Ways of the World: Mt. Kailash - Manasarovar Sojourn

The trek from Shershong to Dirapuk starts off pretty mildly and the ascent is quite gradual. The initial parts of the trek is scarcely tiring, but soon enough, as the ascent becomes slightly steeper, one feels a shortness of breath due to the lack of oxygen. The trek is mildly strenuous and if one is relaxed in his approach, he would get to enjoy the wonderful scenery around caused by sheer barren rocks that have assumed various grotesque shapes due to erosion.

The terrain seems straight out of a hollywood movie set in the canyons of Arizona, and I recalled the movie of Gregory Peck and Omar Sharief - Mackenna's Gold. The rocks are clearly sedimentary stratified rocks and some geologically interesting features like cross-bedding seem to be present. The valley walls rise to towering heights and appear quite magnificent.

After about two or two and a half hours of trekking that is mildly strenuous, one arrives at a small tentative Tibetan settlement that consists of a few tents that have a fairly good system of seating arrangements and tables. A thirsty soul can get an international brand of drink that is also popular with trekkers in these regions - the 'Red Bull' and comes in sealed cans. This is supposed to be a caffeinated energy drink that peps you up quite a bit for the trek ahead. I found it quite expensive, but a generous mate Uday Kumar Naik purchased over ten or twelve cans for the thirsty trekkers of our group. I could not find words to thank his generosity.

(Left: Tea shop enroute at midway point)

We also refreshed ourselves with black salted tea that are served in these shops. The Tibetan women who man these shops are a little too sharp for comfort, and if one is not too careful, one ends up paying much more than what he seemed to have bargained for. These shops are roughly midway between Dirapuk and Shershong, and for a man of my physical fitness it would take a further two-hour trek to Dirapuk. The trek from Shershong to Dirapuk is about 9 km.

Along the way one gets a view of the western face of Mt. Kailash.

Right: Southern face of Kailash

We finally arrived at Dirapuk at around 6:00 p.m., and I have to say that towards the final portions of the trek I was frequently breathless. At the same time I add that I found the Gangotri - Bhojwasa trek of 14 km on the way to Gomukh which I had done last year to be much more tiring than this trek, as that path involved greater slopes and more ascents and descents than this one. By the end of the trek of 14 km last year at Bhojwasa, I was totally pooped out, whereas here, I did not feel as tired.

We were excited to see the sign of the hotel at Dirapuk at a considerable distance before the final destination.

The hotel was a quadrangular structure with an open fourth side and had a ground and first floors. We were allotted a room on the first floor on the western side. It offered us an excellent view of the North face of Mt. Kailash. The courtyard of the hotel was the resting place for the beasts of burden like yaks and ponies. On arrival at the hotel we were served refreshing cups of masala tea and salted crackers. The whole lot of us just collapsed on the camp chairs to rest and unwind. It was quite a while before the last trekkers came trooping in.

Left: Hotel at Dirapuk.

While the rooms were adequate - some of us were accommodated on a twin-sharing basis and others were allotted four to a room, the toilets were simply horrendous. They were in such a dismal state that one felt like puking as one entered them. Most people chose to use the open air, but many of us chose to remain constipated for two or three days.