Luxury Kailash Mansarovar Tour: Best Time
The weather of Tibet is well-known for its extreme features characterized by arid conditions, powerful winds, and inconsistent climate pattern throughout the year.
Generally, the favorable weather occurs between March to October which is why these months are the busiest Parikrama time as well. Usually, during these days, you will find the heat in Tibet reaching to 25 to 30 degrees Celsius while at night, you may feel chilling nights.
In April or June, you will see the raising of a new flagpole at the Tarboche Gate and be lucky ones to take part in the Saga Dawa Festival. In July and August, you may get wet with the frequent and sometimes heavy rains while at Dolmala Pass, you may even see snowfall.
You will also see massive flow of Hindu faithfuls in the full moon days of these months who seek to relieve themselves from the sins of their past hundred lives.
In September and October, Kailash experiences its most consistent weather, with comfortable temperatures around 8 to 9 degrees Celsius. However, from late October to February, the heat starts to drop ultimately reaching -36 degrees Celsius, accompanied by winds reaching speeds of 32 km per hour.
Kailash Mansarovar Luxury Package Tour: Difficulty Level and Challenges
Our Kailash Mansarovar luxury Package will not be like any other regular journey. It will be a true test of your endurance, physical strength, mental toughness, and determination.
On this adventure, you will have to go through significant changes in altitude, starting from Kathmandu at 1300 meters and quickly reaching heights between 4500 and 4700 meters.
The highest location and hardest section of this tour will be at the Dolmala Pass at 5600 m which needs vigilance and attention. You can ride on a horse’s back but not all the way as you will also have to care for the animal welfare.
You will also come across at least three high Tibetan Passes which you don’t have to tackle on feet but you will feel the altitude and air of above 5000 m elevation.
And how can we forget about the tough Tibetan climate, which features low oxygen levels and aridity. The terrain will also be quite rough with sands, rocks, stones, and glacial snowy trail.
Because of all these factors, the 15 days luxury Kailash Mansarovar tour is considered one of the toughest journeys in Tibet.
Who can be the eligible participants of our 15 days luxury Kailash Mansarovar Tour?
As for now, the Tourism Bureau of Tibet has enforced an age limit for the Kailash Mansarovar tour. These wishing to join the tour must of age between 10 to 75 years old, then only they can be qualified to obtain the permit for the Tibet travel.
Likewise, the Indian nationals must be between the age group of 18 and 70 years of age. This enforcement has been in place keeping the health considerations of travelers in mind.
The Kailash Mansarovar tour is already a hectic and hard journey mainly because of the high elevation and hard terrain. So even those who are in their prime can face some physical and mental discomforts.
The initial stage of the outer circuit is easy but the day involving the crossing of the Dolmala Pass is hard and long. To provide you the comfortable luxurious setting as much as possible, we will provide you horses for the entire outer circuit Kora followed by the private transport and the heli ride.
In several years of conducting our Kailash Mansarovar luxury package tour, we have taken adults aged 65 to 70, including those with extra weight who have successfully completed the journey only with minor discomforts.
For altitude sickness, we assure you that we supply supplemental oxygen.
Altitude Sickness and Acclimatization
Studies conducted over the years have suggested that the air in Ngari has less oxygen level than in other parts of the world. Thus, people who are new in Tibet often feel slight discomfort and suffer from the minor condition of Acute Mountain Sickness/AMS which is commonly known as altitude sickness.
During our 15 days luxury Kailash Mansarovar tour, we will be in between 4000 to 4500 m most of the time. We will be traversing at least three high passes that exceed 5000 m.
So the altitude may affect us even though we are traveling in the comfort of a private vehicle. To assist with your adaptation to the high Tibet air, we have arranged rest days in Kathmandu, including a short trip to Chandragiri Hill.
Additionally, you will spend an entire day in Kerung to adapt to the Tibetan environment. Then the trips to Saga and Lake Mansarovar are also relatively brief, so you will have half-day of rest to facilitate acclimatization.
We encourage all our guests to take the time to rest and stay well-hydrated from Kerung onwards as water helps in more oxygen absorption during this journey.
However, some travelers may still go through minor breathing trouble, sleep issues, digestive discomfort, and headaches. To ease these symptoms, you can take aspirin along with lemon water.
Like Tibetans, you should also add lemon and garlic in your diet. You can also start to take Diamox one to two tablet a day. When you take any medicine like aspirin or diamox, make sure you do not have any health condition that prohibit you from taking these drugs.
If you feel any problems, then please tell our guide who may provide you oxygen, take you to lower area or suggest delay your tour for a day or so if needed.
Preparation for our Kailash Mansarovar Luxury Package Tour
Our luxury Kailash Mansarovar tour is not just a physical challenge but it is also a journey of a mind. So we suggest you check out some informative videos about Kailash and Mansarovar, the climate types, and living conditions so you can make the most of your experience and set the right expectations.
As stated earlier, the main challenge of this journey comes from the high altitude and the less oxygen concentration so acclimatizing quickly is essential.
So we request you to follow what our tour guide suggest you, take the rest days very seriously and do not neglect the importance of rest and water intake.
You don’t have to walk a lot in this tour but we still recommend you to engage in some light exercises so you can be ready for some short up and down you may have to tackle on the tour.
Walking, running or jogging with some light stair climbing will be the beneficial activities for you along with a light trek to a local height of 3000 meters which can help your body adapt to high altitudes.
Also, ensure you are in very good health and if you have any infections, please wait until you are fully recovered. If you have heart, lung, and kidney issues, please talk with your doctor and get the medical clearance.
Sleeping and Eating Arrangements
When it comes to logistics of the tour, the name of our Kailash Mansarovar luxury package tour speaks for itself. We will provide you with a luxurious experience throughout your journey.
In Kathmandu, you will stay at a premier five-star hotel situated in a prime location of the city that offers stunning scenes along with easy access to local markets. Similarly, you can expect the same level of luxury on the Tibetan side also.
Up to Saga, you will have luxurious five-star hotel stays for your overnight rest. In Darchen, we will arrange for you to stay in world-class hotels.
While in Dirapuk, unlike other Kailash Mansarovar tours, we will accommodate you in a newly built guesthouse that offers more amenities than the monastery guesthouse. Since facilities at Zutulpuk are limited, we will transport you back to Darchen for a comfortable overnight stay.
As for eating arrangements, we will serve you three vegetarian meals daily, including dinners, lunches, and breakfasts. You can find excellent and diverse menus in all the hotels you stay ranging from local to international cuisine.
Only during the Kailash parikrama, you will have to settle with the simple local dishes such as lentils, naan, chapati, Tibetan bread for breakfasts and tofu, vegetable soups, rice etc for dinners and lunches. You can also find various tent tea houses where you can get some snacks, eggs, instant noodles, and hot water.
Transportation
As you set off for our 15 days luxury Kailash Mansarovar tour, you will have the ease of traveling in private transport which includes the services for airport transfers, city tours, and travel for Visa Applications.
A deluxe helicopter will transport you to Timure, and the same arrangement has been made for your return to Kathmandu. Once you are in Tibet, all your transport will take place in private bus, van, jeep, or car depending how many are traveling. We will also provide horses for your parikrama around Kailash.
Telephony and WiFi/Internet
To communicate in Kathmandu, you can find the local SIM cards from NTC/Namaste and NCELL which are available for purchase at various locations including near TIA.
You also have the option of using the eSIM of these networks which you can get when you are in your own country. You can activate the service yourself by scanning the QR code they send you.
The 4G internet you will receive on these networks will enable you to use the mobile internet at high speed and affordable cost. In Kathmandu, you will benefit from the high connection of free WiFi service.
In Tibet, our assigned Tibetan guide can help you with purchasing and activating the local mobile service. Mainly, China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom are available which also provide 5G mobile internet throughout Tibet.
If you wish to post your reels, selfies, and videos when you are in Tibet, then understand that yo have to have the reliable VPN app in your mobile. China don’t allow the usage of Google Applications, Instagram, Facebook or WhatsApp within its territory.
Guidelines, Permits, and Visa for the Kailash Mansarovar Luxury Package Tour
We have been facilitating the luxury Kailash Mansarovar tour for many years which has enabled to gain expertise in this area. So let us take care of all the formalities related to the tour.
Please keep in mind that any travel and tour in Tibet must be done as a part of an organized group tour which should be arranged through the government-licensed travel agency such as ours.
An independent travel inside Tibet is strictly prohibited and no unofficial intermediaries or travel agents can help you with this.
Moreover, when you are in Tibet for tours and travels, you must be in the company of a licensed local Tibetan guide and a private vehicle operated by a qualified driver.
A formal permit is also necessary for entry into Tibet, along with additional permits for specific locations such as Kailash. So once you confirm our luxury Kailash Mansarovar tour, you must forward us your official documents, including photos and passports.
We will then transmit these papers to our formal partners in Tibet who will take care of the permits. We therefore kindly ask you to reserve your place for our luxury Kailash Mansarovar tour at least one month early so we can complete the pre-arrangement procedures.
You will have to follow a few guidelines when you submit your papers to us:
- The measurement of your photo should be 51 mm X 51 mm
- The photo should have a white background
- You should not put on any glasses or makeup
- Your passport should have a validity time of six months minimum after your intended arrival date in Tibet
- Your passport must contain 2 to 3 blank pages
- A colored scanned copy of the passport is needed
In terms of permits, when traveling to Tibet through Kathmandu, the Chinese Group Visa and travel permit for Tibet are two compulsory requirements.
Additionally, to reach Kailash and Mansarovar, Foreign Affairs Permit, Alien Travel Permit and Military permit are also essential because of the sensitive location of Kailash Peak.
As your contact in Nepal, we will handle the arrangements for the Chinese Group Visa and Tibet Travel Permit while our Tibetan travel partner will take care of the other three permits.
The TTP is an official paper granted by the tourism bureau of Tibet permitting you to get around in its region. This simple document contains all your tour essential data such as your personal info, travel plan, your hotel of stay, your way of getting around and your arrival and leaving dates.
So once we apply for the TTP, please understand no single change can be made. Once we have your papers, we will be forwarding them to our official Tibet travel partner.
They will then look after the process and send us the official invitation letter which we will present in the Embassy of China in Kathmandu for the Group Visa.
TTP will be on hand only after ten to fifteen working days which will be received by our Tibetan guide who will keep it safe till we are in Tibet.
Please note that we as an entire group must collectively visit the embassy of China in Kathmandu to submit our documents and fingerprints for procuring the Chinese Group Visa. Also understand that the embassy will keep our original passports till the Visa issuance.
There are two ways to get this Visa: the normal standard procedure costing the payment of USD 175 for U.S. nationals and from USD 70 to USD 170 for other nationalities will take four days for the issuance.
The other is the express way costing USD 90 to USD 180 per participant, depending on nationality will take three days for the issuance of Visa.
The embassy will remain closed on every Saturdays and Sundays so please plan your arrival in Kathmandu on weekdays.
When we wait for our Visa, we will take this opportunity to explore the religious sites in the capital. Our team will handle the collection of visas and original passports for you.
Please know that for the entire group, only one Visa will be granted necessitating that all members get in and out of Tibet on the same day and time.