight: Kathmandu Guest House Or Similar, Kathmandu

Day 22 - At leisure in Kathmandu. Group transfer to the airport. Depart Kathmandu.

You will have time at leisure in Kathmandu today when you may do some sightseeing or shopping or simply relax at your hotel. Later there will be a group transfer to the airport for your overnight flight to the UK.

Overnight: In flight

Day 23 - Arrive London.