She'll be coming round the mountain...

One of the main aims of our trip to Tibet was to do a kora (circumambulation) of the holy mountain Mt Kailash, located in western Tibet. One kora will cleanse you of the sins of this lifetime - excellent! The kora (53km long) also involves going over the Drolma La (pass) at 5630 metres - our highest elevation yet - so a well-deserved cleansing, I think.

We arrived in Darchen - the starting point, and a very unattractive little settlement - where I promptly threw up my lunch and all plans for starting the kora next day. Instead, I spent it in bed, resting after 3 more erk ups overnight and with what Smithy thought was a cracked rib but luckily turned into a torn cartilidge. Smithy did my laundry for me and we played yahtzee and drank tea.

Next day I woke up feeling hale and hearty so after breakfast we bundled into the Land Rover for a drive to meet the yakman - saving about 10kms off the start of the kora - a terrific start even if we missed the first prostration site at the sight of the south face of Kailash. Smithy and I set off up the valley, leaving the crew to load the yaks. We had a great time going at a steady pace and marvelling at the soaring red cliffs on either side of us. The first glimpse of the west face was marked by another prostration site - we saluted the face but didn't do full prostrations. A little while later Norri, our cook, caught up with us and we all walked together until reaching some permanent tent "teahouses". We entered one to have our lunch and spent 2 hours there waiting for the yaks to turn up! Finally they did - apparently the yakman wanted us to hire a fourth yak and when Tenzin (our guide) refused, he said there was too much gear and it took them 2 hours to negotiate the loads! Anyway, after another couple of hours of walking steadily uphill we reached our campsite, opposite the Driuzuk Gompa and with a stunning view of Kailash's north face.

Bed tea next morning was at 7.30 - which cos we were on Beijing time, meant it was still dark, being 5.30am local time. We were washed and breakfasted and on our way by 8.30 for what was going to be the hardest day of the kora - ascension of the 5630m Drolma La. Slow and steady was our motto - especially as the day started with a stiff two hour uphill slog! We were already over 5000m and the altitude was taking its toll on our breathing. I was taking 4 paces (a foot's length apart) for every in-and-out-breath. Smithy was doing it a little harder than that. Lots and lots of locals scampered past us -all with cheery "Tashi deleks" and broad grins. By 11.30 we had reached the base of the final climb to the Drolma La. Smithy decided to get her little tank of oxygen out and proceeded to slowly puff her way up. I went on ahead, slowly slowly, and reached the top an hour later elated with how easily I had done it. Once Smithy arrived at the top, we put up some prayer flags, took some photos and ate some celebratory jelly beans before heading down  the other side of the pass to our lunch spot. The climb up had really knocked the stuffing out of Smithy and the descent to lunch really knocked her about. She completely ran out of energy and what should have been a 2 hour hike to our campsite turned into a 6 hour marathon. Part of the problem was that our yakman, after waiting at the bottom of the pass for 2 hours, decided to up and leave for the prearranged campsite when we hadn't shown up! If he had waited, a new campsite could have been organised to cater to poor Smithy's knackeredness.

So, a long long hike down the valley. Tenzin went on ahead to find the campsite and said he would send someone back with a thermos of tea, but it seemed like hours before he reappeared with the sherpa, Zangmo. We were only 30 minutes from the campsite by this stage and finally staggered in 11 hours and 55 minutes after leaving that morning! Barely able to eat the specially requested hot chips, we fell into our sleeping bags on the promise of a sleepin to 9.30 the next morning. As we got into our tent, we could see lights bobbing on the ridge behind us - people were still coming down the valley at 9pm, so they were having long days too!

Woke up on the third and final day of the kora to find it snowing! We donned our wet weather gear and with Tenzin in the lead, started off down the valley for our rendezvous with the Land Rover and supply truck which would whisk us away to our campsite beside the holy Lake Manasarovar. For the next three and half hours, we had a delightful hike through the snow, then as the weather cleared, we found ourselves walking above a stunning river gorge with cliffs of purple rock. It was all topped off by a magnificent eagle gliding past us down the gorge!

The trucks were such a welcome sight and we walked in with huge grins on our faces. We had done it! Completed a kora of the sacred mountain. I don't know about Smithy, but I was bubbling with joy at the sense of achievement. We scoffed a delicious lunch then jumped into the Land Rover to head for a two day camp beside the massive Lake Manasarovar where we lounged around eating tsampa (roasted ground barley mixed with tea - very tasty), played yahtzee, thought about doing some laundry and watched the clouds enveloping Mt Kailash and the huge Gurla Mandhata across the lake.

So, our sins have been cleansed twice over now since tradition has it that everyone who sets eyes on the Jowo Buddha at the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa has their sins purified - we needn't have done the kora at all! But we are so glad we did. You don't have to be a devout Buddhist to feel the aura about Mt Kailash, Kangri Rinpoche, the Nine-Stacked Swastika Mountain - to give it all its names - it's a special mountain and we feel privileged to have been able to do a pilgrimage around it.