From Manasarovar, a Glimpse of Kailash

From Lake Manasarovar: A glimpse of Kailash, Day 11 and 12
Approximate Elevation: 4,560 m (~ 15,000 ft)

Reaching Manasarovar was only the first stage of our tirth yatra (pilgrimage). The plan was to rest for a couple of days in Manasarovar, and then perform a parikrama (to go around) of Mount Kailash. Tibetans also consider Kailash holy, and they too perform the equivalent of the parikrama, called the cora. But the parikrama was much more difficult and it would take three days to hike the 42 kms around the mountain passes. And during the second day, our hike would take us upto the high point of 19,200 ft. That is approximately a third of the oxygen available at sea level!

I’ll describe the actual parikrama in a later post, but first let me wrap up the Manasarovar pics.

For a long night we remained couped up in our tents, while the storm passed overhead. The next day was stunningly beautiful giving us all a chance to rest and enjoy the lake. Around mid-morning the clouds cleared and we got our first glimpse of Kailash in the distance. Kinda resembles the linga and yoni we see in a Shiva temple. The horizontal striations resemble the horizontal marks Shiva devotees place on their foreheads. The deep gully on the mountain face is representative of Shiva’s vertically placed third eye.

In the evening we walked along the lake and captured this different pic of Gurla Mandatha on the South bank of Lake Manasarovar.

After the bleak terrain for most of our journey across the Tibetan Plateau, it was wonderful to finally see water birds on the lake. This is apparently a favorite stopover for migratory birds before they cross the Himalayas.

Lake Manasarovar, another storm approaches.

Under a picturesque evening sky, our campsite sits on the banks of the Manasarovar! The largest are our dining and kitchen tents.

Click link below for the next post on the Kailash Manasarovar Travelogue:
Kailash Parikrama: A Trek Around Kailash
To start at the beginning of the Kaliash Manasarovar Travelogue, click link below:
Rendevous with Sagarmatha (Everest)