Notes for Making for Making Kora around Mt. Kailash

Noted as the world famous Holy Mountain, making kora around Mt. Kailash has been the best choice for the devout pilgrims willing to show their respect to their religion. Mt. Kailash not only enjoys important status among the Buddhism followers, but also enjoys high reputation among the followers of Hinduism and Bon. For the Buddhists, the year of horse is the best year to make kora around Mt. Kailash. 2014 is the year of horse according to the Tibetan calendar. It is said that pilgrims can accumulate much more merits and virtues if you make kora around Mt. Kailash in the year of horse compare to the other years.

The top of Mt. Kailash is covered with thick snow all year around. There are unusual rays of light under the sunshine. Except for the devout pilgrims, a large number of tourists are attracted by the magnificent view at Mt. Kailash every year. There are totally 5 monasteries located around Mt. Kailash. Nianri Monastery is the first one on the circumambulation and pilgrims could take a rest here. Gyangzha Monastery and Sailong Monastery were located in the inner circumambulation around Mt. Kailash. There are some interesting legend and stories about these ancient monasteries. The sculpture, statues, murals and some other historical relics are of great significance in the local religion culture.

It takes 2-3 days to complete the outer circumambulation around Mt. Kailash by trekking. And it takes 15-20 days to complete one circle by body-length prostration. Mostly, the pilgrims from different corners of the world would rent a vehicle to Darchen and take the vehicle back after making kora around Mt. Kailash. Some pilgrims and tourists would like to rent a yak to help them to carry the food and other necessities so as to relieve their physical burden. Actually, it is a big challenge to do trekking in such a severe environment (high altitude and low oxygen content).

Tourists and pilgrims planning to make kora around Mt. Kailash should make a good preparation in advance. The high altitude there requires tourists to take a good acclimation in Lhasa and Shigatse before heading here. Besides, the temperature difference at Mt. Kailash is even larger than Lhasa. The temperature could reach to 25 Celsius in the day and drop to -5 Celsius in the night. Therefore, it is necessary to bring enough warm clothes to cope with the low temperature in the night.

Generally, it takes about 3 days to make kora around Mt. Kailash for one circle. Starts from Darchen, the pilgrims need to trek for nearly 3 days and finally back to Darchen. The Chugu Monastery, Drerophu Monastery and Zundrophu Monastery around Mt. Kailash could provide simple accommodation for tourists and pilgrims.

The monasteries around Mt. Kailsh could only provide simple food for visitors and pilgrims. Actually, it is necessary to take some hot food with high calorie in consideration of the challenging environment. Tourists could employ a cook to trek with you. The hot food will be available throughout the journey.