[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 1 January 2016]
1 August 2015, Friday
The time has finally come for us to begin trekking! After spending one week in Tibet acclimatising to the altitude and spending the past three days sitting inside a van, I was so glad that we were finally going to cover some miles on foot. Mt. Kailash was the main reason why I wanted to come to Tibet. Technically, we do not trek on Mt. Kailash but rather, around it. It is a holy mountain and no one has ever scaled it before because it is not allowed.
A complete trek around Mt. Kailash is 52km and it is typically done in three days and two nights. Through Tenzin, we hired three porters to carry our backpacks so that we could trek with minimal load. RL and ST had entertained the thought of being garang and not hiring a porter, but thankfully, that thought was just a fleeting one as it would have been disastrous to do so, as we quickly found out.
A porter costs RMB 300 per day (about S$65), excluding tips, and this is money that you should not save. I repeat – it is essential to hire a porter to carry your load! Last night, the six of us had already packed our belongings into three backpacks, so that we only needed to hire three porters. While they did not specify any weight limit to the backpack, do bear in mind that the porters are also human, and it is a very tough job to trek with a heavy load. So try to keep the backpack under 15kg, or even less, if possible.
For breakfast, I decided to have tsampa porridge because it could help with altitude sickness. However, the tsampa porridge served here was not like the one in Lhasa. I had to manually add hot water to the tsampa powder mix it myself. The end product was a gooey paste and the tsampa was clumpy. It wasn’t very tasty so I added some sugar, but it still didn’t taste very good.
At 9:25am, our three porters set off ahead of us. That would be the last time we see them for the rest of the day, until we catch up with them at the guesthouse in the evening. After a final equipment check and a visit to the toilet, we departed at 9:30am, with Tenzin leading the way. The moment we stepped out of our guesthouse, the trek had begun and we would be on foot all the way till we return here on the third day. The first day of the trek would take us from Darchen (elevation 4,575m) to Dira Phug (elevation 5,050m), covering 18km.
As we walked through the town, we got to see what Darchen had to offer. As observed during the drive in yesterday, comparisons with Thamel in Kathmandu are unfounded. Darchen is very much a small town catered to the locals. There are numerous shops selling supplies that you’ll need for the trek, like walking sticks and ponchos, but there are no knock-off North Face jackets or Marmot backpacks here. Most of the shops sell prayer flags in abundance and essential supplies only. It is not touristy at all. We also saw several pool tables outside the shops. Seems like pool is a favourite pastime here.
As we exited the town, we came across a checkpoint, where we had to present our tickets to the officials before we could continue our trek. The entrance ticket costs RMB 150. As usual, Tenzin had obtained the tickets for us beforehand. Once that was done, we left Darchen behind and officially began our trek.
The first stretch was still quite manageable. The terrain was mostly flat with a few undulations. There were not many other tourists but we saw many locals walking past us in the opposite direction. We also saw a few locals prostrating and praying along the way. I cannot imagine the amount of devotion and effort required to complete the kora. For the most devout pilgrims, they believe that completing the kora around Mt. Kailash will bring good fortune and karma.
As Darchen became more distant, we climbed uphill and reached a place with numerous prayer flags. Tenzin had walked ahead of us and he was waiting here for us. He told us that this spot was officially the starting point of the kora for the pilgrims. So I’m a bit confused as to where the starting point actually is.
After taking a short break, we entered the wild and left civilisation behind. We walked into a valley with a river running alongside. Soon, we were dwarfed by mountains on either side of us, and had our first sight of the mythical Mt. Kailash on our right. We were trekking around Mt. Kailash in a clockwise direction, so it will always be on our right. We then entered a flat plain and we saw wild yaks feeding. We then continued walking for a long time before we reached our first resting point, where we ordered drinks and gulped them down greedily. It was going to be many more hours before lunch.
One thing to note is that there are no trees at all throughout the trek, and the only vegetation you will encounter are bushes and grass. So it is very important to have a hat and sunglasses because the sun can be unforgiving. Another important thing is to carry enough water and snacks with you along the trek because unlike Nepal, there are no guesthouses scattered along the route, and every guesthouse or tent is one of your landmark resting or sleeping place. You can walk for 10km or more without seeing anything that provides food or water.
One more point to note is that even though the sun can be blazing down on you for hours on end, the weather can also turn cold very quickly. If the sun gets obscured by clouds, you can really feel the cold set in, and you’ll need to put on a good windbreaker and gloves, and maybe even a beanie to keep your head warm. Also be prepared for rain. It rained for the two days that we trekked. In fact, for the first day, it rained hail, but the hail was quite minor so it wasn’t too bad. I had brought along a cheap $2 disposable poncho and it did the job sufficiently, protecting my camera from being wet.
Here are pictures from the trek to give you an idea of what to expect…
It seemed like eternity before we reached the lunch place at about 3pm. It was just a tent with tables and chairs inside. The only food option was instant bowl noodles. In our tired state, it tasted great, even though I’m not a fan of instant noodles. After a short rest, we continued our trek, and it was really hard getting going again after the break. My legs felt like lead and I was literally dragging my feet along. Every upslope became a real challenge and I had to stop and catch my breath after taking ten steps or so. I have great respect for the porters that we hired to carry our bags, which easily weighed around 13kg each. I think my day bag was only around 3kg and I was already struggling. I don’t know how the porters do it. They must be crazily fit.
After walking/struggling for another eternity, we finally reached our guesthouse at Dira Phug at 6:15pm. As I stumbled into the room, I had serious doubts about whether I would be able to continue the trek the next day. I felt thoroughly exhausted and my body didn’t feel like it could complete a second day of trekking, which would be longer and more challenging in terms of the altitude. I seriously contemplated giving up. But I remembered what I went through in Nepal and the importance of mental resilience, and that kept me going.
After dropping our bags, we quickly headed to the restaurant (aka dining hall) for dinner. I was starving and I cannot remember what I ate because I was so tired. After that, we went back to our rooms to get ready to sleep. The room was very basic, with only 5 beds inside. The light was not working yet – apparently it ran on a generator and it was not time for it to be turned on yet. The toilet was a common one and it was a row of five cubicles with individual doors, so it wasn’t too bad, maybe a rating of 3. There was no basin or tap, so we just picked an area behind our room to brush our teeth, bringing along our water bottles to complete the task.
The room was surprisingly well insulated, compared to the ones in Nepal. For sleeping, I wore a fleece and down jacket for the top, and a pair of Uniqlo Heat Tech pants and fleece pants for the bottom. I then tucked myself into my sleeping bag, which wasn’t that thick actually. But it kept me sufficiently warm for the night. There was also a thick blanket provided, so I felt quite comfy. However, my nose was blocked and I had difficulty sleeping, waking up every hour or so.
It rained quite heavily during the night and we could hear the loud splattering of raindrops on the zinc roof, and that kept me awake too. ZJ had to use the toilet in the middle of the night, so I accompanied her. I initially wanted to put on my windbreaker and waterproof pants, but later remembered that I had a poncho with me, so I used that.
The toilet was not sheltered from our room so we had to brave the rain to get there. It was cold but it wasn’t as freezing cold as Nepal. Oh, one essential item to bring along is a head torch, which is crucial for making a midnight trip to the toilet. After that, we went back to our room and continued to try to sleep. With the sound of splattering rain and my blocked nose keeping me awake, it took me a while before I finally managed to fall asleep.