Tibet is the LAND OF MYSTICISM. It is not just a place but the spiritual factory of the world where people find their lost selves; your inner consciousness comes alive here. Tibet is not tourism it’s where you cleanse your soul. It is the land of Kailash parvat and Mansarovar. It shares Mount Everest with Nepal, the highest peak of the world.
GUIDED KAILASH TOUR
My association with Tibet began with a scheduled Kailash & Mansarovar Tour with the Isha Foundation. The Shiva connection was too strong to be brushed off and the calling too loud to be muted. Thus, on an august day in the month of AUGUST 2016, I found myself at the Delhi airport with people who had registered themselves for this once in a lifetime journey to Kailash.
PREPARING FOR MT. KAILASH :
The Kailash Journey required a lot of preparation – not just physical but mental too. The difficulties in this journey are known to all. But with Sadhguru around, my mind did not let even a single difficulty lay its road in thin air. The physical aspect was being physically prepared for the trek for which I had trained professionally. The other aspect was preparation for the trek – purchase of trekking boots, rain proof jacket, gloves, hiking clothes, sun hat, flashlight, huge umbrella etc. All purchases were listed in advance by Isha foundation as “must carry” and were available at Decathlon; all under one roof.
LHASA – THE HIGHEST ALTITUDE CITY IN THE WORL
From Delhi, we took the flight to Kathmandu in Nepal. The halt was at Radisson where each and every pilgrim was blessed by Sadhguru. As a step towards the journey, we were asked to start Diamox 125 mg which would help to tackle the altitude problems. From Kathmandu, we reached Lhasa. The 2 day stay here was to make the pilgrims accustomed to the climate at this height of 12000 ft. Lhasa lies in the high altitude tibetan plateau. A tourist is bound to face breathing issues on reaching Lhasa within 12 hrs. Even simple tasks make one breathless. Getting used to the Lhasa climate is of paramount importance to the rest of the journey as being in altitudes is the only way now onwards. Remaining hydrated at all times in Tibet is the key to capturing the altitude sickness. Regular checkups by the doctor kept us going and those susceptible to motion sickness were treated accordingly.
LHASA TO LAKE MANSAROVAR – A DREAM JOURNEY
From Lhasa, started a bus journey of 3 days towards Shigatse for the penultimate stop to Lake Mansarovar. From Shigatse to Saga, our destination to Mansarovar neared. The bus journey took us along several beautiful lakes each outshining the other. The mesmerizing scenes made it look like heaven for us lesser mortals. By evening, we reached the divine lake. We would be staying at an ashram and soon we realised that electricity and running water facilities were not available any more.
In the Kailash – Mansarovar journey, reaching Mansarovar is of great essence. A dip in the divine waters cleanses your soul and prepares you for the upward journey to Kailash. A stay at Mansarovar meant getting to see divine happenings in the pure waters once the sky clock showed 3 am. The waters of Mansarovar stay calm always whether its windy or not. The neighbouring Rakshas tal is similar in nature.
Mt. Kailash is at an altitude of approximately 22000 ft and Mansarovar stands at 15600 ft. The two doctors in our group kept checking oxygen levels and blood pressure twice each day. We were about to begin our trek and individual bodily parameters were to be in check before this important final phase of an uphill trek of 13 kms began. Different people take different number of hours to cover this distance. The test of your physicality is this final trek and all preparations before the journey get tested now.
The mountain can be viewed while trekking and we can access only the north face of this heavenly abode of Lord Shiva. No one has ever climbed this mountain as its too sacred. Your foot cannot touch this holy place. DESTINATION REACHED. we chanted prayers and sat amazed watching the beauty of this unclimbed mountain.
The downward trek from here is easy but it takes equal number of days to reach where you took off from.