Kailash 2010 Day 11 : Going back to Chiu Gompa, Monday, July 05, 2010

Today was the third and last day of the trek around Kailash. This is the day of most contentment in the whole fifteen-day trip, if the trek has gone well. We had immersed ourselves in the Manas Sarovar lake, we had seen all the faces of Kailash, and today the cars were 8 km away, and an hour's drive beyond was Chiu Gompa with the panoramic views of the lake and the mountains.

Relatively tame third day of the trek around Kailash

Swami Jaganmitra (at right in the picture) sang bhajans, and at some point my hatted pony driver and others tried to join along. Swamiji started a sing-along, he would sing a line that the crowd would repeat.

We went on and on with Jai Ram Jai Ram Jai Jai Ram, and the like. The Tibetans thoroughly enjoyed the singing, and all this was interspersed with the universal chant - "Aum Namah Shivaaya".


Spectacular scenery once again as my sinner horsie took me through some hair-raising bends in the mountains. Merciful death if the pony slipped and my head hits a rock with the right force at the right angle, far worse and far more probable to break multiple bones, but ponies don't slip as a rule, they just like to walk on the edge.

Ponies walk along the edge of a steep slope

Buddhist shrines along the way

On the way were Buddhist shrines with each rock inscribed with mantras.


Finally, we could see the lake Manas Sarovar in the far distance.


We had to walk the last steep stretch up and down the mountains. The horses walked alongside, relieved to be walking without riders, see beautiful picture of a pony below from Jayanthi's collection. The end of the Kailash parikrama was near now. At the end, we would find our cars to take us to Chiu Gompa.

Relieved pony walking alongside travelers on steep slopes

Travelers getting off the ponies for the steep climb

Beautiful pony driver couple, happy under tough circumstances

Ushaji and I had discussed what we wanted to give our porters. Without Pema, this trek would have been extremely challenging for me. He was modest and humble for the immense service he had provided.

My pony driver looked very thrilled with the tip he received. All these three days, he has been walking with his lady love, leading my pony and Ushaji's pony.

Every once in a while, they would get all lovey-dovey, come close and hold hands, causing Ushaji's and my horse to crash into one another. After a couple of collisions on narrow ledges, Ushaji had shouted to get their attention and hand-motioned to the young lovers to separate before their love took our lives. They did, and Ushaji and I were able to complete our last stretch of horse-riding without further collision.

When we finally got off to get into cars, my pony driver willingly posed for a picture with his girlfriend, even asking her to remove her face mask - beautiful couple, happy in hardship.

Swamiji trying to take a group picture

Group picture

People danced to celebrate the successful end of the trip. Swamiji was sitting on top of a parked truck trying to get the whole group in one picture. For me, the thrill of the parikrama is over, I need to understand next steps to get excited. I slinked back to my car after the group picture. The group pictures above are from Yoganand's collection.

Golden ducks at Manas Sarovar

Back at Chiu Gompa, we went for the second dip in Manas Sarovar. On the way we saw some golden ducks on the banks of the lake, and the driver took advantage of our interest to say this is how far he would go. Swarn told him there would be no payment if he did not take us till the original place where we had taken a dip three days ago - we had negotiated a payment of 100 yuan to this car driver for this trip. After a little bit of argument with the driver going "stop" and Swarn going "no pay", finally he took the car to the spot Swarn wanted him to go to.

Monastery on top of the hill, directly above our car

Amazingly beautiful lake Manas Sarovar

There were no changing tents, and we were parked at the foot of the vertical face of a mountain. We changed in the car. There was a monastery on top of the mountain, seen in picture above. Hopefully the monks kept the faith and looked away.

It was still afternoon, much earlier in the day than three days ago when we had arrived at the lake. The water was warm in spots.

My second set of three immersions in a natural body of water - I think I had begun to enjoy this.

My room mates -  Seema, Swarn and Pratibha

Back at the guesthouse, the Sherpas had made tea and soup and were now unloading duffel bags from the truck. My duffel bag had come off at the seams - three days of travel ahead for Kathmandu across the border!!! Swarn said I could have a gunny sack, there were no extra duffel bags. This is a recommendation to the travel agency : mine was not the first or last duffel bag to come apart on its first trip. Knowing fully well the quality of the bags provided and the nature of the terrain and the trek, it is essential to carry a few additional duffel bags for the convenience of the travelers.

As I emptied the contents of my duffel bag to fill up the bed, I realized it was more convenient to spread things on Swarn's bed next to mine, while I rested on my bed. Swarn came into the room, took one look at the contents of her bed, and offered me her duffel bag - she could put her things into a gunny sack - an offer I gratefully accepted. A new duffel bag from Day 11.

Little children ran around with plastic bags asking for candy - I gave them some Toblerones. It is refreshing to see candy being eaten. Such healthy habits are followed in our tiny household of three in Dallas, that all desserts stay untouched if guests do not eat them. I signaled to the children to smile so I could take a picture. Only one child understood, the other two blindly copied my gesture. :)

Awfully cute Tibetan kids smiling for a picture, carrying little plastic bags to collect candy from the travelers

The immersion in the lake had left me cold and hungry. There was a little store in the guesthouse that sold noodle packs and poured hot water into whatever pack you purchased. With each noodle pack were three packets - sauce, salt/pepper/spices, pieces of meat and vegetables. Not sure what the sauce contained and certainly not wanting to eat meat, all of us threw away the two packets and sprinkled the spice packet over the noodles and asked for hot water. It tasted great, I can only hope this was truly a vegetarian meal.

Tomorrow, the long drive to Paryang starting at 3 am to avoid the scheduled road-blocks for construction activity.


Aum Namaha Shivaaya!!

Kailash 2010 Day 8 : Chiu Gompa to Darchen, Friday July 02, 2010

The Swamijis perform the morning yagna facing Kailash, Chiu Gompa

The swamijis performed a yajna - worship ritual, at 9 in the morning, facing Kailash completely hidden by a cloud cover. The swayambhu shivalinga that Swamiji had picked from Manas Sarovar for me, was placed among the many objects of worship. Having always seen sanyasis - those who have renounced the world, in the middle of my world, there was always a question - why would anyone renounce the world???

The chanting in Sanskrit, the early morning air, the clear waters of Manas, the constant look-out for Kailash that is currently under a cloud cover, the spiritual strength that made them natural leaders - all worldly worries and concerns gone, I had this epiphany on why people decide on sanyas - renunciation. It was a cold morning, and my right hand clutching the camcorder in mid-air for an hour, was frozen by the time the yajna ended.

I  had to get the camera out of my stiff frozen right hand with my left hand at the end of the morning yagna, Chiu Gompa

Kailash emerging from behind the cloud cover after the yajna

An hour after the yajna was completed, the cloud cover over Kailash started lifting. The first view of Kailash sent a wave of joy and excitement among the people. It was a good sign that the weather was good and we had such a clear view of the sacred mountain. Every year, many people come from all around the world on a once-in-a-lifetime trip and return without Kailash darshan, - a clear glimpse of Kailash.


After lunch, we left for Darchen, an hour away. There was a huge hall with numerous beds where all the men would stay. And there was a building that had a set of rooms with five beds each, where all the women would stay. The room had electricity, the lights worked but the electric plugs had no juice so I could not charge my camera equipment. The restroom was an enclosed set of two holes in the ground at the outer edge of the guesthouse compound. The place stank so much that people were discussing whether they should be scouting for an open place outside the compound - which is frankly not an option for me.

Swarn came in to the rooms to announce that the sky was clear, so we needed to leave right away to go see Ashtapada - the south face of Kailash.

Crossing the river bed to reach Ashtapada

After a hair-raising drive on narrow unpaved tracks on steep slopes and finally crossing the river where the water is about a foot deep, we were at Ashtapada twenty minutes later. Coming out of the car after this scary drive, I saw Swamiji sitting by a slope taking pictures. I asked him where Kailash was, and he pointed behind me. As I turned, the awe-inspiring south face of Kailash was there in all its magnificence, and it is fitting that I needed Swamiji to point it out to me. I had not realized I would see the mountain so clearly. The distance to Kailash was still significant but the clarity of vision created the impression that it was right in front of us. And then I noticed the presence of Kal Bhairav. :)

Stunning view of Ashtapada, check out the OM in front and the trinetra on the left

The presence of Kal Bhairav at Ashtapada

In the middle of the picture of Ashtapada above, at the very left, we could see Trinetra, the three eyes of Shiva - the two physical eyes and the third vertical inward eye, shown below.

Trinetra, the two eyes and the invward contemplative eye of Shiva, on the south-west face of Kailash

In front of the south face of Kailash, is the Nandi mountain seen to the right in the picture below.

Kailash and Nandi

Swamiji in front of Ashtapada

KV Rao at Ashtapada

Gopikrishna-ji at Ashtapada

Rajeev at Ashtapada

If I had to plan a trip, I would spend a few days at Darchen to visit Ashtapada every day.

There were marmots on the slopes, just like I had seen last year on the trek to Pike's Peak, Colorado. They would stand up in their burrows and peep out. They are playful creatures, making for very interesting pictures.

Yellow marmots at Ashtapada

Once back at Darchen, with no juice in the electric plugs in the room, Swarn helped me find the place to charge the camera and the camcorder. The office did not have a spare plug point, but there was a small house near the gate, possibly for the security person. As I peeped inside, there were many Tibetan men sitting in the living room watching television. I showed my chargers and one of them helpfully plugged them in. The furniture, the house, the tea set were all beautifully painted. I was very tempted to run back and get my camera to take some pictures, but then I decided not to. I was encroaching on their home already.

I was not sure if I could leave and come back in an hour, we were communicating with sign language and some broken English. The men offered tea that they were drinking, they appeared to be offering their own cups, but then a shy, pretty lady came out of the kitchen, pulled out a fresh tea cup and offered me the salty Tibetan tea that is made with yak butter. I sipped the warm liquid which was surprisingly very palatable. We made conversation about where I lived and whether I would use a pony or not for the trek around Kailash. They were contemptuous about using a pony, and told me through sign language that the circum-ambulation of Kailash should be done on foot. Great idea, explain that to my fat wobbly legs. They had great things to say about America - "great country", "good place". I had many more helpings of the Tibetan tea while I waited for the batteries to charge and watched Chinese shows on television with them. At the end, they refused to take any money, so I went back to my room and brought them some cookies and candies from the good place, the great country America.

All doubts, worries, fears are now behind me, and there is an excitement for tomorrow - the first day of the trek around Kailash.


Aum Namah Shivaaya!!

Kailash 2010 Day 7 : Paryang to Chiu Gompa on Manas Sarovar, Thursday July 01 2010

The road from Paryang was unbelievably dusty.

The beautiful scenery may inspire poetry but in the meanwhile, we were roasting in a non-air-conditioned car with closed windows struggling through sands in the desert, with a driver with whom we communicated by signs. To roll the window down, we would tap his shoulder, tap the window and make a "lower it" hand gesture. Many cars had a few stops as occupants threw up by the roadside, or may I say by the sand track.

Along with the memories of heat and dust that stay with me from this day, it is essential to mention the locals. The Tibetan women, dressed in shades of red and pink look gorgeous. This is not a crowd that dresses simply in T-shirts and jeans and a jacket thrown over for effect. They have taken the trouble to wear layers and layers of clothing and pieces of jewelry each more beautiful than the other. And at all times, the beautiful smiles despite the tough existence.

With my luck, the baby looked down just as I took a picture. The women are gorgeous, check out the accessories.

After a tough and tiring day in which I did little more than sit in the car and breathe in dust each time I rolled down the windows to take some pictures and rolled the window back shut, we finally saw a blue line in the horizon. Manas Sarovar - says the driver. Finally we are at the tranquil, divine Manas Sarovar - "mind lake" in Sanskrit, created by a thought of Brahma. It is known in Tibetan as Mapham Yum-tso - "the lake of victory". Manas Sarovar is one of the highest fresh-water lakes in the world with a depth of 90 m (300 ft) at an altitude of 4,556 m (14,948 ft). Its perimeter is 88 km (55 mi) and its surface area is 320 sq km (120 sq mi).

Like every moment spent at Kedarnath six years ago, I will always remember and cherish every moment spent at Manas Sarovar. Mount Kailash, on the opposite bank of the lake, has chosen not to reveal itself. Everybody got out of the cars, some people tried spotting it with binoculars. Though all the other peaks could be seen quite clearly, Kailash alone stayed under cover. For the better part of an hour, people waited for the clouds to move. The clouds did move, but Kailash stayed obscured from vision. It was 6 pm now, and some people wanted to take a dip in the lake that we had earlier expected to reach by 2 pm.

The grand Gurla Mandhata whose melting snow feeds the Manas Sarovar

Though Kailash did not choose to be seen, the 34th highest peak in the world, the Gurla Mandhata 7,728 m (25,734 ft) was seen in all its magnificence, as we drove along the lake. This peak was first conquered in 1985, and there have been several successful attempts at scaling it since then. The waters from this mountain fill the Manas Sarovar lake.

The inauspicious Rakshas Taal

Off we went towards the shore of the Manas Sarovar lake where a dip could be taken - it was an hour around the lake when we reached Chiu Gompa. As we drove down the road, to the left was Raakshas Tal  - "demon lake" in Sanskrit, at 4,752 metres (15,591 ft) with a total area of 70 square kilometres (27 sq mi) shown above. It is associated with the arrogant king Ravan. The waters of Rakshas Tal are darker than the waters of Manas Sarovar to which it is connected by a natural channel, Ganga Chhu, through which water flows sometimes.

The crescent-shaped Lake Rakshas Tal attracts no life, and there are no monasteries around though the lake is filled with the waters that flow from Kailash. The Tibetans call this lake Lhanag Tso - "lake of the dark deities". The river Sutlej that originates from Rakshas Tal, flows into Pakistan.

Some people are comfortable publicly immersing in natural waters, I am one of those who are not. I have not done this before, despite going to the mother goddess - the river Ganga, so many times at so many places. Even at Gaumukh a few years ago, at the mouth of the Gangotri glacier, shown in the Google image above, from which flows the Bhagirathi that later becomes the Ganga - a trip I do not know if and when I will be able to make again, I did not dip in the freezing water but chose to wet my fingers and sprinkle some of the water on myself.

The divine lake Manas Sarovar

I changed in the car into a sweat suit and carried my dry set of clothes to the banks, before immersing my body in the Manas Sarovar lake. I went under three times, with my head completely inside the water, as Swamiji had said. A constant silent chant of Aum Namah Shivaaya and it is done. The water was not freezing as I had expected but it was p-r-e-t-t-y cold. In the middle of the spiritual experience and the mental transformation, the body had its own demands - I need dry clothes, I need dry clothes, I need dry clothes. Swarn had arranged for a small "changing" tent where I could get into my dry clothes. My hair, surprisingly, dried up immediately.

I could not believe I had reached this level of ritualistic worship in this lifetime - that I had actually wanted to do this, and that the immersion felt good. I feel there was a subtle change in perspective at this point, though I am not quite sure I can describe it just yet.

The monastery at Chiu Gompa, on the banks of Manas Sarovar, with Kailash seen across the lake

We stayed at the guest house in Chiu Gompa that night, that comprises of a set of single-storey buildings with adjoining rooms all of which have a clear view of Manas Sarovar. The Chiu Gompa monastery is built into the mountain behind the guest house.

A beach-front view of Manas and a breath-taking view of Kailash on the opposite bank - this is heaven on earth, and premium real estate. We had yet to see Kailash though, the cloud cover continued. Tomorrow, perhaps...

Yoga took a fantastic picture of Chiu Gompa at sunset that evening. I did not actually see this but if Shiva calls again, I will wait for this view on my next trip.

Sunset at Chiu Gompa

I did take a picture of the lake.

Sunset over the Manas Sarovar

There was no electricity. Swarn said that the generator will start at some point in the evening. Sure enough, at some point when it started getting dark, the sole electric bulb in the room came on. The restroom across the road, a good 100 yard walk from the rooms, was an enclosed set of two holes in the ground. People had used all the space around the holes - not sure how you can miss the hole. There were dogs freely walking around and barking at random.

In the evening, we had a pooja - worship ritual, for an hour. It was extremely cold, and icy gusts of wind blew across the lake.

We were freezing in the icy winds that blew across the lake, as the Swamijis performed the evening pooja facing Kailash

It was quite cold in the room, I lay in bed under the blankets with two layers of under-armor, a T-shirt, and a fleece jacket and my ski jacket, neck warmer, woolen cap, pants, rain pants, two pairs of socks, glove liners and gloves - basically I did not change, just took off my shoes. At night, going to the restroom would require putting on shoes - even tying shoelaces was a major effort at this altitude and got me out of breath. The importance of the hands-free headband flashlight cannot be underestimated - it stayed around my head or neck and all I needed to do at night was to click a button to have sufficient light, of course it blinded anyone walking towards me.

At 1 am, Seema knocked on the door to take Mallik and me to join Pratibha, Gaurav, Rajeev, Yoga, Swarn and others in an adjoining building to watch the lake at night. Staying up at the end of a long day was not so difficult as one would imagine. Making sense of what appeared to be happening on the lake was a whole different issue. The rational mind insists there has to be a scientific explanation. For those of us who were awake that night, there are memories and experiences to be shared over the years to come.

Tomorrow is the last day before we start the trek around Kailash.


Aum Namah Shivaaya!!