|
Proposed Tibet
Trek 2005
To some it is the forbidden
land, to other’s a trekker’s paradise, some call
it the last great adventure on earth, and yet
other’s see it as the centre of the
universe…whatever way you look at it, Tibet will
reward you with a surfeit of sensory
experiences, adventure and spiritual awareness.
Our reasons for wanting to visit this amazing
place are plentiful (every day I find new
reasons), and we would like to invite you to
join us on this great adventure…whatever your
reason to come along, we guarantee it will be an
experience of a lifetime.
Overview:
  We will spend about a month
up in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan plateau
(approx. 1 May – 1 June 2005), exploring many
aspects of Nepali and Tibetan culture, taking
part in the Kora around the Holy Mountain,
visiting the ruins of the lost cities of the Guge kingdom and the highlight, the Saga Dawa
festival on the full moon day of the fourth
lunar month on the Tibetan calendar. We will
travel through some of the highest, most remote
and least visited areas on earth, with scenery
and experiences that will surely blow your
mind.
We have done extensive research into the
different options, and although permit and visa
regulations change continuously (they are
notoriously difficult to keep track of) the
following is the proposed route. Note that this
is a rough itinerary...more specific details can
only be verified closer to the time and we
definitely want certain freedom to burn bridges
as we get there.
The Route
(Check map
for proposed route)
Day 1 – Day 8 (Trek across the border)
Our trip starts with a mountain flight to
Simikot in the fabled region of Humla in far
west Nepal, where we meet our Nepali crew of
Sherpas and Yaks who will carry some of our
gear. From there we trek for six days, following
the Karnali River into the most remote region of
Nepal where the culture is still distinct and
traditional, the scenery spectacular and the
ancient trade routes still in use.
The trek continues through the forests and over
the high Himalayan passes onto the Tibetan
plateau. This border only opened to foreign
trekkers ten years ago although it has been an
ancient trade and pilgrimage route for Tibetans,
Nepalis, Indians and Central Asians for
centuries. Once we’ve fought through our first
encounter with Tibetan (Chinese) bureaucracy we
meet our transportation (4WD / truck
combination) which will take us to Lake
Manosarovar.
Day 9 – Day 14 (The Kora around Mt. Kailash)
  We embark on one of the world’s highest pilgrim
trails, the Kora, sharing the trail with other
Pilgrims that journey to Kailash in the summer
months. Some
will take two to three
weeks for the Kora by making full body
prostrations the entire way.
For a devout pilgrim this route forms the
ultimate realization of their spiritual pursuit.
For the adventure-lover it offers rugged beauty,
remoteness and solitude.
The climax of the second
day is the Drolma Pass, 5668m high, an altitude
that will certainly push us to our limits (I
knew I shoulda given up them fags J)
"Nature in her
wildest and most rugged forms bears witness to
the correctness of the belief that here is the
home of 'the great god' ....All the aids to
worship in the shape of striking scenery,
temples, mystic and gorgeous ceremonial and
skilled celebrants are present, and he must
indeed be dull who returns from his pilgrim
unsatisfied"
(Edwin T.
Atkinson )
Ancient cosmography
identifies Kailash with the mighty mountain
Sumeru, the centre of the physical and
metaphysical universe. To Buddhists, the "father
mountain" represent the means to enlightenment;
Lake Mansarovar, the "mother principle,"
represents transcendental consciousness. Hindus
consider Kailash to be the throne of Lord Shiva,
one of the three principle gods of the Hindu
pantheon, whose long, matted hair forms the holy
Ganges River. As a Bon centre, Kailash enjoys
great popularity in the folk religion of Tibet
-- it is the soul of the country and assures
protection for all Tibetans.
Scenically, the area is outstanding. At 6,714
meters (22,022 ft.), Kailash is a glittering
snow dome towering above the Tibetan Plateau
like a beckoning jewel, visible from miles away.
Manasarovar is famous as one of the highest
lakes in the world. Four of the greatest rivers
of South Asia -- the Indus, Sutlej, Karnali
(Ganges) and the Brahmaputra (the Yarlung Zangpo
in Tibet) -- originate from around Mount
Kailash.
Day 15 – Day 20 (Guge kingdom)
Time to relax, sit back, and enjoy the
melody. With plenty of trekking and good
karma under our belts, we embark on an epic
cross-Tibet jeep experience. Our first stop
will be a camp by the upper Sutlej with a
very welcoming and much needed bathe in the
wonderful Sulphur pools at Tirthapuri
Hot springs. The “lost cities” of Tsaprang
and Tholing, once the capitals of the
powerful kingdom of Guge, can be explored by
tunnelling through the mountain ruins. Above
Tholing, a breathtaking 170 degree Himalayan
panorama extends in an arc from the peaks of
western Nepal to the mountains of Zangskar
and Ladakh.
http://www.project-himalaya.com/gallery-tibet-kailash.html
or
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=567&article=Sweat+and+the+spirit&t=1&c=7
The 15th day of the fourth lunar
month on the Tibetan calendar
(23rd May – The Saga Dawa Festival)
"Saga Dawa is the most important Tibetan
Buddhist festival, held each year on the full
moon day of the fourth lunar month of the
Tibetan calendar, to celebrate Sakyamuni's
birth, enlightenment and the death of his mortal
body."
That's what every guidebook will tell you. I’ve
heard say though that it is more like being
part of a magic event, something that gets a
total grip on all of your senses. It
involves the
ritual of raising the prayer-flag pole, which
foretells the yearly fortunes of the country.
Saga Dawa is a carnival of Tibetan music, chants
and Tibetan products brought to sell, an event
not to be missed.
Day
22 – Day 28 (East to Kathmandu)
I haven’t really got so far as to look into this
route yet as the rest has kept me too excited,
but I know there’s some pretty cool stuff along
here as well. Time permitting though we could
look into a small detour to Everest base camp.
For those of you that are
interested, have the time and the money, I am
thinking of skipping the end of this route and
carrying on to Shigatse and Lhasa. From there
one should be able to buy a mountain bike and do
the longest descent in the world, from Lhasa at
3650m down to Kathmandu at 1300m.
The Facts regarding this Trip
Costs
 As
can be expected, a trip like this doesn’t come
cheap, and the fact that Tibet is generally more
expensive than neighbouring Nepal or India
doesn’t help matters either. We are working on
the cheapest possible solution, but based on
figures we have calculated so far we’re looking
at about US$1800 – 2800 p.p. This will
include everything along the way but will not
include your international flight to Kathmandu.
A
short look into these, I’ve come up with the
following approximations for return flights:
Time
The
entire route will take just under a month in
May. Unless you have other plans for before or
after this trip, you’d fly out around the 2nd
of May and could be back to reality by the
2nd of June.
Participants
Ultimately we are looking at
getting 5 to 8 people together. This should keep
costs low while ensuring that the group is not
too big and unmanageable. Participants so far
are:
Markus
(Expedition Leader with an insatiable love for
getting lost in the world…great selling point
that) Alex
(“That sounds awesome man, let’s leave tonight”) Marty
(“That’s far too much walking man, will there be
girls with a Pina Colada to meet us at the
summit?”)Diarmid
(5 minutes ago Diarmid asked “Where you going?”,
“Tibet”, “I’ll meet you there!!!”)
Conclusion
 No
person in their right mind would call this a
holiday!!! Long days of trekking at extreme
heights (altitude sickness is one of our biggest
worries), gasping for oxygen, camping in sub
zero temperatures without wood to make fires,
constant wind, dust that gets in everywhere, and
no chance of medical rescue in the event of an
emergency, these are just some of the
discomforts we’re paying good money for. Chinese
checkpoints are notoriously annoying and
sometimes need to be detoured around under the
cover of night (groups usually don’t face such
bureaucratic problems!)
Although we will use shelters and guesthouses
wherever possible, tents will be our main means
of protection from the elements. And the staple
diet of Tsampa (Barley Flour) and salted butter
tea, although tasty, will leave some of us
seeing mirages of a Mc Ds through the thin air
of the Tibetan desert.
But it is exactly these facts that place this
area so far off the beaten track. Having braved
the elements and our own personal daemons, we
will be rewarded with an experience
unforgettable, one which only a handful of
people have had the privilege to be a part of.
Alex has setup a webpage and a message board
where you can find all the latest updates
regarding this trip,
you can find these at:
www.alexontour.com
So go on, rob a bank, sell
your wife, quit your job, do whatever it takes
to join us on this trip, the last great
adventure on earth!!!
The Route (Check map
for proposed route)
|
