The Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition is one of the most ambitious, deeply spiritual, and truly life-changing overland journeys available anywhere on earth — a magnificent 20-day crossing of the Tibetan Plateau that carries you from the golden rooftops of Lhasa to the sacred black pyramid of
Mount Kailash, from the turquoise mirror of holy Lake Manasarovar to the crumbling palace walls of the long-lost
Guge Kingdom, and back across the breathtaking empty grandeur of the northern Tibetan plateau. The Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition has been carefully and passionately crafted by Tibet Shambhala Adventure for travelers who want the complete, unfiltered Tibet — not just the familiar highlights visible from a tour bus window, but the remote, the sacred, the wild, and the profoundly human. Every single kilometer of this extraordinary Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition reveals yet another different and unforgettable face of the world's highest and most spiritually mysterious plateau. If you have ever dreamed of combining two of the greatest natural, historical, and sacred wonders of the entire Himalayan world into one single overland journey, this is the expedition that was truly and uniquely created for you.
Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition: A Journey That Begins at the Roof of the World
Your Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition begins in Lhasa, the eternal spiritual heart of Tibet, where golden monastery rooftops catch the soft morning light and the ancient scent of juniper incense drifts gently across cobblestone alleyways that have remained largely unchanged for centuries. A few carefully planned days of acclimatization in Lhasa are absolutely essential before pushing west across the high plateau, and they are days exceptionally and richly well spent. The iconic Potala Palace, the deeply sacred Jokhang Temple, and the endlessly fascinating winding lanes of the Barkhor bazaar together offer a rich, layered, and profoundly moving introduction to Tibetan civilization — its extraordinary art, its living and unbroken faith, and its remarkable cultural resilience across centuries of change and hardship. This meaningful opening chapter sets the perfect spiritual and emotional tone for everything that follows on this Sacred Mount Kailash Journey and your Kailash and Manasarovar Pilgrimage across the vast western plateau.
From Lhasa, the overland route heads purposefully southwest toward Shigatse, proud home of the magnificent Tashilhunpo Monastery, the traditional and historic seat of the Panchen Lama and one of the truly great monastic institutions of the entire Tibetan Buddhist world. Beyond Shigatse, the landscape begins its dramatic and endlessly compelling transformation. The fertile green valleys of central Tibet gradually and beautifully give way to increasingly open, wind-swept, and elemental terrain as the road climbs steadily through Gyantse and pushes onward into the high-altitude wilderness of the western plateau. One of the most powerful and emotionally overwhelming reasons to choose this particular Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition is the magnificent opportunity to visit Rongbuk Monastery and the northern base camp of Everest along the way. Standing at 5,150 meters with the entire breathtaking north face of the world's highest mountain completely filling the horizon is a moment that demands absolute silence — and one that leaves every single traveler forever and profoundly changed at the deepest level.
The Sacred Shores of Lake Manasarovar
No Kailash and Manasarovar Pilgrimage is ever truly or fully complete without deeply meaningful and unhurried time spent at the sacred shores of
Lake Manasarovar itself. Sitting at a soaring elevation of 4,590 meters on the vast and wind-swept Ngari Plateau of western Tibet, this breathtaking high-altitude lake is widely and universally regarded as one of the most sacred and deeply revered bodies of water in all of Asia. Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Bon practitioners have faithfully made the long and demanding pilgrimage to its sacred shores for thousands of unbroken years, drawn irresistibly by the ancient and enduring belief that its crystalline, ice-cold waters carry the extraordinary power to cleanse not just the physical body but the deeply accumulated spiritual weight of many past lifetimes. On a perfectly still and calm morning, the lake reflects the surrounding snow-capped Himalayan peaks with flawless mirror-like clarity and breathtaking beauty, and the profound silence that settles gently over the water at dawn is unlike anything you will ever encounter anywhere else on this earth. Camping peacefully beside Manasarovar under a vast sky blazing brilliantly with a million stars is one of the most profoundly defining and deeply moving experiences of this entire Tibet Kailash Expedition — a sacred memory that stays tenderly with every traveler for the rest of their lives and calls many of them back to Tibet time and time again. This sacred lake crossing is one of the most treasured highlights of the entire Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition and a moment that no traveler who experiences it ever truly forgets.
Circumambulating the Sacred Black Mountain: The Spiritual Heart of the Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition
The undisputed spiritual and physical centerpiece of the entire Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition is, of course, the great and sacred mountain of Kailash itself. Rising dramatically and powerfully to 6,638 meters from the remote and wind-battered Ngari region of western Tibet,
Mount Kailash is universally and without question regarded as the most sacred mountain on the entire planet by four of the world's greatest spiritual traditions — Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and the ancient Bon tradition that predates Buddhism in Tibet by many centuries. It has never been climbed by any human being, and in all likelihood it never will be — not because it lies technically beyond human reach, but because its profound and absolute sanctity firmly places it in a realm entirely beyond ordinary human ambition or conquest. The Kailash Northern Route Tour takes devoted trekkers on a magnificent, deeply moving, and spiritually transformative three-day clockwise circumambulation of the mountain, universally known as the Kora, covering approximately 52 kilometers of sacred trail through some of the most dramatically beautiful and spiritually charged terrain found anywhere on the entire Tibetan Plateau.
The awe-inspiring northern face of Kailash — the great and perfectly symmetrical black pyramid of ancient rock and gleaming eternal ice that gives the mountain its otherworldly and almost supernatural divine presence — is most powerfully and memorably experienced from the Dirapuk valley, where trekkers spend their first sacred and deeply contemplative night on the Kora. The second and most demanding day of the sacred circuit requires trekkers to cross the legendary
Dolma La Pass at 5,636 meters above sea level, a high and wind-battered point considered among the most sacred in all of Tibet by devoted Buddhists, who hold the deep conviction that passing over it completely washes away the accumulated sins and heavy karmic burdens of an entire lifetime. The long and deeply rewarding descent brings you through a timeless landscape of glacial lakes, prayer-flag-draped sacred stones, and vast ancient moraines before the trail finally and triumphantly completes its full sacred loop back to the starting point at Darchen village. Every traveler who completes the Kora as part of this Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition returns to Darchen with a quiet and unmistakable sense of inner transformation that is genuinely difficult to put into words.
The Lost Kingdom of Guge: The Crown Jewel of the Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition
What truly and decisively separates this Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition from any standard pilgrimage itinerary anywhere in the world is the remarkable and extraordinary inclusion of the ancient
Guge Kingdom — one of Tibet's most hauntingly beautiful and least-visited archaeological and historical treasures. Perched dramatically and almost impossibly on a crumbling desert ridge above the deep Sutlej River canyon near Tsaparang in the remote Ngari region, the haunting ruins of Guge tell the extraordinary and deeply melancholy story of a once-flourishing and sophisticated Himalayan civilization that vanished almost entirely without historical trace during the turbulent 17th century. The ancient monasteries that miraculously survive within its deeply eroded and weathered mud-brick walls contain absolutely breathtaking frescoes — vivid, richly expressive, and remarkably well-preserved against every odd — that rank confidently among the finest and most historically significant examples of early Tibetan Buddhist art found anywhere in the world today. Walking slowly and reverently through the haunting and wind-worn ruins of Guge at golden hour, with the impossibly deep canyon dropping dramatically away far below your feet and many centuries of profound accumulated silence pressing in closely from every direction, is one of those genuinely rare and privileged travel experiences that fundamentally and permanently changes how you understand human history and civilizational fragility. The Guge Kingdom is not merely a sightseeing stop on this
Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition — it is a profound, humbling, and deeply emotional encounter with a lost world that very few travelers on earth ever have the rare privilege of witnessing firsthand. This is the true and beating heart of the Ngari Adventure Tour Tibet — the unwavering commitment to reaching sacred, forgotten, and profoundly meaningful places that most travelers in the world never even know exist.
The Northern Plateau: The Grand Finale of Your Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition
The long and contemplative return journey across the vast and elemental northern Tibetan plateau is itself a deeply profound experience that brings this extraordinary Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition to its most natural, fitting, and deeply satisfying conclusion. The immense landscape of the northern plateau is completely and overwhelmingly elemental in character — vast beyond easy comprehension, wind-scoured over countless millennia, ancient beyond imagination, and almost entirely untouched by human presence or any form of modern interference. Brilliant salt lakes shimmer magnificently across the sweeping open plain in every breathtaking shade of turquoise, cobalt, and deep emerald green, changing color hour by hour as the extraordinary plateau light shifts across the enormous sky. Wild kiang, the noble and magnificently fleet-footed Tibetan wild ass, graze in large and completely undisturbed herds across the sweeping high-altitude grasslands of the plateau. The extraordinary sky here, at this extreme altitude and in this immense and deeply humbling emptiness, seems somehow larger, cleaner, and more luminous than anywhere else on the entire face of the earth. This dramatic and unforgettable northern loop completes the full overland circuit triumphantly back to Lhasa through remote and rarely traveled terrain, making the Ngari Adventure Tour Tibet not simply a pilgrimage or a conventional sightseeing journey, but a genuine, demanding, and profoundly life-changing expedition into one of the last truly wild and sacred places remaining anywhere on our extraordinary planet.
Tibet Shambhala Adventure's Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition via the spectacular northern route is designed with the greatest care, deep expertise, and profound respect for travelers who truly understand that the most meaningful and unforgettable journeys in life are rarely the most comfortable or the most convenient ones. This is the complete and uncompromising Tibetan experience — sacred, remote, physically demanding, spiritually enriching, and utterly and permanently unforgettable in every possible way. If you are genuinely and wholeheartedly ready to cross the roof of the world on this ultimate Mount Kailash & Guge Kingdom Expedition, Tibet Shambhala Adventure is ready, deeply experienced, and truly honored to take you every single step of the way there.
| Days |
Trip Outline |
Daily Activity |
Accommodation |
Guide & Driver |
Meal |
| Day 01: |
Arrival in Lhasa, Altitude: 3,650 m Driving distance: 55 km, Driving time: 1–1.5 hours |
Lhasa Kyichu valley-View of Potala Palace-Round Jokang & Bharkor Bazzar
|
Hotel in Lhasa |
Local Tibetan |
B |
| Day 02: |
Visit Lhasa: Altitude: 3,650 m Driving distance: 5 km Walking time: 1–2 hours |
Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple & Barkhor Market |
Hotel in Lhasa |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 03: |
Visit Lhasa: Altitude: 3,650 m Driving distance: 28 km Walking time: 1–2 hours |
Drepung Monastery & Sera Monastery |
Hotel in Lhasa |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 04: |
Lhasa to Gyantse via Yamdrok Lake
Altitude: Gyantse 3,980 m Distance: 260 km Driving time: 6 hours Walking: 1 hour (viewpoints)
|
Lhasa-Quxui County-Gampala pass-Yamdrok lake-Karola glacier-Gyantse-Visit Palchoe monastery-Kubum Pagoda stupa |
Hotel in Gyantse |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 05: |
Gyantse to Shigatse
Altitude: 3,850 m Distance: 90 km Driving time: 1.00 hours Walking: 1 hours
|
Shigatse-Visit Tashi Lhunpo monastery-Tashi Lhunpo monastery Kora |
Hotel in Shiagtse |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 06: |
Shigatse to Sakya Monastery
Altitude: 4,300 m Distance: 150 km Driving time: 3 hours Hiking: 1.5 hours
|
Shigatse-Tsola pass-Sakya monastery-Hiking to the old ruins of northern Sakya monastery |
Hotel in Sakya |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 07: |
Sakya to Tashizom-EBC
Altitude: EBC 5,000 m-Tashizom- Distance: 340 km Driving time: 6–7 hours Walking: 1 hour
|
Sakya monastery-Pangla Pass-Great view of Himalayan Mountain range-Everest |
Hotel in Tashizom |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 08: |
Tashizom to Saga
Altitude: 4,640 m Distance: 327 km Driving time: 5-6 hours
|
Everest Base Camp-View of Mt Everest-Pekutso-Bramaputra River-Saga |
Hotel in Saga |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 09: |
Saga to Manasarovar Lake & Darchen
Altitude: 4,670 m Distance: 480 km Driving time: 8–9 hours
|
Saga-Drongba county-Sand dome view point-Baryang town-Duktso lake-Mansarovar lake-Kailash |
Hotel in Dharchen |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 10: |
Manasarovar Exploration
Altitude: 4,670 m Driving: 80 km Walking: 2–3 hours
|
Dharchen-Mansarovar lake-Chiu Gompa-Chiu Gompa |
Hotel in Dharchen |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 11: |
Kailash Kora Day 1
Route: Darchen to Dirapuk Distance: 20 km trekking Walking time: 6–7 hours Altitude: 5,080 m
|
Dharchen-Tarpoche-Viewpoint of Gyangdark monastery-Dhiraphuk monastery-Viepoint of Mt Kailash Northface |
Dorm basis |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 12: |
Route: Dirapuk to Dolma La Pass to Zuthulpuk Distance: 22 km Walking time: 9–10 hours Highest altitude: Dolma La Pass 5,630 m |
Dhiraphuk-Sky Burial-Drolma la pass-Zutrulphuk |
Drom basis |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 13: |
Finish Kailash Kora & Drive to Tirthapuri
Walking: 3-4 hours Driving: 60 km
|
Zutrulphuk-Yamadewa-Dharchen-Tirthapuri |
Guest house |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 14: |
Kyunglung & Tholing
Altitude: 3,800 m Distance: 260 km Driving: 5 hours
|
Kyunglung Guru Gyam-Bon monastery-Tholing-Tsamda |
Hotel in Tholing |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 15: |
Guge Kingdom Exploration
Distance: 34 km Driving: 1 hour
Walking: 2 hours
|
Guge Kingdom Sun Rise View-Visit Guge Kingdom-Visit Tholing monastery |
Hotel in Tholing |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 16: |
Tholing to Shiquanhe via Dungkar & Peyang Cave Complex
Altitude: 4,255 m
Distance: approx. 255 km
Driving time: approx. 5–6 hours
|
Tholing-visit Dungkar & Peyang cave-Shiquanhe known as Ali prefecture |
Hotel in Shiquanhe |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 17: |
Shiquanhe to Gertse
Altitude: 4,450 m Distance: 480 km Driving: 8 hours
|
Shiquanhe-Gegye county-Western plateau-Encounter Wild Animals-Salt lakes-Nomad Camp-Huge grassland-Gertse county |
Hotel in Gertse |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 18: |
Gertse to Sangsang
Altitude: 4,500 m Distance: 450 km Driving: 8 hours
|
Gertse-Tsochen-Tagyeltso-Tarabtso-22 Road workers station-Western Tibetan grassland- Sangsang |
Hotel in Sangsang |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 19: |
Sangsang to Lhasa
Distance: 520 km Driving time: 10 hours
|
Sangsang-Ngamring County-Ngamring lake-Shigatse-Lhasa |
Hotel in Lhasa |
Local Tibetan |
BB |
| Day 20: |
Departure from Lhasa Gongkar Airport
Altitude: 3,650 m
Distance: 55 km
Driving time: approx. 1.00 hours
|
View of the Great Potala Palace-Lhasa city-Kyichu valley-Lhasa Gongkar Airport |
End the trip |
|
|
Inclusive
- Accommodation as mentioned in the Kailash trekking program above or similar category, upgrading hotels are available for extra payment (Single room supplement required when single room is required or when single room is not available to be shared with others
- All entry fees to the sites and monasteries mentioned in the above Kailash trekking program
- Breakfast for entire Kailash tour
- All necessary Tibet tour entry and road permits
- Special Kailash permit
- 1 Knowledgeable English speaking Local Tibetan tour guide
- Kailash tour transportation by one good conditioned mini van, van, mini bus or bus according to the group size One time from downtown Lhasa to Gongkar airport transfer is included so the majority of the group transfer is included ( If your flight schedule is not the same as majority group, supplement of the airport transfer will be charged )
- Mt. Kailash and lake Mansarovar tour conservation fee
- Mt. Kailash trip conservative bus fee
- Yamdrok lake conservation fee
- Karola glacier conservation fee
- Everest conservation fee for all members, guide and driver
- Everest base camp conservative bus fee for both members and guide
- Welcomed scarf, a bottled of mineral water
- Touris accident and travel agent liability insurance
- First aid kit, such as bandages and other necessary things
- Different kinds of snack including biscuit, cheese, dried fruit, toast, coffee, tea, Jam for breakfast during the Kailash trek
- Oxygen in the Tibet tourist vehicle incase needed
Exclusive
- Both international and domestic flight ticket ( We can help you to book both international and domestic flight ) Train tickets ( We can help you to book your train tickets )
- Lunch and dinner for entire Kailash tour
- Service of maindland China or Nepalside ( If you need tour service in Nepal or mainland China, we can help you to arrange. Please tell our travel consultant about your required service details )
- Riding horse for Kailash trek
- Sleeping bag
- Personal airport pick up and guide
- Insurance including personal, medical, travel and evacuation insurance
- Personal expenses such as (alcoholic beverages, laundry, phone call, etc)
- Pack Yak and Yak men for Kailash trekking
- Porters for Kailash trek
- China visa ( We can assist you to get China group visa from Kathmandu )
- Single Room Supplement: Hotels are typically based on double occupancy with twin-bedded rooms. If you prefer a single room or cannot share a room, a single room supplement will apply. For exact pricing, please contact our travel consultant.
- Gratuities for the guide and driver: If you are pleased with their service, it is recommended to tip $7 (50 RMB) per person per day, to be divided between the guide and the driver.
- Any extra cost in the event of landslides or any other personal nature expenses that are not mentioned above or Additional costs incurred due to unforeseen circumstances (such as natural disasters, traffic restrictions, loss of valuables, visa processing delays, flight disruptions, cancellations, etc.)