Our sense of time had started to blur. We’d gone through four flights in two days and whirled through five airports with immigration and biometric processes that felt endless. Sleep and oxygen-deprived on the third morning at an altitude of 15,000 feet plus (nearly 4,650 metres). Finally driving towards our destination – 60 kilometres away from the Ali Pulan airport (Burang county) in Tibet, the roof of the world. Some are curious if their hair and nails would grow fast in the land where theories abound of electromagnetic waves. In the middle of a video recording on the bus, the jaw-dropping happened. The sun-kissed, splendid blue lake and majestic snowcapped crown peaking from behind the brown arid range left us speechless. The sacred mountain and lake that we saw momentarily through floating clouds from the aircraft were now in close range. The child-like excitement on the flight was transformed into an overwhelming emotion in the bus that needed some quiet. Then journalistic greed set in to capture visuals as the mountain presented new facets from every direction. We were about to document the challenging trek towards the revered Kailash Mansarovar.
The Journey
“This year, we are marking the 75th year of the establishment of diplomatic relations between our countries. We appreciate that the Kailash Manasarovar Yatra has also resumed after a gap of five years. I thank the Chinese side for their cooperation on this matter,” said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to his counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing on 14th July on the sidelines of the SCO council of ministers meeting.