Overland Kailash Yatra, by Road Both Ways

Mainly for acclimatisation, and also for cost. Flying to Lhasa takes you to 3,656 m in ninety minutes. Driving from Kathmandu takes you to 1,900 m on the first night and 2,800 m on the second and third, and reaches 4,640 m only on the sixth day. This gradual profile is much better for your body. It is also less expensive, because you do not need a one-way international flight.

We offer four routes to Kailash. This one travels by road in both directions and is the slowest, with the most gradual ascent. The route via Lhasa flies in and drives out, and includes the monasteries of the Tibetan capital. The route via Beijing travels through China with time in cities at each end and is the most expensive. The Express uses Simikot and a helicopter; it is the shortest route and the most demanding for acclimatisation.

Two of the sixteen days involve very little travel: the rest day at Kerung and the reserve day after the kora. Both are there to protect your health at altitude. Sixteen days is the time needed for an overland Kailash journey without rushing the ascent.

The kora takes three days and covers 53 km in total, on paths with no climbing. The second day is the most demanding: nine to ten hours, twenty-two kilometres, over the Dolma La at 5,630 m. Nobody finds it easy. Fit walkers who have acclimatised well complete it; those who arrive tired and dehydrated often do not.

On the first and third days, yes. A horse with a handler is arranged at Darchen for about $180 to $260. On the pass day, a horse can carry you only part of the way, because the ground above Shiva Tsal is loose and steep and everyone walks the final section. Book the evening before, not on the morning.

You return the way you came to Darchen with a crew member and wait for the group, which usually means one extra night. Nobody is carried over the Dolma La. Turning back on the first day is straightforward, but turning back on the pass day is not, which is why the decision is made at Dirapuk in the morning rather than partway up.

Four permits, none of which can be obtained individually: a Tibet Travel Permit from the Tourism Bureau, an Alien's Travel Permit, a military permit and a foreign affairs permit, all arranged by us once the itinerary is paid. In addition, you need the Chinese group visa issued in Kathmandu. We ask for passport scans at least eight weeks before departure.

The Kathmandu group visa is issued to a group rather than an individual, and the embassy will not issue one to fewer than five travellers. Everyone on it must enter and leave China together, at the same crossing, on the same itinerary. This is the most common reason that small private Kailash trips cannot go ahead.

Not for entering Tibet from Nepal. The embassy in Kathmandu issues a separate group visa on a separate sheet, and obtaining it usually cancels the tourist visa already in your passport. If you hold one and want to keep it, tell us before you book so that we can discuss a route through China instead.

The highest point is the Dolma La at 5,630 m, crossed on the tenth day. The highest place you sleep is Dirapuk at 4,900 m. From Kathmandu at 1,400 m the ascent is spread over nine days, with a rest day at Kerung and a long, gradual climb by road, which is as gradual as any route to Kailash.

No. There is no helicopter evacuation in the Ngari region of Tibet, and this is the main difference between this trip and a trek in Nepal. Anyone who needs to descend does so by vehicle on the road, and the nearest well-equipped hospital is a long way away. This is why we carry oxygen and a pressure chamber, and why the rest day is compulsory.

Many pilgrims take it and it helps, but you should discuss it with your own doctor. It does not replace the measures that work: gaining height slowly, drinking more than you feel you need, eating even when you have no appetite, and telling your guide immediately if you feel unwell, not at dinner.

From May to September only. The Dolma La has snow into May and closes again in October, the kora guesthouses close for the winter, and Tibet usually closes to foreign visitors for the whole of March. June to September is the most settled period, and September is our recommended month for clear air and smaller crowds.

Saga Dawa is the full moon of the fourth Tibetan month, when the flagpole at Tarboche is lowered and raised again and thousands of pilgrims walk the kora together. It is a remarkable occasion, but it is crowded, beds are scarce, and the plateau is at its busiest. Decide in advance whether you want the festival or a quieter visit.

Hotels in Kathmandu, Kerung, Saga and Darchen, which are simple but heated and usually have hot water. The two nights on the kora, at Dirapuk and Zuthulpuk, are in guesthouses with shared rooms, a mattress and quilt, no heating and an outside toilet. They are very basic, and there is no alternative accommodation.

Vegetarian throughout, by custom rather than by rule, and of good quality. Nepali dal bhat on both sides of the border, Tibetan noodle soup and momos, and Chinese vegetable dishes and rice in the towns. We bring our own cook and supplies for the plateau, because little food is available in Saga at short notice.

No. Pilgrims bathe briefly as a ritual. The water is only a few degrees above freezing at 4,590 m, so full immersion is a real shock to a body already under strain at altitude. Follow the example of the pilgrims around you: bathe quickly and respectfully, and have dry clothes ready.

The Tibetan side is mostly good tarmac and covers long distances, so the long days are tiring but not rough. The Nepali side, between Kathmandu and the border, is rough, and after a heavy monsoon it can be very rough. Bring medication for motion sickness if you need it.

Wind protection above all. The plateau is dry and open and the wind is constant, so a windproof shell, a buff and good lip protection are more important than an extra fleece. You also need a four-season sleeping bag for the kora guesthouses, and much more sun cream than the temperatures suggest.

In the hotels, yes, with a Chinese plug adaptor. On the kora, no. Dirapuk and Zuthulpuk have no reliable power, so bring a battery pack and keep it warm inside your jacket, because the cold drains batteries quickly.

Your Nepali SIM card stops working at the border. Chinese SIM cards work in the towns but not on the kora, and many common Western apps are blocked in China unless you arrange access before you arrive. Most travellers spend the eight days on the plateau largely offline.

Rasuwagadhi has closed in the past because of landslides, festivals and politics, sometimes without notice. If it closes before departure, we move you to the Lhasa route where seats are available, or refund you in full. If it closes while we are in Tibet, we leave through the other crossing at our own cost.

We refund your payment. Permits are occasionally refused without explanation, and journalists and people with certain stamps in their passports are refused more often. We do not keep deposits when a refusal is not your responsibility.

At least two months ahead, and three for the June and Saga Dawa departures. The Tibet Travel Permit alone takes eight or nine working days once the itinerary is paid for, the group visa another four, and every Kailash group in Nepal applies to the same office during the same short season.