Western Tibet ( Ngari) མངའ་ ས་
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©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Western Tibet ( Ngari) མངའ་ ས་ Why Go? Ali . 173 Vast, thinly populated and with an average altitude of Mt Kailash . 175 over 4500m, Ngari is Tibet’s wild west, a rough and ready frontier occupying one of the remotest corners of Asia. For Lake Manasarovar . 178 most travellers the main attractions of what is likely to be Tirthapuri Hot Springs a three-week overland trip are the almost legendary des- & Kora . 179 tinations of Mt Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. Indeed, Guge Kingdom . .180 many of the pilgrims on this road have been planning a Dungkar & Piyang . .185 visit all their lives. For those less fussed by the spiritual Rutok . .186 signifi cance of Mt Kailash, getting to one of the most iso- lated and beautiful corners of high Asia is likely to be an attraction in itself. Until recently only the hardiest of travellers made it to Best Views western Tibet, but freshly paved roads and a new airport means that the region is on the verge of embracing mass » Humla Karnali Valley Chinese tourism. from Shepeling (Simbaling) Monastery (p 188 ) » Tagyel-tso, or anywhere along the northern route (p 170 ) » Mt Kailash floating over the waters of Rakshas Tal When to Go (p 178 ) May to June and mid-September to early October are the best times to head to Ngari, though June and July see Best Places off huge convoys of Indian pilgrims booking out entire hotels the Beaten Track on their way to Mt Kailash. April to October is best for the Drölma-la pass on the Kailash kora, as it’s normally » Gossul Monastery (p 179 ) blocked with snow during other months. » Ruins of Shangshung The festival of Saga Dawa in May/June is a particularly in the Khyunglung Valley popular time to visit Mt Kailash, and hundreds of pilgrims (p 181 ) and tourists descend on the mountain. Some fi nd the pil- grim atmosphere a highlight; others fi nd the large num- » Old Rutok (p 186 ) bers of trekking groups off -putting. Pangong-tso Dormar 164 I N D I A RutokὈὈὈὈὈ Rutok Xian Lurulangkar Tsaphuk Rumudong ALI LADAKH PREFECTURE Nganglong Jaggang Kangri ὈὈὈὈὈ(6596m) Chaktsakha Ali Tashigang Sengge Tsangpo Peri-tso (Indus River)Gegye Tsaka Wenbu Dangsang Gar Kunsha Zouzou Drungba Sherma Airport Sher-tso Lalung-la ὄ (5330m) SPITI Namru Daman Piyang Gar River Zhungba Tsaparang Dungkar Zhigon Zanda Sutlej 4938m Ba'er WESTERN TIBET (NGARI) (NGARI) TIBET WESTERN Checkpoint Yagra Manam R i Moincer Gunmidengli ve Mt Kailash Dawa r Gurugyam (6714m) Monastery Dongpo KINNAUR Kamet Darchen (7756m) Khyunglung G Barkha G Tirthapuri Rakshas Tal Checkpoint Hot Springs R Chiu Monastery Hor Qu a Mayum-la n Gurla-la (4715m) Lake (5220m) E Manasarovar g I N D I A Nanda Devi Toyo Gurla A (7817m) Purang Gung Checkpoint Mandata Gyu-tso Khojarnath (7728m) T Sher 219 Saipal UTTARANCHAL H (7050m) Simikot Pithoragarh I M A G a L n N E P A L g Kanjiroba e s A (6883m) R Y i v e Mahendranagar r A Rampur R A N The external boundaries of India on this map have not been authenticated and may not be correct Western Tibet Highlights 1 Join fellow pilgrims looking 2 Hike the sandy shores 3 Camp on the shores of to erase the sins of a lifetime of holy Lake Manasarovar the spectacular otherworldly on the three-day trek around (p 178 ), or just marvel at the lakes of Tagyel-tso (p 170 ), sacred Mt Kailash (p 175 ) intensely turquoise waters Dawa-tso (p 171 ) and Peiku- and snowcapped-mountain tso (p 168 ), as long as you are backdrop acclimatised.