Kailash Mansarovar Yatra via Lhasa, Driving Out

No, and many travellers on each departure are not religious. We ask you to behave respectfully, because you will be walking among pilgrims who have saved for many years to be there, and some who prostrate themselves along the whole fifty-two kilometres. Walk clockwise, do not move the stones on the mani walls, and do not photograph anyone who is prostrating.

You need to be fit enough for three consecutive days of walking, the second of which takes seven to nine hours and crosses a 5,630 m pass. That is less walking than on any of our treks. The difficulty is the altitude and how quickly it is gained, and fitness gives little protection against altitude sickness.

There is no formal age limit, but we ask anyone over sixty, and anyone with a heart, lung or blood pressure condition, to consult their own doctor before paying a deposit. This is important on this trip: there is no helicopter rescue in Tibet and the nearest hospital is hours away by road.

Yes, and many pilgrims do. Horses and yaks with handlers are arranged at Darchen for about $180 to $260, which is not included in the price. Nobody rides over the Dolma La itself; the handler takes the horse around and meets you on the other side.

No. The China group visa issued in Kathmandu is given to a group, and current practice requires at least five names on the list. Two people cannot obtain one. You join a scheduled departure, which is why our groups on this trip are larger than on our treks.

Five documents, and we arrange all of them: a China group visa issued in Kathmandu, the Tibet Travel Permit, an Alien's Travel Permit for Ngari, a military area permit and a foreign affairs permit. The Alien's Travel Permit is still required here, although it was dropped for the Everest side of Tibet in June 2025.

Three months, and preferably four. The Tibet Travel Permit takes fifteen to twenty working days and the Ngari military permit a further ten to fifteen, and both are applied for once the booking is paid. This lead time is set by the government offices and cannot be shortened.

No. The Kathmandu group visa cancels any Chinese visa already in your passport, so a visa obtained at home would be wasted and could cause complications.

Refusals happen occasionally, without a reason and without appeal, and we refund the Tibet portion in full. Occupation is the usual cause: journalists, photographers, diplomats and anyone with 'government' in their job title are often refused. If you tell us your occupation accurately and early, we can usually find a solution.

Tibet usually closes to foreign visitors for the whole of March and sometimes into early April, around the anniversary of the 1959 uprising, and the closure is announced with little or no notice. We do not schedule departures during this period.

The risk is greater than on our treks, because of how the altitude is gained. You fly from 1,400 m to 3,656 m in a morning and then drive to 4,590 m over three days, gaining more than three kilometres of height almost entirely by vehicle. You then sleep four nights above 4,500 m and cross a 5,630 m pass. Acute mountain sickness is much more common on this trip than on a trek. The two rest days, at Lhasa and Mansarovar, are the main protection and are essential.

Yes. Bottled oxygen and a portable hyperbaric chamber travel in the support truck for the whole Ngari section. A chamber simulates a descent of about 2,000 m, which gives time for treatment in a place where an actual descent takes hours. This is standard equipment on this route, and you should check that any operator you consider carries it.

This is the most important difference between Tibet and Nepal. Helicopter rescue is not available to tourists here. A serious case is taken by vehicle to Darchen and then eight or nine hours to Saga, or much further to a hospital at Ali or Shigatse. For this reason our safety procedures on this trip are more cautious than on any other trip we offer, and we turn people back earlier.

Discuss it with your own doctor. On this itinerary in particular it is a reasonable preventive measure, because the altitude is gained by vehicle rather than on foot.

It varies widely. Four-star in Lhasa, three-star in Shigatse, simple with unreliable plumbing at Saga, and shared guesthouse rooms with no shower and no heating at Mansarovar, Dirapuk and Zuthulphuk. Dirapuk, at 4,900 m, is the coldest night and has no heating. Bring your own sleeping bag.

Yes, throughout the trip. Travellers of several religions join every departure and the kora is a sacred route, so all meals are vegetarian. Vegan, gluten-free and Jain requirements can all be arranged with notice at booking.

China Mobile covers much of the route, including Darchen. However, many Western internet services are blocked in China, so install a VPN before you leave rather than trying to do it on hotel wifi in Lhasa.

Pilgrims bathe in the lake as a religious act, and the water is around four degrees. It is not acceptable to swim or wash in it: do not use soap or shampoo, and do not rinse anything in the lake. If you bathe, do so in the way pilgrims do.

June to September, and September is our recommended month: clear, cold and less crowded. May is the start of the season and depends on the Dolma La being clear of snow. From November to April the route is closed, because the kora guesthouses are unstaffed and the pass is under snow.

It is the Tibetan Fire Horse year, which runs from 17 February 2026 to 5 February 2027. A kora walked in a Horse year is believed to carry the merit of thirteen ordinary koras. This happens once every twelve years, and Kailash is much busier as a result. If the merit is important to you, this is the year to go; if you prefer a quieter visit, next year will be less crowded.

If the festival is your main interest, yes. The raising of the great flagpole at Tarboche below Kailash, on the full moon of the fourth Tibetan month, is the most important day in the Kailash calendar. If you want a quiet kora, avoid it. It is extremely crowded and every bed in Darchen is taken.