The First Day of Mt. Kailash Kora

Well, as most of explorers know, we usually spend 3 days trekking around Mt. Kailash in Ngari during Tibet tour. Do you know why? As a matter of fact, the circle we are trekking is called the outer circle of Mt. Kailash, and we can drop all the sins we have in our lifetime if we trek once. Anyway, this is the starting point of our Mt. Kailash kora.

The First Day of Mt. Kailash Kora

Darchen to Drirapuk Monastery

It is better to set up at the sunrise time from Darchen and clockwise walk on the path toward to the west, and sooner you will have a chance to appreciate the amazing scenery of Namnany Peak. You will see Namnany Peak is gradually painted in red by the morning glow along the way. It is breathtaking. And then we will climb over a hill and see a small Manidui (Tibetan Sacrificial Altar – Manidui). Now you may overlook the silhouette of Mt. Kailash from the distance. Next we will go through a Buddha Tower after about 1 hour down walking. It is said that sinful person is not accepted to go through it smoothly. The Buddha Tower is one of the remarkable buildings here and it is 4750 meters high. A prayer flag square is available in front of the Buddha Tower. There is huge pillar with the prayer flags all round on the square and the prayer flags will be changed on a great religious ceremony on April 15th of Tibetan calendar every year. It is the most popular festival of Mt. Kailash and it is called "the Gathering Day of Ngari".

Afterwards we will enter the wide valley area and we can overlook the Qugu Monastery in the hill across from Laqu River. It is about 6 kilometers far from Buddha Tower. Qugu Monastery was established in AD 13th Century. You have to cross the river and climb over the mountain if you prefer to visit it. It takes about half an hour. And our circumambulation will be divided into two routes toward to Drirapuk Monastery and finally gather in Drirapuk Monastery.

There are few simple and crude guesthouses around Drirapuk Monastery and they cost about 150-200 per bed. The accommodation facilities are poor and the healthy condition is rough, and that is why we usually kindly suggest our guests to bring their personal sleepings with them during Tibet tour. Drirapuk Monastery is the best place to photography Drirapuk Monastery during Mt. Kailash tour.