| My path to purification began in the | | | | through their fourth. Carrying only |
| home of Shiva the Destroyer - or perhaps | | | | prayer beads and a small pouch of |
| it was just his rubbish bin. The | | | | necessities, she relieved me of my |
| shantytown of Darchen at the foot of Mt | | | | burden, a backpack filled with |
| Kailash in western Tibet is populated | | | | 'non-essentials' - laptop, camera, food, |
| with half-naked, red-cheeked children | | | | clothes and water. |
| playing in trash heaps. Teahouses | | | | Embarrassing as it was, a lovely Tibetan |
| running on car battery power, with dirt | | | | woman, eight years my junior, carried my |
| floors lined with old pillows, serve as | | | | pack the rest of the way around Mount |
| bedding for road-weary pilgrims and | | | | Kailash, simply because I could not. (At |
| backpackers before they start on their | | | | the end of our kora, Yang Jing not only |
| kora around Asia's most sacred mountain. | | | | refused payment for her help, but |
| The word kora means 'pilgrimage | | | | offered me a gift - her decades-old yak |
| circuit', or simply, 'big circle'. It | | | | bone prayer beads; the only recompense I |
| describes the clockwise path followed by | | | | can now offer her is this story). |
| devout followers of Buddhism and | | | | Though weighed down with my belongings, |
| Hinduism in their effort to attain | | | | Yang Jin soon outdistanced me, while I |
| spiritual absolution for the sin of | | | | struggled along at the rear, making my |
| being alive. Throughout Tibet one can | | | | way up the bleak Drolma-La, passing the |
| see the faithful making koras around | | | | glacial brooks of Shiva-Tsal and the |
| temples and other holy places, though | | | | clothing-littered stones and macabre |
| none as consecrated as the 52-kilometer | | | | shanks of hair that pilgrims leave to |
| circumambulation of Mt Kailash (known in | | | | symbolize the expulsion of their old |
| Tibetan as Kang Rinpoche and in Mandarin | | | | sins. With a light snow frosting the |
| as Shen Shan). | | | | terrain, I finally caught up with Yang |
| I began my pilgrimage at dawn (after | | | | Jing atop the scenic pass where she |
| hesitantly downing a cup of salty yak | | | | recited her prayers. |
| butter tea for strength) guided by a | | | | Then with the frozen jade waters of |
| trail of prayer flags up the misty | | | | Gauri Kund lake below, we carefully |
| southern ridge to the Gyangdrak and | | | | began our descent. As we reached the |
| Selung monasteries, and then following | | | | lower level, I was able to breathe again |
| the few stone cairns back down to the | | | | and the remainder of the kora was a |
| kora. At one point the kora branched | | | | delight. We crossed snow banks and |
| off, leading to a sky burial site, the | | | | passed venerable elders prostrated in |
| place where Buddhists bid farewell to | | | | verdant meadows fed by small streams |
| the dead by dismembering corpses and | | | | trickling down from the mountain's |
| leaving the remains for the birds of | | | | horizontally-banded crystal face. Later, |
| prey that form koras of their own far | | | | we arrived at a smoky encampment, with |
| above. The proximity of a burial site is | | | | chanting pilgrims sitting around |
| disturbingly announced in advance by the | | | | yak-dung fires. |
| shredded clothes in the vicinity, and | | | | We continued past fields of boulders |
| more abruptly, by the occasional human | | | | blanketed in thick green moss before |
| bone dropped from the sky by said birds. | | | | taking a rest in a tea tent crowded with |
| I continued my journey, passing a number | | | | jovial Tibetans. Instant noodles and |
| of resplendently dressed pilgrims | | | | soft drinks were available, but I boldly |
| watering their horses in a shaded | | | | choose the traditional Tibetan staples |
| canyon. Before long, I arrived at the | | | | of yak butter tea and tsampa, an |
| Chuku monastery, which hugs the western | | | | 'instant' bread made from barley flour |
| hillside above the Lha-Chu River, in | | | | kneaded with the tea. Like most Tibetan |
| clear sight of the enigmatic Mt Kailash. | | | | pilgrims, this was all Yang Jing carried |
| Aside from being the most holy Buddhist | | | | in her small satchel during her multiple |
| site in Asia, it is also the source of | | | | koras. Tsampa may be flavorless, though |
| four great rivers: the Sutlej, which | | | | it smells unwashed, but it seems to |
| flows to India; the Indus, to Pakistan; | | | | provide sustenance and energy aplenty |
| the Karnali, which feeds the Ganges; and | | | | for Tibetans to complete 13 circuits. |
| Tibet's own Yarlung Tsangpo. | | | | After our rest, we pressed on through |
| I arrived at Mt Kalish at dusk, which in | | | | the lush hillsides, tracing the |
| summertime comes at about 10pm; Mt | | | | Dzong-Chu river until we came to the |
| Kailash was bathed in ruby-red hues, a | | | | Zutul-Puk monastery where most of the |
| spectacular site, though one soon | | | | Hindus from India had set up camp. I, |
| obscured by drizzling rain clouds. | | | | too, might have spent the night there, |
| Exhausted, I turned in for the night at | | | | but in spite of the searing pain in my |
| a nearby yurt on the grassy banks of | | | | legs, I was determined to follow the |
| Damding Donkhang and soon after I set my | | | | steely Yang Jing back to Darchen to |
| head on the filthy pillows, I fell | | | | complete the kora on my second day. My |
| asleep. | | | | resolve was rewarded when we finally |
| I'd been cautioned by a number of | | | | rounded the last bend and met with a |
| experienced pilgrims that the second | | | | stunning vista overlooking the Barkha |
| half of the Mt Kailash kora was the most | | | | plains: the Himalayas to the south, |
| difficult. And, sure enough, as soon as | | | | aglow under the evening sky. |
| I passed Dirapuk monastery and crossed | | | | We walked by a series of mani prayer |
| the Lha-Chu river the following morning, | | | | walls and inscribed yak skulls, |
| the route became increasingly | | | | together, into the setting sun. It |
| treacherous. The steep path eventually | | | | seemed a fitting way to end this epic |
| thinned out - as did the air - and then | | | | tale, with the southern sapphire face of |
| disappeared altogether among the large | | | | Kailash behind us - along with our sins. |
| boulders strewn about the Drolma-Chu | | | | Travel Pack |
| valley. | | | | A number of travel agencies and hotels |
| I am in my early 30s, but in no time was | | | | around Lhasa can arrange week-long Land |
| moving slower than an old woman. Indeed, | | | | Cruiser expeditions along Tibet's |
| 80-year-old Tibetans spinning their | | | | southern route past Lake Manasarovar to |
| hand-held prayer wheels quickly | | | | Mt Kailash for approximately RMB 4,000 |
| out-paced me. Before I had ascended but | | | | per person. Alternatively, budget |
| one-third of the way up the 5,600-meters | | | | travelers can take a three-day sleeper |
| of evil that is the Drolma-La Pass, I | | | | along the northern route, departing from |
| was doubled over with exhaustion. It was | | | | Lhasa's north bus station every couple |
| then, during this moment of truth | | | | days to the outpost town of Ali for RMB |
| beneath the luminously golden face of | | | | 700. Water, food and a window seat in |
| Mt. Kailash, there appeared before me a | | | | the front of the bus is strongly |
| vision. Her name was Yang Jing, my own | | | | recommended. From Ali's north junction |
| Tibetan goddess of mercy. | | | | you can hitch a ride on a 'gypsy' jeep |
| One day prior, I had met Yang Jing, a | | | | to Darchen/Mt Kailash, or catch a lift |
| Ngari local, in the company of her | | | | on one of the trucks from nearby |
| grandmother. At the time, both of them | | | | construction sites, or the occasional |
| were on their third kora in just three | | | | rogue bus. Permits are no longer |
| days. When she spotted me draped over a | | | | required for travel in Tibet and as such |
| large boulder, they were already halfway | | | | no agency should charge you for one. |