Kailash Manasarover Yatra - Anxious Moments at Nylam

The rugged terrain trekking of Kailash Mansarovar is a different experience which cannot be explained in words. One has to go through that sacred experience.

For the Hindus Mount Kailash is the earthly manifestation of Mt. Meru, their spiritual centre of the universe, described as a fanatastic world pillar 84,000 miles high, around which all else revolves, its roots in the lowest hell and its summit kissing the heavens. On the top lives their most revered God, Shiva, and his consort Parvati.

To Tibetans it is known as Khang Rimpoche (Precious Jewel of Snow) and they see it as the navel of the world. I have read elsewhere that Mount Kailash is the centre focal point of the earth's gravity. The trek through the "Yamadwar", Valley of Gods and Dolma la Pass -- Change the personality in some way.

Mt. Kailash, 6,740 m. is situated to the north of the Himalayan barrier, within Tibet. It appears as a rocky mountain covered with ice and with awesome beauty, with 4 great faces. It is the spiritual centre for four great religions: Tibetan Buddhism, Hinduism, the Jain religion and the pre-Buddhist animistic religion - Bonpo.

It is said that a stream from the mountain pours into a nearby lake and from here rivers flow in the four cardinal directions. The River of the Lion Mouth to the North, the River of the Horse Mouth to the east, the River of the Peacock Mouth to the south and the River of the Elephant Mouth to the West. Strangely enough, four major rivers do indeed originate near Kailash, the Indus, the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra), the Karnali and the Sutlej.

Evening of 11th June & 12th June 2006 at Nyalam

At Nyalam we went through emotional moments. There was suspense and anxiety. Trust Him.. Believe in Him..Pray to Him was the Mantra

Most of us could not sleep the night of 11th June. Naturally the next morning we were still looking tired and dazed. But braving the windy climate few of us ventured outside to make phone calls, do shopping and practice trekking to get fit.

We had some fun while shopping as we could communicate / bargain with the shop owners only with sign language and with the calculators. Our skills in acting, dancing, bhavanas and abhinayam all were helpful in our successful purchases.

We had bad news on reaching Nylam Hotel in the afternoon. Some of the Yatris have learnt that more than 1000 yatris were stranded at Tarchen as reported in Indian news papers. Anxious telephone calls were made to reassure our safety to relatives back home.

More bad news followed in the evening during dinner time as Padam, our Tour guide, informed us that we would not be leaving Nylam the next day (13th) as per schedule. He informed us that there were no vehicles available for going onwards to Saga and he was not sure as to when we would be able to go. He also confirmed that Tarchen was overcrowded with Indian Yatris.

This led to hot tempers and anxious discussions making emergency plans. Our return tickets had been booked and extending our Yatra was not possible.

Little did we realize that Lord Kailasapathy had different plans for our safe and successful journey.