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Mount Kailash Photo Gallery - 4. Kailash Kora

In July and August 2006, we traveled to Dubai, Mount Kailash and Guge Kingdom in Tibet, Muscat, Iceland and a brief stop in London.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 01 Kailash Map Google Earth Here is a great view of the Mount Kailash Kora area from Google Earth.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 01 Kailash Map Google Earth

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 02 Kailash West Face From Beyond Darchen Here is the rarely seen West face of Kailash, taken near a small insignificant pass just 18km west of the turnoff to Darchen.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 02 Kailash West Face From Beyond Darchen

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 03 Kailash With Lha Chu valley To see the greatness of a mountain, one must keep one’s distance; to understand its form, one must move around it; to experience its moods, one must see it at sunrise and sunset, at noon and at midnight, in sun and in rain, in snow and in storm, in summer and in winter and in all the other seasons. – Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Way of the White Clouds. From just to the west of Darchen, we had a good view of the two sets of high cliffs forming the Lha Chu valley.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 03 Kailash With Lha Chu valley

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 04 Darchen and Kailash I want to open up for you the vision of the mountain as the mandala palace of the Superbliss Buddha, Chakrasamvara Father-Mother-united and their divine community of bodhisattva-heroes and yoginis. This Superbliss palace is always here at this mountain, and the door is always open. We are now at the southern gate of the mountain. - Robert Thurman: Circling the Sacred Mountain. Darchen hugs the bottom of the Kailash hills, seen from the Darchen turnoff.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 04 Darchen and Kailash

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 05 Kailash South Face From Darchen Turnoff The palace has big staircases leading into it, like Mayan pyramid staircases that go through the multicolored arched prongs of crossed vajras. You walk up though them. Outside the southern gate, where we are now, everything is golden-yellow sapphire. As we go round the mountain we circumambulate the mansion, and depending upon our vision, we can go in and out of the doors. Inside the mansion is the Chakrasamvara Superbliss Buddha Father-Mother, two beings in one - Robert Thurman: Circling the Sacred Mountain.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 05 Kailash South Face From Darchen Turnoff

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 06 Darchen Hotel Room Darchen (4560m) was formerly an important sheep station for the nomads and their flocks. With the increased traffic to Kailash, it has degenerated somewhat into what some people call a ‘garbage dump’. We had hoped to skip Darchen and camp further west at Tarboche, but this is allowed only at Saga Dawa time. We stayed at a fairly new concrete block style guesthouse, with both eastern and western style toilets, although they were filthy as usual. Here is our room.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 06 Darchen Hotel Room

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 07 Darchen Playing Pool Pete and I walked outside and enjoyed a few games of pool as Tibetans looked on. They especially cheered when Pete made a great shot. The next morning Pete remarked, “When I woke up I thought I was in my own bed. But then I realized, ‘Oh crap, I’m in Darchen’ ”.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 07 Darchen Playing Pool

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 08 Tarboche We drove westward from Darchen and entered the Lha Chu valley and stopped at the prayer-flag festooned Tarboche (4750m) pole. The pole is replaced each year at the major festival of Saga Dawa, marking the enlightenment of Shakyamuni. If the pole stands absolutely vertical all is well, but if it leans towards Kailash things are not good, if it leans away, things are even worse. Although we started our trek from Tarboche, you can drive to the Chuku bridge.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 08 Tarboche

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 09 Start Trek From Tarboche … (the pilgrim) approaches the mountain from the golden plains of the south, from the noon of life, in the vigour and full experience of life. He enters the red valley of Amitabha in the mild light of the sinking sun, goes through the portals of death between the dark northern and the multi-coloured eastern valleys when ascending the formidable Dölma-La, the Pass of Tara, the Saviouress – and he descends, as a new-born being, into the green valley of Aksobhya on the east of Kailas, where the poet-saint Milarepa composed his hymns, and from where the pilgrim again emerges into the open, sunny plains of the south, assigned to the Dhyani-Buddha Ratnasambhava, whose colour is that of gold. – Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Way of the White Clouds.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 09 Start Trek From Tarboche

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 10 View up Lha Chu Valley Entering the narrow valley on the western flank of Kailas, the place assigned to Amitabha, whose colour is red, he (the pilgrim) finds himself in a canyon of red rocks, the structure of which is so architectural in appearance that the pilgrim feels as if he is walking between rows of gigantic temples. They are adorned with elaborate rock-cornices, pillars, and ledges, and high above them there appears suddenly the dazzling ice-dome of Kailas. – Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Way of the White Clouds. You can just barely see Chuku Gompa on the hill to the left of the V in the valley.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 10 View up Lha Chu Valley

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 11 Bridge Over Lha Chu Towards Chuku Gompa The Mount Kailash kora is 52km in length, crosses the 5630m Dölma La and normally takes three days. There were no yaks available at Darchen, so our cook Paldi and porter Pemba Rinji agreed to be yaks and carry our gear. They were also paid the yak rate, about 80 yuan a day. After leaving Tarboche, we walked for just 30 minutes and reached a small bridge (4710m) across the Lha Chu (Divine River) with the trail to Chuku Gompa beyond.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 11 Bridge Over Lha Chu Towards Chuku Gompa

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 12 Chuku Gompa Outside I crossed the bridge and huffed and puffed uphill through a maze of boulders for 20 minutes to Chuku (or Nyenri) Gompa (4820m), perched high above the valley floor on the hillside to the west. Chuku Gompa was founded by Götsangpa (1189-1258), a Kagyu disciple, and was the first Kailash Gompa to be rebuilt after the destruction of Cultural Revolution. Inside there’s a highly unusual, original marble statue called Chuku Amitabha originally from India and reputed to talk, a silver inlaid conch shell that is said to have flown here from Bodh Gaya, peacock feathers and the tusks of a sacred elephant associated with Padmasambhava, and a large copper pot brought from India by Naropa.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 12 Chuku Gompa Outside

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 13 Chuku Gompa Kangri Lhatsen Off to the north a shrine room sits … Meet Kangri Lhatsen: painted wood; red-and-blue faced, lion-toothed, devil eyed; big, bad, and not the least bit shy. … Kangri Lhatsen is the protector deity of Kailash. Text and Photo: - Tad Wise (and Robert Thurman): Circling the Sacred Mountain.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 13 Chuku Gompa Kangri Lhatsen

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 14 Barkha Plain from Chuku Gompa From Chuku Gompa, I gazed back towards Tarboche and the entrance to the Lha Chu valley, with the vast Barkha plain spread out to the south. Once again Gurla Mandhata (7728m) was not visible to the southeast.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 14 Barkha Plain from Chuku Gompa

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 15 View Up Lha Chu Valley I descended in about 10 minutes to the Chuku bridge and continued our trek up the east bank of the Lha Chu. After crossing the first hill above the Lha Chu, the valley continued to open up northward.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 15 View Up Lha Chu Valley

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 16 Waterfall In Longevity Buddhas On the left (west) are three peaks known as the three longevity Buddhas: Dölma (Tara), Amitayus (Tib. Tsepagme) and Namgyalma (Tib. Vijaya). A long trailing waterfall spills between them, said to be Gesar’s saddle. Gesar is the hero-king of Tibet’s great epic story.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 16 Waterfall In Longevity Buddhas

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 17 Lunch Stop At Tamdrin Outside We walked for about 105 minutes from Chuku bridge to Tamdrin (Hayagriva), our lunch stop in a set of seasonal tents, serving basic instant noodles-type food and various drinks.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 17 Lunch Stop At Tamdrin Outside

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 18 Lunch Stop At Tamdrin Inside Gyan served us some curried potatoes, bread and juice, which I washed down with a Pepsi. Charlotte befriended the young Korean girl on the left, a girl named Sue, who joined our motley crew for the kora.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 18 Lunch Stop At Tamdrin Inside

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 19 Kailash West Face from Tamdrin … the reddish western valley of Amitabha, where we might have looked into the western door of the mandala and seen the red, passionate face of Superbliss Buddha, looking down at us above his broad blue-black back. These buddha-deities are only remotely visible with the inner eye, which sees each deity from a birds-eye view, with a kind of star-spangled presence. - Robert Thurman: Circling the Sacred Mountain. From Tamdrin, alas for us, the west or ruby face of Kailash remained mostly in the clouds.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 19 Kailash West Face from Tamdrin

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 20 Kailash North-West Face Junction from Tamdrin Beyond Tamdrin we had a cloudy view of the edge of the Kailash tetrahedron between the west and north faces.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 20 Kailash North-West Face Junction from Tamdrin

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 21 Walking Towards Dirapuk in the Hail It took a little over an hour to trek from Tamdrin to our overnight stop across the valley from Dirapuk. The weather turned fairly nasty, with rain turning to hail, and then the sun broke through.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 21 Walking Towards Dirapuk in the Hail

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 22 Guesthouse Outside At the North face Here is the concrete-block style basic guesthouse across the valley from Dirapuk.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 22 Guesthouse Outside At the North face

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 23 Guesthouse Inside Here is our basic room in the guesthouse across the valley from Dirapuk.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 23 Guesthouse Inside

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 24 Dirapuk Gompa Dirapuk Gompa (4890m) shines in a brief sunny period among the rain and hail. The Gompa takes its name from the words dira (meaning ‘female-yak-horn’) and puk (cave). The great monk Götsangpa meditated her, supposedly from 1213 to 1217, and Buddhists say he first discovered the kora route around Kailash. He was led to Dirapuk by a yak that turned out to be the lion-faced-goddess Dakini (Khadroma), who guards the Khando Sanglam La. Just below the Gompa, another ashram is being built by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the India Heritage Research Foundation.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 24 Dirapuk Gompa

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 25 North Face The weather had cleared and the north face was fairly visible, so I decided to take a walk towards the north face between the hills called Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani. I crested the hill behind the guesthouse, and noticed a monk and two other people continuing to walk towards the north face. I followed them along the Kangjam Chu and crossed the snout of the glacier with Kailash looking fantastic. I continued on, cresting a small hill with a clear view of the Kangjam Glacier descending from the north face of Mount Kailash. The monk asked me to take their photos. Coming back only took 15 minutes.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 25 North Face

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 26 North Face The foothills suddenly step aside and give the pilgrim the full view of Kailas in all its grandeur. The view is absolutely overwhelming, and according to the scriptures, it is on this spot that those who are initiated into the rituals and meditations of the respective Tantras should perform their devotional practices on the great Mandala of Supreme Bliss. – Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Way of the White Clouds.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 26 North Face

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 27 North Face Sunset Just before we had our dinner, I went to use the rocks and watched a beautiful sunset on the North Face of Kailash.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 27 North Face Sunset

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 28 Sunset Just before we had our dinner, I went to use the rocks and watched the sunset. It rained overnight with a temperature of 4C.

Tibet Kailash 08 Kora 28 Sunset

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 01 Glacier between Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri We crossed the Dölma Chu by a bridge, and soon saw the north side of Shama Ri, east of Kailash, coming into cloudy view. This sharp jagged ridge represents the 18 Hells: 8 Cold, 8 Hot, and 2 Trial Hells. Its treacherous appearance serves as a sober reminder to pilgrims that hell exists and perhaps looks like this. A short truncated glacier with a small but distinct terminal, lateral, and medial moraines descends from the rocky eastern arm of the north face of Kailash, down through the Pölung Valley between Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 01 Glacier between Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 02 Manjushri Guardian Peak Here is the jagged ridges of the guardian peak Manjushri (Tib. Jampelyang).

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 02 Manjushri Guardian Peak

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 03 Shiva Tsal It took us 85 minutes to trek from Dirapuk to Shiva Tsal (5330m), said to be a replica of the fabled burial ground at Bodh Gaya India. To be reborn one must first die, and here the pilgrims face Yama, the Lord of Death, whose judgment purifies him for the new life awarded atop the Dölma La. It is a rocky expanse dotted with stone cairns draped with items of clothing. Pilgrims are supposed to undergo a symbolic death at this point, leaving their old life behind along with an item of clothing to represent it, a drop of blood or a lock of hair. I left a pair of socks while Pete left a hat.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 03 Shiva Tsal

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 04 Last Cloudy View of Kailash Across the valley, a trail branches off to the southeast over the snow-covered Khandro Sanglam La, the Secret Path of the Dakini Khandroma). This alterative route around Kailash bypasses the Dölma La, which tradition says can only be crossed if you have completed 12 previous koras.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 04 Last Cloudy View of Kailash

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 05 Peak to the Right of Dolma La It took us 100 minutes to trek from Shiva Tsal to the Dölma La. The trail turned to the east, with the peak to the right of the pass now visible.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 05 Peak to the Right of Dolma La

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 06 Dolma La Ahead Here’s the final hill to climb to the Dölma La (5630m), a wide and rocky pass that is festooned with an enormous number of prayer flags.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 06 Dolma La Ahead

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 07 We have arrived at the Dolma La We made it! Here we are on the Dölma La (5630m), with Dölma’s Rock behind to the right. The temperature was 1C. We only lingered for about 15 minutes because we knew we had many hours more before reaching Zutulpuk.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 07 We have arrived at the Dolma La

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 08 Dolma Rock on Dolma La The surfaces of the Dölma Do (Dölma’s Rock) are inscribed with mantras in yellow and red. When Gotsangpa wandered into the valley of Dakini Khadroma, he was led back to the correct route by 21 wolves that were 21 emanations of Dölma (Tara), the goddess of mercy and protectoress of the pass. Reaching the pass, the 21 wolves merged into one and then merged again into the great rock.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 08 Dolma Rock on Dolma La

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 09 Pilgrims on Dolma Rock on Dolma La The actual crossing represents the transition from this life to a new one. Here the pilgrim is reborn and all sins forgiven because of the compassion of Dölma, the Goddess of Mercy. At the pass, pilgrims shout aloud verbal offerings and perform a circumambulation of Dölma’s Rock, pasting money onto the rock with butter, stooping to pass under the lines of prayer flags

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 09 Pilgrims on Dolma Rock on Dolma La

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 10 Gauri Kund Just After Dolma La After he (the pilgrim) has thus made peace with the past and has gone thorough the gates of death he crosses the threshold of his new life on the snow-covered pass of the all-merciful mother Dölma. And lo, at his feet there is a lake of the purest emerald colour (which is the colour of Dölma or Tara) in the midst of rocks and snows. In Tibetan it is called the Lake of Mercy while Hindus call it Gaurikund. In it the pilgrim receives his first baptism of a new-born being. – Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Way of the White Clouds.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 10 Gauri Kund Just After Dolma La

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 11 Eastern Valley Descending from Dolma La It took us 60 minutes to trek from the Dölma La to the valley floor. As we descended from the Dölma La, we looked across to the Eastern Valley, with a tongue of glacier in our path. The peaks to the right of centre are called Tsering Chenga, the abode of five sister protectoresses, who were entrusted by Milarepa to guard Kailash.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 11 Eastern Valley Descending from Dolma La

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 12 Crossing Small Tongue of Ice We gingerly crossed the small tongue of ice on our descent from the Dölma La to the Eastern Valley floor. Easy does it for the Westerners, skip on by for the Pilgrims.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 12 Crossing Small Tongue of Ice

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 13 Akshobhya Eastern Valley The friendly valley of the eastern Dhyani-Buddha, Aksobhya, welcomes the pilgrim with lovely green camping grounds and silvery streams of crystal-clear water. – Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Way of the White Clouds.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 13 Akshobhya Eastern Valley

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 14 Peter and our Kora Dog Pete and I rested as we reached the foot of the pass. In the foreground is a dog that walked the kora with us. He was very gentle and protective. Pete named him Koalae.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 14 Peter and our Kora Dog

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 15 Kailash Eastern Face in Clouds About 30 minutes from the end of the descent from the Dolma La, a valley comes down from the Khando Sanglam La to join the main trail. This valley provides the only glimpse of Kailash’s eastern or crystal face – alas again in the clouds.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 15 Kailash Eastern Face in Clouds

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 16 Our Room at Zutulpuk It took us about three hours to hike down the Eastern Valley from the foot of the pass to Zutulpuk (4790m). We stayed in a basic concrete-block guesthouse just below Zutulpuk, and quickly had a well deserved nap after our 10-hour day. Another ashram will soon start construction at Zutulpuk, being built by Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji of the India Heritage Research Foundation.

Tibet Kailash 09 Kora 16 Our Room at Zutulpuk

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 01 Zutulpuk Gompa Outside The miracle (zutul) cave (puk) (4790m) that gives the Gompa its name is at the back of the main hall, the red building to the left. Milarepa is said to have meditated in this cave, which was also another confrontation between Milarepa and Naro Bonchung. Needing shelter from the rain, they agreed to jointly construct a cave but when Milarepa casually put a roof in place, without waiting for Naro to make the walls, it was another easy victory for Buddhism, Milarepa then decided the roof was too high and went outside and pressed it down with this foot, leaving a footprint. Back inside, he realized he’d pushed it too far, but some more shoving from below adjusted things to his satisfaction. His hand and head prints can be seen on the cave ceiling but the Gompa roof covers the footprint atop the cave.

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 01 Zutulpuk Gompa Outside

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 02 Zutulpuk Gompa Entrance Doors Here is the entrance door to Zutulpuk Gompa, with the Guardian of The West on the left, and the Guardian of the North to the right.

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 02 Zutulpuk Gompa Entrance Doors

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 03 Zutulpuk Gompa Altar The monk allowed me to take one photo inside Zutulpuk Gompa - here is the main altar featuring Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig), Shakyamuni, and Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche).

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 03 Zutulpuk Gompa Altar

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 04 Zutulpuk Gompa Milarepas Cave From Sam and Shelly The monk didn’t let me take a photo of Milarepa’s cave, with a glass case holding Milarepa’s nettle-green stone statue, hand to ear. The statue is made of brass and is said to have been made by Milarepa himself shortly before his death. No this is not me. This photo is from Sam & Shelly Tibet Trip Summer 2004.

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 04 Zutulpuk Gompa Milarepas Cave From Sam and Shelly

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 05 Walking Towards Barkha Plain Our third day on the Kailash kora began with an easy stroll down towards where the river emerges onto the Barkha plain.

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 05 Walking Towards Barkha Plain

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 06 Red Cliffs After 75 minutes from Zutulpuk, the valley narrows and explodes in a last display of colour. Tibetan’s call this place the ‘Gold and Red Cliffs’, a canyon splashed with mineral colour. Orange boulders tumbled down a blue slope; a few steps later the hues were green and purple, red and black.

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 06 Red Cliffs

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 07 Finished Team Photo Here is our happy team after completing the Kailash kora. Paldi and Pemba Rinji were already at the truck. From left to right: me, Charlotte, Pete, Sue, and Gyan.

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 07 Finished Team Photo

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 08 Gurla Mandhata From Kora End When we emerged onto the Barkha plain (4610m), Gurla Mandhata (7728m) came out of the clouds for a few minutes. Yes, it does exist. Gurla Mandhata was first climbed in 1985 by a Chinese-Japanese expedition.

Tibet Kailash 10 Kora 08 Gurla Mandhata From Kora End