1 Sep 2012

8. A journey into Tibet – Manasa Sarovar, Darchen and Ashtapad

by | posted in: Asia, China, Tibet | 13
July 2012
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I got up early in the morning and headed towards the lake. I wanted to take some snaps before others in our group start gathering. The weather was clear. For the first time, I saw Gurla Mandhata without the cloud cover. A hillock was blocking the view, and hence I decided to walk for a km to see the mountain. I may also get some good shots, I thought. As I was walking, I felt that someone was approaching me behind. It was a dog running towards me at an astonishing speed!!
Tibetan dogs are known to be ferocious. They are friendly when you are in a group. But their behaviour changes when they see a solo outsider. The stories of travellers bitten by dogs are not rare in Tibet. I did what best I could do to avoid the feline attack. Pretend to throw a stone!! It deterred the dog, but by then, I had lost my courage. I decided to return to camp before I was chased by more dogs. Better to lose an opportunity of a good photograph than risk a potential dog attack.
My roommate’s condition had improved a lot during the night. That was good news. Back in camp, preparations were ongoing for “homa and havans”. The place was next to the Manasa Sarovar. I was surprised to see the arrangements they had made for the religious rituals. Everything was meticulously planned, and they had carried all the necessary items. The simple ceremony lasted an hour. Like yesterday, the good weather made life easy.
After lunch, we started our journey to the town of Darchen, 40 km away. Darchen is the last halting before starting Kailash Parikrama. Situated at the foothills of Kailash Parvath, Darchen is overlooking Gurla Mandhata range and Manasa Sarovar.
Darchen with Kailash in the background
The last time I called my Home was at Nyalam Mu. Zhongbo and Manasa Sarovar camp did not have ISD booths. Hence I went to an ISD booth next to our hotel to make a quick call to Home. The communication centre also had an internet facility.
Gurla Mandhata range seen from Darchen
At Darchen, tourists can choose to visit Ashtapad, a mountain that provides a close view of Kailash Parvath’s south face. Only 4X4 vehicles can go to Ashtapad. The tour operator has not included Ashtapad in the package. A Jeep carrying four people would cost about 300 Yuans.
Manasa Sarovar from Darchen
Ashtapad is also the place where the first Tirthankara of Jains, Rushabdev, attained Nirvana.
Kailash from hotel room
The cloudy weather made me sceptical about views at Ashtapad. A chance has to be taken, especially when you cannot come back to this place again!!
The route was steep and filled with boulders. We had to cross fee streams. At that time, it started raining heavily. The drivers skillfully drove through this difficult terrain. Under such weather conditions, there was no chance to see the views from Ashtapad.
As we neared Ashtapad, the weather suddenly changed. The clouds disappeared, and Kailash Mountain was in full view. All in a matter of a few minutes. That is the Himalayas!!
The place exceeded all my expectations. A mountain next to Kailash looked like Nandi. That was the closest we could go to the South face of Kailash.
The weather God then decided to end the show, and clouds promptly engulfed the mountains. It was time to get down to Darchen.
Darchen is the last place to purchase anything that we need before starting the Parikrama. I went to the shops but brought nothing. I checked with Sherpas and confirmed that they provide drinking water during Parikrama. Hence I decided not to purchase mineral water bottles. They were also expensive. Later I would repent my decision.
Out of 64 people, 13 decided to stay back at Darchen, and others would go for parikrama. We were asked only to take only items that were needed during three days of parikrama and leave the rest at Darchen. The Sherpa team would also split up along with food and utensils. One group would be put up in Darchen, while others would come with us for parikrama.
It rained heavily during the night. It was extremely windy, and the heavy noise created by it was unbearable. I had never experienced such winds before.

13 Responses

  1. Cloudy
    | Reply

    Ein großartiger Reisebericht über dieses eindrucksvolle Land, und die Fotos sind traumhaft…

    Servus und so long
    CL

  12. Fabian Smith
    | Reply

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