14-Day Mount Kailash Kora & Guge Kingdom Tour
Lhasa · Yamdrok Lake · Gyantse · Shigatse · Everest Base Camp · Saga · Mount Kailash · Manasarovar · Guge / Zanda
The Route
The great pilgrimage: Everest, Mount Kailash and the lost kingdom of Guge
This is the full journey to the far west of Tibet — fourteen days across Ngari, the 'roof of the roof of the world', combining the three-day pilgrim kora around sacred Mount Kailash, the north face of Everest, the holy lake of Manasarovar, and the haunting ruins of the Guge Kingdom at Zanda — a thousand-year-old cliff city most Kailash itineraries never reach.
The route is built for acclimatization and for awe: two days easing into Lhasa, a night beneath Everest, the long wild drive into Ngari past Shishapangma and Peiku Tso, then Kailash itself — the Tarboche valley, the sheer north face at Dirapuk, and the 5,630m Drolma La, the spiritual summit of the walk. Where most tours turn straight back, this one drops southwest to Guge and the Tholing monastery before the long road home through Shigatse.
A serious, high, profoundly rewarding trip. Hotels are the best available in each town — comfortable in Lhasa and Shigatse, simple in Saga and Darchen, dormitory beds on the kora itself. A private oxygen-equipped vehicle, an experienced Tibetan guide and all permits are arranged. Please read our altitude sickness guide and Mount Kailash pilgrimage guide before you book.
Trip Highlights
- ◆The complete three-day pilgrim kora around sacred Mount Kailash (6,638m)
- ◆Cross the Drolma La at 5,630m, the spiritual heart of the walk
- ◆Holy Lake Manasarovar and the dark 'ghost lake' of Rakshas Tal beside it
- ◆A night beneath Everest's north face at base camp, en route west
- ◆The Guge Kingdom at Zanda — a thousand-year-old cliff city of temples and murals
- ◆The wild Ngari plateau: Shishapangma, Peiku Tso and the empty roof of the world
Upcoming Departures
Guaranteed fixed-departure dates for this small-group tour. Private departures can run on any date you choose.
| Departure | Days | From (pp) | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 25 – Jul 8, 2026 | 14 | $2,250 | Guaranteed | Reserve → |
| Jul 15 – Jul 28, 2026 | 14 | $2,250 | Almost Full2 seats left | Enquire → |
| Aug 3 – Aug 16, 2026 | 14 | $2,250 | Almost Full2 seats left | Enquire → |
| Aug 25 – Sep 7, 2026 | 14 | $2,250 | Guaranteed | Reserve → |
| Sep 7 – Sep 20, 2026 | 14 | $2,250 | Open | Enquire → |
| Sep 23 – Oct 6, 2026 | 14 | $2,250 | Guaranteed | Reserve → |
| Oct 7 – Oct 20, 2026 | 14 | $2,350 | Open | Enquire → |
| Oct 19 – Nov 1, 2026 | 14 | $2,250 | Open | Enquire → |
Day-by-Day Itinerary
Arrive in Lhasa
Your Tibetan guide meets you at Lhasa's airport or station and brings you into the holy city at 3,650m. The far west of Tibet is a serious, high journey, and it starts with rest: the Kailash kora demands that you arrive well-acclimatized, so today is yours to settle into the Meikang Hotel, drink plenty of water, and let the altitude come slowly.
Overnight: Lhasa
Lhasa: Potala, Jokhang and the Barkhor
A day to acclimatize among Lhasa's greatest sights. The morning is the Potala Palace, the thousand-room winter palace of the Dalai Lamas on the Red Hill; the afternoon the seventh-century Jokhang, holiest temple in Tibet, and the Barkhor pilgrim circuit that turns endlessly around it. Walking gently at altitude today is the best possible preparation for the days ahead.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Lhasa
Lhasa to Shigatse via Yamdrok and Gyantse
West along the Friendship Highway. You cross the Gampa La to the turquoise coil of Yamdrok Lake, pass the Karola Glacier tumbling almost to the roadside, and stop at Gyantse for its tiered Kumbum stupa before reaching Shigatse, seat of the Panchen Lama. A gentle day by the standards of this trip — but the plateau is already vast and empty around you.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Shigatse
Shigatse to Everest Base Camp
Today you meet Everest. The road climbs over the Gyatso La and the Gawu La into the heart of the Himalaya, where on a clear morning four 8,000m giants line the skyline at once. You descend past Rongbuk, the highest monastery on earth, to base camp beneath the north face. Sleeping at 5,200m here is also training for Kailash — your body learns the thin air before the kora.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Heated tent / oxygen guesthouse at Everest Base Camp
Everest to Saga across western Tibet
A long, wild drive west into Ngari, the empty roof of the roof of the world. You leave the Everest region past the Shishapangma reserve — the only 8,000m peak entirely inside Tibet — and the milky-turquoise Peiku Tso beneath it, then follow the upper Yarlung Tsangpo across high plains grazed by wild asses and gazelle to the frontier town of Saga for the night.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Saga
Saga to Lake Manasarovar and Darchen
The most anticipated drive of all. You cross the Mayum La and the high Barga plain until, on the horizon, two sacred sights appear together: the perfect snow dome of Mount Kailash, holiest mountain in Asia, and the deep-blue waters of Lake Manasarovar with the dark ghost lake of Rakshas Tal beside it. You pause at the lakeshore, then drive to Darchen, the small town at Kailash's foot, to rest before the kora.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Darchen
Kora Day 1: Darchen to Dirapuk
The kora begins. From Darchen you walk into the Lha Chu valley beneath the towering west face of Kailash, passing the great Tarboche prayer-flag pole and the Chuku Monastery on its cliff. The trail follows the river up to Dirapuk, where the sheer north face of the mountain rises directly above your guesthouse — one of the most awe-inspiring camps in the Himalaya. Tonight is a dormitory bed at 5,210m; ponies and porters can be arranged.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Dormitory guesthouse, Dirapuk
Kora Day 2: Drolma La (5,630m) to Zutrulpuk
The hardest and most sacred day: the crossing of the Drolma La at 5,630m. You climb past the Shiva-tsal, where pilgrims leave a token of their old life, to the prayer-flag chaos of the pass itself, the spiritual heart of the kora. Beyond, a steep descent leads past the green Gauri Kund to the valley floor and on to Zutrulpuk, the cave of miracles of the poet-saint Milarepa, for the night.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Dormitory guesthouse, Zutrulpuk
Kora Day 3, then west to Zanda
A gentle final morning along the Zhong Chu gorge brings the kora full circle to Darchen — three days, one of the great pilgrim walks on earth, complete. After lunch and a well-earned rest you turn southwest and drop steadily off the high plateau toward Zanda, the road threading into the surreal canyons of the Zanda earth forest as the light goes gold. Overnight in Zanda, the air noticeably thicker.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Zanda
The Guge Kingdom and Tholing, return to Darchen
A morning among the ruins of a lost kingdom. Guge rose here a thousand years ago and vanished in the seventeenth century, leaving a honeycomb city of temples, tunnels and cave-dwellings carved into a ridge above the Sutlej, its chapels still holding extraordinary murals. You visit nearby Tholing, Guge's royal monastery, then drive back across the earth forest and high plains to Darchen for the night.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Darchen
Darchen to Saga
The long road back east. You leave Kailash behind — most travelers turn for one last look at the snow dome from the Barga plain — and retrace the Ngari highway across the wide, wild grasslands, with their herds and their salt lakes shining in the distance, to the frontier town of Saga for the night.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Saga
Saga to Shigatse
Another big driving day, but the plateau never tires the eye: snow ranges to the south, nomad camps and yak herds along the way, the road slowly dropping as you return toward central Tibet. By evening you reach Shigatse and the comfort of a proper hotel after the high, spare days in the far west.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Shigatse
Shigatse to Lhasa via Tashilhunpo
A morning at Tashilhunpo, the great gold-roofed monastery of the Panchen Lamas, before the highway carries you back along the Yarlung Tsangpo to Lhasa. After the immensity of Ngari, the holy city feels almost like home; the afternoon is free to rest, shop the Barkhor, or simply sit with everything you have seen.
Meals: Breakfast·Overnight: Lhasa
Departure from Lhasa
After breakfast your guide sees you off at Lhasa's airport or railway station. You have circled the most sacred mountain in Asia, stood beneath Everest, and walked through the ruins of the Guge kings — one of the great journeys left on earth, and one few travelers ever make.
Meals: Breakfast
What's Included
- ✓Tibet Travel Permit, Ngari/Ali military and frontier permits, and all required local permits
- ✓Licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide and private oxygen-equipped vehicle throughout
- ✓Hotels as listed: 4-star in Lhasa and Shigatse, the best available in Saga, Darchen and Zanda, and dormitory guesthouses on the kora
- ✓All entrance fees for the sites listed; breakfasts as listed
- ✓Airport / railway-station transfers per the itinerary
- ✓Service charges, government taxes and travel accident insurance
Not Included
- —International and domestic flights or trains to and from Lhasa (we book these on request)
- —Chinese visa (we can provide the documents you need to apply)
- —Lunches and dinners, and personal expenses
- —Pony and porter on the kora (arranged on request)
- —Single-room supplement where available (price on request); tips for your guide and driver
- —Costs arising from force majeure — weather, road, snow on the Drolma La, or permit closures
Accommodation
Hotels are the best available in each town: comfortable 4-star in Lhasa (Meikang or similar) and Shigatse (Gesar VIP / Mulun Lazong or similar), the Vienna Hotel in Saga, the Kangren in Darchen, and a simple guesthouse in Zanda. On the kora itself, at Dirapuk and Zutrulpuk, accommodation is a basic dormitory bed — the only option at this altitude, and part of the pilgrimage. A heated tent or oxygen guesthouse is used at Everest. Bring a warm sleeping bag for the kora nights.
Departures & Pricing
| Season | Per person |
|---|---|
| Shoulder (May, Sep–Oct) | $1,850 |
| Peak (Jun–Aug) | $2,050 |
| Saga Dawa festival | $2,250 |
| Golden Week | $2,350 |
per person, twin-share. Fixed small-group departures run on set dates — tell us your month and we'll confirm the next available group.
Frequently Asked Questions
The kora is three days of walking at very high altitude, including the 5,630m Drolma La — strenuous, but walked every year by pilgrims of all ages. You do not need technical skills, but you should be in good health, well-acclimatized (which this itinerary builds in), and comfortable on your feet for 6–8 hours a day. Ponies and porters can be arranged at Darchen. Please read our Mount Kailash pilgrimage guide.
Gallery
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