Download Kailash Kora Itinerary - Transformational Tours

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2016 Ubiquity Kailash Kora
Day by Day Itinerary
Kailash from Silung Gompa
Day 1
Friday 5 August
arrive Kathmandu
You will be met at Kathmandu airport on arrival and brought to our hotel
close to Bodhanath stupa, the most sacred Tibetan buddhist site outside of
Tibet and where many Tibetans have made their home in exile. The stupa is a
veritable powerhouse of blessings and we will be irradiated by its grace.
As many of you will have travelled a long way to get to Nepal we will use today as an arrival day for you to relax saving the formal gatherings for the following day. However if you are feeling fit and ready for gentle exploration,
Bodhanath stupa is right beside our hotel and ideal for a gentle stroll to imbibe the incense and mantra.
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Day 2
Saturday 6 August
Kathmandu Temples & Sightseeing
Nepal is located on the Southern slopes of the himalayas, the meeting point
and cultural synthesis of the stark open plains of the Tibetan plateau and the
steamy populated Indian subcontinent. Despite the meeting of two cultures
Nepal and it’s capital Kathmandu bare a greater similarity to Indian culture,
with approximately 82% of the countries population identifying themselves as
Hindu and around 9% as Buddhist. This is evident through the architecture
and the proliferation of colour from Nepali women's clothing to the spices festooning market stalls. It is with Kathmandu’s ancient Indic roots in mind, that
we dedicate our first day to honouring the sacred places of the Hindu ancestors.
After a gentle day’s touring we will return to our hotel with time to relax before a 5pm orientation meeting followed by a traditional Nepali dinner with
live traditional Nepali music.
Buddha eyes, atop Swayambhanath stupa
Day 3
Sunday 7 August
Tibetan Buddhism
Today we immerse ourselves in the culture of the high Tibetan plateau and
the great tradition of Tibetan Buddhism (Vajrayana Buddhism). Following
breakfast, we will visit the ancient stupa of Swayambhunath, the monkey
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temple. The mound that the stupa now finds itself on rose spontaneously
from what was an enormous lake filling the Kathmandu Valley. The stupa and
small temple now sit atop this mound, giving incredible views across Kathmandu. From the Monkey Temple we will go for an audience with a Lama and
blessing ceremony for a safe and auspicious journey to Tibet. And in the afternoon we will gather with the throng of Tibetans circumambulating the
Bodhanath Stupa, making prayers as we walk for loved ones at home and the
benefit of all sentient beings. Bodhanath Stupa is the largest single stupa in
the world and despite being a little younger than Swayambhanath it is the
most revered site for Tibetan Buddhists in Nepal. It is considered the cause
for Buddhas coming to Tibet; as fable has it on completion of the stupa, the
builders prayed for the dharma to flourish in the North and were reborn as
the great Tibetan Dharma King Tritsong Detsen; Shantarakshita, the first
Buddhist teacher to come to Tibet; and the third Padmasambhava, who would
become the great Guru of Tibet and founder of the Vajrayana tradition.
After a day full of sacredness we will return to our hotel for an early night in
preparation for our flight up onto the Tibetan plateau tomorrow morning.
Day 4
Monday 8 August
fly to Lhasa, Tibet
We rise early for our flight, which on a clear day will afford us inspiring and
dramatic views of the high himalayas and a view of Everest’s peak. The flight
is just 1.5 hours but in that time we will be transported to a different world
not to mention getting off the plane at and elevation of 3600 metres (2.25
miles) above sea level. Due to the change in altitude (2200 metres higher
than Kathmandu) we will take our first day very easy to aid our bodies in adjusting to the lower oxygen levels. Complete rest and a gentle few days will
pay dividends later in the trip; rest, food and plenty of water is the plan.
Day 5
Tuesday 9 August
Jokhang and Sera Monastery
Our first day touring is a gentle one but one in which we will visit the holy of
holies for Tibetans. The Jokhang is the central temple of Lhasa, sitting in the
centre of the mandala of Lhasa, the holy city. It is the home of the Jowo Rin-
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poche, a pure gold statue, one of two, crafted by divine hands during the
time of the Buddha. The statue is believed to carry the blessing of the Buddha
and came to Tibet with the Chinese Princess Wencheng on marrying the Tibetan King Tritsong Detsen. Before departing China for ”those barbarian
lands” the princess begged her father to bring the statue with her. The Emperor in an act of love for his daughter parted with his most precious icon and
it is Princess Wencheng and the Jowo Rinpoche that Tibetans credit with
bringing Buddhism to their land. Tritsong Detsen became a Buddhist and
many of his countrymen followed suit.
Lhasa’s holy of holies; the Jokhang
In the afternoon we visit Sera Monastery, one of the three great Gelug
Monasteries of Lhasa. If we are lucky we will be able to witness the monks
during their lively afternoon debating.
Monks debating at Sera
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Day 6
Wednesday 10 August
Nalendra Monastery
Most visitors to Lhasa stay within the confines of the city but we will visit the
Nalendra Valley, about 1.5 hours drive into the country. Nalendra is named after the great Nalanda Buddhist Monastery in India Started by the Buddha’s
direct students, Nalanda became a thriving sacred university and perhaps one
of the highest seats of learning this planet has seen. It was the great teachers
of Nalanda that brought the Buddhadharma to the world. Nalendra was the
seat of the the Sakya master His Eminence Chogye Trichen Rinpoche. The
monastery, is set in beautiful countryside, and will allow us to see a functioning monastery.
We will return to Lhasa and in the evening for a Tibetan cultural night with
traditional music, food and dancing.
The Potala
Day 7
Thursday 11 August
Drepung, Potala and Norbulingka
In the morning we visit Drepung Monastery, the second largest of Lhasa’s
three great monasteries. Attached to Drepung is Nechung Monastery; the
seat of Tibet’s great oracle. We then visit the Potala; the parliament / palace /
monastery of old Tibet and seat of the Dalai Lama’s. The Potala, looking more
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like an ocean liner than a building sits atop a hill in the middle of Lhasa, majestically looking over the city. The Potala is full of incredible relics, statues
and sacred objects. After lunch we go to the Norbulingka, the Summer Palace
of the Dalai Lama, set in (at least for Tibetan standards) parklike grounds.
Early to bed in preparation for our first day on the road en route to Kailash.
Yamdrok lake & Gyantse Tantric Stupa
Day 8
Friday 12 August
Gyantse via Yamdrok Lake
We drive due West and being to witness the majestic scenario of the Tibetan
Plateau, wide open spaces and magnificent mountains. We will most likely see
our first Yak, a majestic being; half bison, half horse. And then on to Gyantse,
a small town with a big history. Not only is Gyantse home to an incredible
tantric stupa created by Newari artisans from Nepal but it is the scene of a
brief battle between a makeshift Tibetan militia and the British Army led by
Francis Younghusband in 1904.
Day 9
Saturday 13 August
Shigatse and Tashilhunpho
It is a short drive from Gyantse to Shigatse, the second largest city in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). Shigatse is built around Tashilhunpho
Monastery, the seat of the Panchen Lama’s, the second most powerful religious leader in Tibet before the Chinese invasion. It is an impressive
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monastery that houses a giant statue of Maitreya Buddha, the future Buddha,
which remained untouched during the cultural revolution despite most of the
monastery being destroyed, thankfully it is now almost fully restored.
The great seated Maitreya statue at Tashilhunpo Monastery
Day 10
Sunday 14 August
drive to Saga
From Shigatse to West Tibet are only small border towns and tiny villages, the
tarmac road from Lhasa to Western Tibet was completed very recently, before
this the journey took 5 days driving over very rough roads in 4WD vehicles,
now it takes just 2 days in comfortable small buses. Yet the stark open and
inspiringly beautiful plains of this high altitude desert remain the same, if it
were not for the airy feeling of floating in the heavens one would forget that
the plain is 2 and 1/2 miles above the sea, scattered with nomads leading
herds of yaks to fresh pasture.
Saga itself is a terrible town, it serves no purpose other than a border post
and a place to stay before continuing the journey West to the jewel that is
Kailash.
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Day 11
Monday 15 August
drive to Darchen
Today is another full day in the saddle, but never a dull moment as one is
mesmerised by the incredible scenario and the feeling of imminent blessings
that follow from the earth, trodden in by the countless prayers of the nomads.
And then towards the end of the day we first spot the holy Lake Manasarovar
and then Kailash, the Guru himself, jutting up from the earth and out from the
cloak of mountains that surround him. We will stop and pay homage, offering
kayaks and prayer flags before proceeding to Darchen, the small town at the
foot of Kailash named in honour of the darshan (sacred blessings) the mountain offers forth.
When I first travelled to Western Tibet in 2001 the accommodation was very
very basic (your garden shed would have been 3 star) now it is reasonably
comfortable but we will still chose the simple family run places.
Kailash Kora
Kora is the Tibetan word for sacred circumambulation; Tibetans walk around
sacred places and buildings in a clockwise direction (the direction the universe
spirals), in order to charge the site with energy and receive a blessing themselves. A kora of Kailash is the most sacred of them all, it is an arduous high
altitude trek, covering 53 kilometres (34 miles) through a pass 5,800 metres
above sea level, 500 metres higher than Everest Base Camp. Tibetans walk it
in a day and most westerners in 3, we will take 5 to allow luxuriant time to
imbibe the spirit of the mountain and for sacred practice. But more than physical exertion, a kora of Kailash draws on ones spiritual resources as the great
blessing machine that is the mountain slices through the obscurations and defilements in the mind-stream of sincere pilgrims, this process is the bigger initiation, much more so than the mere physical exertion. I have seen a 65 year
old five foot retired nurse from Ireland almost skip around the mountain
whilst a 25 year old strapping mountain man was left weeping in the rocks
unable to continue; it is the internal experience that is the most profound and
what we are there for. And weeping in the rocks unable to continue is not a
loss, it is the victory of soul over flesh, it is each persons own pilgrimage, own
awakening, it is the unique and individual journey of transformation.
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With this in mind we have designed this pilgrimage so that it is accessible for
people who are willing of heart but are no longer or have never been a mountain goat. Everyone will be able to walk to the North Face, where the great
purple crystal that is Kailash becomes unsheathed from the cloak of the inner
mountain circle and shines upon the willing pilgrims with all His radiance. We
will take two days instead of the usual one to walk there and then spend a
whole day in practice and reflection at this site. Then people can decide if
they are ready to go through the Dolma La Pass and complete the kora or return to Darshan and continue their mediation at the foot of the mountain.
Axis mundi, on the first day of the Kailash kora
Day 12
Tuesday 16 August
begin kora
After a leisurely start we will prepare our kit for the kora, then visit Silung
Gompa on the inner kora close to Kailash, for incredible close up views and a
final blessing before we walk. After a light lunch we start, walking half way to
the North Face stopping near Chukka Gompa to spend the night. Whilst on
the kora we will stay in quaint tea houses set up by local Tibetans to aid pilgrims, our gear will be carried by a train of yaks, with each pilgrim carrying
just a light day pack.
We will walk about 11km (6miles) and it will take about 5 hours with frequent
stops at sacred places along the route.
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Day 13
Wednesday 17 August
walk to North Face
Today we start trekking early, it will be about 12 kilometres today, not much
further but a little steeper and a little higher with the trail taking us to the
North Face of Kailash where we will stay for 2 nights, sleeping at an altitude
of 4800m (3 miles) above sea level, for most people this will be the highest
sleep of their life, expect auspicious dreams.
We will stay close to Dirapuk Gompa, a small monastery and one of the highest permanently inhabited places in the world, a few monks brave being
snowed in through winter each year.
Yak train around kora
Day 14
Thursday 18 August
FULL MOON at North Face
We have timed our journey to be at the North Face of Kailash for the August
Full Moon, this day will be dedicated to prayer and sacred practice and a little
rest, in preparation for the big day through the pass. There will be the opportunity to walk through a gap in the inner vale of mountains and even touch
Gang Rinpoche (snow jewel, the Tibetan’s affectionate name for Kailash,
named for the constant smattering of snow across its peak despite being below the summer snow line).
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Dolma La Pass
Day 15
Friday 19 August
Through the Pass / Return to Darchen
For the group continuing on the kora and through the pass it will be a very
early start to enable us to complete the 17 kilometre walk before the sun
goes down and to be through the pass before the winds gets up. We will walk
almost a kilometre straight up into the sky for what will at times feel like a
stairway to heaven, to the sacred Dolma La Pass, named after the beloved
Goddess Tara, who loves all sentient beings as a mother does. She will certainly bless us and Tibetan’s consider crossing through this path to be a rebirth with the karma accumulated in this life dismissed. We will continue down
the other side, which is even steeper, paying attention to remain sure footed
despite the euphoria, for several kilometres until we reach the valley with
flowing mountain stream.
For the pilgrims returning to Darshan it will be slow meander back down form
the North place, and a short bus ride for the last few kilometres back to rest
at Darchen.
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Day 16
Saturday 20 August
complete kora / Mentsalkhang
Today is an easy down hill walk albeit still approximately 13 kilometres, winding through the valley back to Darshan, stopping at Zutulpuk Gompa on the
way; the site of a famous spiritual contest between the Tibetan saint and
favourite son Milarepa and a Bonpo adept. Milarepa won and Buddhism consigned the Bon tradition to second place in the Tibetan psyche; Bon is a
shamanistic tradition, Bonpos (Bon pracittioners) used to walk around Kailash
anti-clockwise.
On arrival to Darchen we will meet with the rest of the group who will have
spent the day at the Mentsalkhang (small Tibetan Medicine Hospital on the
edge of Darchen, serving pilgrims).
Day 17
Sunday 21 August
rest day at Manasarovar
Kailash is the great Shiva lungum of the planet and Lake Manasarovar is the
great Yoni, corresponding female archetype. With the waters that create
Manasarovar lake pouring off Kailash from the heavens. Manasarovar is a
short drive from Darchen and is one of the worlds highest lakes. Made up of
crystalline blue water, Manasarovar sits in the most majestic abode scattered
with Gompas like jewels around tiara. Today we will rest beside Chu Gompa,
named for the hot mineral springs we will bathe in to soothe our aching muscles and replenish the body.
Chu Gompa & Manasarovar
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Day 18
Monday 22 August
tour Lake Manasarovar
The circumference of Manasarovar is approximately 105 kilometres with
sandy beach like shores. Today we pay homage to this great lake, with a kora
driven in our bus stopping at several Gompas.
Day 19
Tuesday 23 August
drive to Saga
We begin the return journey with a full heart and still many jewels to savour
along the road home.
Day 20
Wednesday 24 August
drive to Tingri
Tingri is a small Tibetan town close to Qomolungma (Everest) on the Tibetan,
Northern side of the himalayas. Our drive to Tingri will take us through some
of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, with views across the vast himalayan mountain chain, appearing like a skeleton strewn across the horizon.
Rongbuk Monastery with Qomolungma behind
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Day 21
Thursday 25 August
Rongbuk and Qomolungma, North Face
From Tingri we visit Rongbuk, although a small monastery it was considered
one of the 7 most significant seats in old Tibet, at 4,980 metres it is the highest fully fledged monastery. The book Tintin in Tibet features a monastery inspired by Rongbuk. From here we will travel closer to Qomolungma for close
up views of the mountain, which looks very different from the Northern side.
Day 22
Friday 26 August
drive to Kathmandu via Milarepa’s cave
We take the plunge down from the high altitude plateau and starkness of Tibet towards the lush verdant humidity of Kathmandu. The contrast in colours
and culture is enlivening. En route we will visit a cave very significant in the
story of Tibetan history’s beloved son Milarepa.
Returning to our hotel alongside Bodhanath stupa, your new heart home
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Day 23
Saturday 27 August
free day and celebration
The day is set aside for rest and shopping, journalling and shared stories told
to friends whilst sipping tea overlooking Bodhanath stupa. And in the evening
we will have a celebration banquet.
Day 24
Sunday 28 August
homeward
It’s time to return home and scatter the multitude of blessings to the four directions. I always say there is your life before Kailash and your life after; time
to begin the latter.
NOTE:
The Friendship Highway, the road connecting Nepal and Tibet, linking Lhasa
and Kathmandu, was severely damaged in the April 2015 earthquake. If it has
not been reopened by the time we visit Tibet, instead of driving back to
Kathmandu we will instead return to Lhasa and fly.
Created by Jeremy Ball, August 2015
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