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Published: July 24th 2010
Mt Kailash Kora/Parikarma to Saga
Day 11 - Darchen to Dira Phuk (5050m) Dhondup woke early to secure yet another permit we required to walk around the mountain.
Heading off a little nervous (so was Dhondup) we met our two porters. 2 young and serverely underdressed Tibetans from Shigatse. Talking to a few guides we learnt that there have been 7 deaths on the mountain this year so far (All Indian pilgrims) and the trekking season has only been going for 2 months. The Kora around the mountain (Asia's holiest) is a 3 day walk with a 5600m pass at the far end. Its this pass that proves the most difficult and there is no help availible should anything go wrong. The first days walk (24km) was a relatively easy one ascending slowly to Dira Phuk Monastery.
Mt Kailash has a sharp 4 sided summit (each one pointing to N,S E & W) and has been shrouded by Hindi mythology for thousands of years. No one has ever climbed the mountain though some have got close.
Kailash is key to the drainage system of the Tibetan plateau and is the rough source of 4 major rivers. The
Karnali (which feeds the Ganges- south), The Indus (North), Sutlej (West) and Brahmaputra (East). At 6714m its not nearly the highest mountain in the area but snow capped year round it has amassed a wealth of mythology.
It has been the object of worship for 4 major religions: for Hindus it is the domain of shiva, to the Buddhists it is the abode of Demchok, to the Jains its the site where the first of their saints was emancipated and to the Bons its the mount upon which their founder alighted to heaven - We had to have a look.
The 6 hour walk through a deep valley was amazing with steep cliffs on both sides. We started at the Darpoche Pole (Not sure if you have seen Micheal Palin's Himalayan servies but he covered the raising of this sacred pole in detail) We passed Sky burial sites and monasteries clinging to the cliffs above us. The wildlife greeted us at every opportunity, Marmots, Deer, Pikas, and the odd woolley Yak. We rounded a corner to be presented with a clear view of Kailash's West face. A spot where pilgrims prostrated and rubbed holy rocks to cure themselves of everything
possible. We found a noodle lunch in a nomad tent and continued on to the Monastery. Arriving early we explored the surrounds with the North Face towering above us. We wandered to the foot of a glacier for truly amazing views of the mountain. We stayed in another nomad tent heated by a central dung fire chatting to pilgrims nervous about the following days walk over the pass. We discussed the traditions of arranged marriages and a families continuation of wealth, very interesting. The temperature dropped dramatically during the night but a clear view of the stars made a journey out of the tent well worth it.
Day 12 - Dira Phuk (5050m) to PSB checkpost somewhere in the desert? We woke to the sound of porter yaks grazing around the tent grunting to their calves. We had a strong coffee and some muslei to prepare us for the pass to come. We received several strange looks for eating a combo of seeds and dried fruit- Isnt that yak food?
Little did we know that today was going to be one of the longest and strangest days of our lives.
Setting off we began the
steep ascent of the dreaded Drolma-la Pass (5630m) Cutting the story short about half way up we made the decision to turn back. With a combination of bad weather brewing and Altitude sickness we made the tough decision to return the 26km back to Darchen. Now for those of you that have not experiences high altitudes, altitude sickness is much like I would imagine radiation poisioning - You cant see it but when it grabs you, you're fucked. Headaches at the base of your skull like someone has hit you with a baseball bat, diarrohea, dizziness, and lack of control over your thoughts. We made the 26km down in just over 3 hours.
En route we passed hundreds of Indian pilgrims and their yak trains that went on for miles. Horses, yaks, porters, pilgrims and guides like we have never seen, an awesome sight.
Back in Darchen we drank loads of green tea and had a 60 yak mo-mo's, Almost instantly we felt better.
Jeep packed we headed off for Lake Manasarovar to relax. However, a few miles down the road we encountered a military road block. Dhondup checked the situation and they were going to block the road
for 3 days for 'paving'. Alarmed we waited in the sun for 6 hours as they were going to 'open' the road for a short interval to allow a few of us through. The road opened at 10:00pm forcing us to try drive through the night to reach Saga- 500km away, in the dark, on some of the worst roads in the world. Liff and I slept in the back only waking to present ourselves at a PSB checkpost. Here we go.
It was about 3am when we came across a river we had crossed on our way in. However after crossing 2 tributaries we entered a 3rd that was too deep for the Jeep.
The Jeep cut out and water started flowing in everywhere. Liff, asleep on the back seat woke to icy water coming in the windows. Dhondup and Kaisan climbed out the windows, I passed Liff to them and started grabbing every valuable wet item I could. Dhondup made a leap of faith into the water and disappeared into the night. He returned 10 min later with a long plank, to us standing on the roof. The plank just long enough to allow us to cross to
dry land.
Much swearing and cigarettes followed and we all abandoned the Jeep and wandered into the night. Kaisan went to find help for his Jeep and Liff, Dhondup and I back to the checkpost we came through earlier. The 10km walk in the freezing night at altitude in the dark was only made better by a clear night with a crazy array of stars. A clear night, there must have been a storm over the Nepal himalayas as there was what I can only describe as a solar storm, bright flashes across the heavens with no clouds. Eventually we found the checkpost and a bed. It was a bit of a meat locker and we had plucked chickens and drying meat above our bed! However, warm and dry we crashed for the night.
Day 13 - PSB Checkpost to Saga We woke to the sound of Kaisan returning sopping wet and shaking something chronic. We wrapped him up and got him some hot tea. Turns out the Military had been called and they had organised a bull dozer to dig a new road into the lake we landed up in. They then pulled the Jeep out
around sunrise. The operation had removed the front bumper and most of the metal work from the font of the Jeep, Kaisan was bleak!! His MP3 player, stereo and everything else electronic (including the windows) would not work again for several days.
We walked the 10km back to our wounded vehicle, seeing it made me think of a time when Daryn and I got Dads 4x4 stuck in a field late one night. We began the process of drying out nearly everything we owned. Testemony to a Toyota Landcruiser - It started first time. Sitting on wet seats we packed our soggy goods and headed off for Paryang. Next problem - the same road blocks we faced the day before, there were to be 4 more on route. Dhondup not accepting this decided Liff had just contracted severe Acute mountain sickness (AMS) and ran to the front of each roadblock shouting something like ' I have a tourist here and she is dying and we need to decend'. Not willing to have a death on their hands the 'privates' ushered us through with speed, Liff lying with an oxygen cylinder looking fuzzy on the back seat. It worked and we
soon arrived at Paryang. In Paryang, we made a few vital repais to the Jeep - New oil ect and headed off to Saga. We found our way back to the cozy Bo-Tie the Clan Guest House and crashed.
Day 14 - Saga - Its time to Dry We woke and began the day long mission of drying ourselves, the Jeep and everything else in it. this would take all day. We took all our cloths to the laundry and found a shower shop. As liff mentioned in an earlier entry the shower shops are just that. A shop you walk into and buy a cubicle. This one came complete with TV and hair dryer -a bargin at 15 Yuan. Deciding a shave was a neccesity I wondered the streets looking for someone willing to shave my shabby looking beared. After been chased ou of 2 hair dressers I decided the Military base must have a barber. I wondered in much to the guards amusement (Im sure Im the only westerner that has ever attempted this) Using my sign language skills I eventually found the base barber who was even more amazed to see me. Needles to
say its by far the closest shave have Ive ever had.
Goodies dry we treated ourselves to several Lhasa Beers, at 3.8% its the strongest we could find.
Next stop Mount Everest......
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Jillian
non-member comment
Always knew there was an actress hidden somewhere deep inside Liffy! ........ what excellent writing Guy, I do hope you and Liffy write some kind of a book at the end of this!