“It is when the mountains sigh, that the world is tested”
Apologies as there has been little in the way of postings due to that ‘ever-clever’ issue of technology which has plagued me.
At present in preparation for a two-week expedition beginning October 24th, around Kawa Karpo with comrade in all things mountain related, Michael Kleinwort. An ideal time to go as northwestern Yunnan province as it will be dry, cold and clear. Michael and I are honoured that the route itself still exists in much the same way it has for centuries and that man hasn’t yet muscled roads and too much technology in. There are two routes: the inner kora (circumambulation) which takes less than a week, and the outer kora which takes about a dozen days depending on the weather, our quadriceps and of course how much impulsive wandering we do.
One of the Tibetan world’s most holy mountains and a vital confluence point along the great Tea Horse Road, Kawa Karpo (Meili Snow Mountain) stands as a geographic and cultural pillar spiraling 6,470 metres into the sky. One of the great mountain adventures, Kawa Karpo (White Pillar in Tibetan) sits along the northwestern Yunnan border with Tibet.
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Within the rock and snow lie villages like this one of Lado (Hand of Stone) which lie along the old Tea Horse Road, which we will pass through
Never climbed, worshipped as a deity, the perpetually snow-clad mountain (and his equally stunning ‘wife’, Metsomo) are icons of the Buddhist world. Part trade route, part pilgrimage route and an ancient migration path into and out of the eastern most extension of the Himalayas, the meandering pathways of the circumambulation are fading testaments to a time of unending movement through the ancient kingdom of Jo (present day Deqin).
To circumambulate the grand range still is considered one of the sacred journeys a Tibetan can make in a lifetime, viewed as a feat that can wipe away the sins of a life; a two week odyssey that takes in ever-shifting altitudes from 1,800 meters to the great Shola Pass at 4,800 metres. It is at Shola Pass that our own team during the Tea Horse Road expedition of 2006 almost lost old friend and trek mate, Dakpa Kelden.
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Exceptional for its extremes, my last experience on the 4,800 metre Shola pass reminded of the unpredictability of weather. Our group split into two and were encased in a blizzard in minutes.
Blizzards can strike eight months of the year and every Spring, the fallen bodies of unsuccessful travelers are discovered in the snows.
With the technology fates willing, I will be posting from the trek site itself…if not we will post after the journey.
My prayers & best wishes go with you on your impending trek, Jeff! I look foward to your reports from the route, as well as your usual magnificent pictures. (I assume that you will be taking the harder outer kora. Is this correct?)
I will raise a cup of the green on my end on Oct. 24th to wish you well!
Best wishes,
Peter
As always, a warm felt thanks for the wishes. We arrived safely, dustily and need of laundering facilities. Upcoming posts are on the way from the journey.
Hope you are well Peter.
Jeff
Hello Jeff
We are two swiss cyclers. we cycled the last 7 weeks from xining to shangri la. during our trip we also made the kora around the amnye machen with yaks. kawa karpo is also one of our target. so just now we read about you and your trip around the kawa karpo.
we stay now in shangri la and are shortly before heading to deqin. are you still preparing the trip? would it be a possibility to join you?
thank you for a reply.
sascha+simone
Sorry, just returning to Zhongdian…just finished our kora. We had no coverage so couldn’t respond earlier.
Hope your trip unfolds well….there is heavy snow in the passes so be ready. Will be posting in the coming days of our own journey. Enjoy and kora well…
Jeff