17-Day Nepal & Tibet Kailash Kora Tour

17 Days Across the Roof of the World

Days 1 to 4  |  Foundations of Faith

Land in Kathmandu (1,300m) and begin. Four days exploring the Kathmandu Valley's oldest sites, including the 4th-century Changu Narayan Temple, the Sleeping Vishnu at Budhanilkantha, and the golden courtyard of Patan. Meanwhile, our team handles the paperwork: China Group Visa, Tibet Travel Permit, and everything needed to cross the border without friction.

Days 5 to 6  |  Crossing the Roof

Drive the winding road to Kodari and cross the Friendship Bridge into Tibet. Immigration formalities at Zhangmu, then a drive through increasingly thin air to Nyalam (3,700m). Two nights here to rest and acclimatize before the plateau.

Days 7 to 9  |  The Holy Waters

Drive east past the holy Brahmaputra River toward Saga (4,600m), then across the Mayum La Pass (5,280m) for the first glimpse of Mt. Kailash. Arrive at Lake Mansarovar (4,585m). Perform the sacred Puja at the water's edge.

Days 10 to 12  |  The Kora

The three-day circumambulation of Mt. Kailash. Fifty-two kilometers on foot. The North Face at Dirapuk (4,860m). The Drolma La Pass at 5,200m. Down to Zuthulphuk Monastery, where the handprints of the ascetic Milarepa are still pressed into the cave wall.

Days 13 to 14  |  Return

The 455-kilometer drive back across the Tibetan plains to Nyalam, then across the Friendship Bridge and back into Nepal. The same landscape, seen differently now.

Days 15 to 16  |  The Pokhara Dream

Fly west to Pokhara. A sunrise at Sarangkot with Annapurna and Dhaulagiri filling the horizon. A boat on Phewa Lake. Davis Falls. The kind of stillness that only makes sense after seventeen days at altitude.

Day 17  |  The Final Blessing

Board the cable car to Manakamana Temple, the Wishes Fulfilling Goddess, for a final prayer before your international departure.

Day by Day

Day 1  Arrival in Kathmandu  (1,300m)

Your journey begins where most Himalayan journeys begin: Tribhuvan International Airport, with someone from our team waiting for you. Transfer to your 4-star hotel and settle in. Tonight, if you have the energy, step into Thamel, the old traveler's quarter of Kathmandu, full of antique shops, momos, and the low-grade hum of expeditions being planned. You are one of them now.

Stay: 4-Star Hotel, Kathmandu

Day 2  Kathmandu to Nagarkot  (2,175m)

32 kilometers northeast and 800 meters higher, Nagarkot sits above the valley fog with one of the clearest panoramas of the eastern Himalaya, including Mt. Everest. Drive up in the afternoon. Watch the sunset. Wake early tomorrow for the full show.

Stay: Resort in Nagarkot

Day 3  Nagarkot to Kathmandu via Bhaktapur and Changu Narayan

After sunrise over the Himalaya, descend to Bhaktapur, the most intact of the three Durbar Squares in the valley. The Golden Gate. The 55-Window Palace. The five-tiered Nyatapola Pagoda, which has stood through every earthquake Nepal has survived. Continue to Changu Narayan, Nepal's oldest Hindu temple, built in the 4th century and dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The stone carvings here belong in a museum but have never left the hillside they were made for.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel

Day 4  Kathmandu Guided Sightseeing and Permit Preparation

A full day in the valley before the plateau begins. The Sleeping Vishnu at Budhanilkantha is a 5-meter stone figure reclining in a lotus pond carved from a single boulder around the 7th century. Pashupatinath Temple on the banks of the Bagmati River is the most sacred Hindu site in Nepal. Patan Durbar Square and the Swayambhunath hilltop stupa. While you explore, our team finalizes your China Group Visa and Tibet Travel Permit. By tonight, the paperwork is done.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel

Day 5  Kathmandu to Nyalam  (3,700m)

Depart early for the mountains. The road climbs through terraced hills and drops toward the border at Kodari. Cross the Friendship Bridge into Tibet and complete Chinese immigration formalities at Zhangmu. Here you will meet your Tibetan team, the drivers and local guides who will be with you through the plateau sector. Continue the climb to Nyalam. The air is noticeably thinner. Eat light tonight.

Stay: 3-Star Hotel, Nyalam

Day 6  Acclimatization Day in Nyalam  (3,700m)

This day is not optional and not wasted. Your body is making real physiological adjustments, producing more red blood cells, expanding lung capacity, and recalibrating to the elevation. Rest, walk slowly, drink water, eat well. Do not push. The trek ahead requires a body that has been given time to adapt. This is how experienced Himalayan guides approach altitude: you earn the high passes by respecting the days before them.

Stay: Guest House, Nyalam

Day 7  Nyalam to Saga  (4,600m)

The plateau opens up today. Drive east across the high Tibetan plain, vast and brown and windswept and unlike anything you have seen before, past the holy Brahmaputra River with views of the Himalayan ranges to the south. Watch for nomadic yak herders whose lives at this altitude have changed less in 500 years than most of the world has changed in fifty.

Stay: Guest House, Saga

Day 8  Saga to Lake Mansarovar  (4,585m)

Today you cross the Mayum La Pass at 5,280 meters and see Mt. Kailash for the first time. Most guests go quiet at this point. The mountain is almost perfectly pyramidal, its four faces aligned with the cardinal directions, rising from the plateau in a way that seems geometrically deliberate. Drive down to the shores of Lake Mansarovar, the highest freshwater lake in the world. The water is the color of a clear sky.

Stay: Guest House near Lake Mansarovar

Day 9  Sacred Puja at Mansarovar

A day to stay. The Puja ceremony is performed at the lake's edge at dawn, when the water catches the first light and the mountain is reflected in it. After the ceremony there is time. Walk along the shore. Sit. Hindu pilgrims believe bathing in Mansarovar washes away the sins of a hundred lifetimes. You do not have to believe that to feel the weight of where you are.

Stay: Guest House, Mansarovar

Day 10  Mansarovar to Tarboche and Trek to Dirapuk  (4,860m)

The Kora begins. Drive to Tarboche, the ceremonial starting point of the circumambulation, marked by prayer flags and the Tarboche flagpole raised each year during the Saga Dawa festival. Begin the 16-kilometer trek to Dirapuk Guest House, positioned directly across from the North Face of Mt. Kailash. At this distance, the mountain is simply enormous. Most guests spend a long time just looking.

Stay: Guest House, Dirapuk

Day 11  Trek over Drolma La Pass to Zuthulphuk  (4,760m)

The hardest and most significant day of the journey. Trek 19 kilometers from Dirapuk over the Drolma La Pass at 5,200 meters, the highest point of the Kora and, for Tibetan Buddhists, the most sacred ground on the entire route. The pass is dedicated to the 21 Taras; pilgrims believe crossing it constitutes a rebirth. The descent brings you to Zuthulphuk Monastery, where the cave containing Milarepa's handprints is open to visitors. The handprints in the cave wall are not figurative. They are there.

Stay: Guest House, Zuthulphuk

Day 12  Zuthulphuk to Darchen and Drive to Paryang  (4,750m)

A final 10-kilometer walk brings you back to Darchen, where the vehicles will be waiting. Visit the local temples and stupas before beginning the 345-kilometer drive west to Paryang. The Kora is complete. Three days, 52 kilometers, one pass at 5,200 meters. The fatigue and the satisfaction are both real.

Stay: Guest House, Paryang

Day 13  Paryang to Nyalam

455 kilometers back across the Tibetan plains. The same landscape you drove through five days ago, but different now. You have done something since then. Arrive at Nyalam in the evening.

Stay: Guest House, Nyalam

Day 14  Return to Kathmandu

Complete Chinese immigration formalities at Zhangmu, cross the Friendship Bridge, and re-enter Nepal at Kodari. After Nepalese immigration, the scenic drive back down through the hills to Kathmandu. The hotel feels different now: the bed, the warm shower, the city noise outside. Rest tonight. You have earned it.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel

Day 15  Flight to Pokhara and Lakeside Discovery

A short flight west to Pokhara, Nepal's most beautiful city, where the Annapurna range rises directly above a lake so still it looks painted. Afternoon boat ride on Phewa Lake, past the small Barahi Temple built on an island in the water. Davis Falls is not a gentle waterfall but a powerful channel of water that drops into a deep underground cavern. This is a different Nepal than the plateau. Lush, warm, green.

Stay: Lakeside Hotel, Pokhara

Day 16  Sarangkot Sunrise and Return to Kathmandu

Wake before dawn for the drive to Sarangkot hill. At sunrise on a clear morning, the full Annapurna massif and the peak of Dhaulagiri are both visible, turning orange, then gold, then white as the light moves across them. After breakfast and a slow morning by the lake, fly back to Kathmandu for your final night.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel

Day 17  Manakamana Blessing and Departure

Drive to Kurintar and board the Manakamana cable car over lush hillsides to the temple of the Wishes-Fulfilling Goddess. A fitting last stop: a goddess said to grant sincere requests, at the end of a journey spent in the company of the world's most sacred mountains. Back to the base for lunch, then the final transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport for your departure.

Stay: International Departure

The Sherpa Standard

Every SherpaHolidays journey is fully supported. Here is what that means for this trip specifically.

Accommodation and Meals

• Kathmandu and Pokhara: 4-star hotel in Kathmandu; premium lakeside hotel in Pokhara.
• Tibetan Plateau: 3-star hotel in Nyalam; best-available guest houses throughout the Kailash sector.
• Tibet Meals: All meals included from Day 5 through Day 14, prepared hygienically for high-altitude conditions. City meals are on your own, giving you freedom to explore.

Leadership and Logistics

• Sherpa Trek Team: Professional Sherpa crew managing all food, camping equipment, and logistics during the Kailash Kora.
• Tibetan Guides and Vehicles: Licensed local Tibetan guides and 4WD Land Cruisers for all trans-Himalayan driving.
• Permit Management: Full handling of Chinese Group Visa and Tibet Travel Permits. We manage the paperwork so you do not have to.

Transport and Extras

• Internal Flights: Round-trip domestic flights between Kathmandu and Pokhara.
• Cable Car: Manakamana Cable Car tickets included.
• Private Vehicles: All overland transfers between Kathmandu and the Friendship Bridge.

What Is Not Included

• Chinese Group Visa and Nepal Visa fees
• Personal pony or porter hire during the Kailash Kora, available locally
• High-altitude travel and emergency evacuation insurance are mandatory for this trip. We can recommend providers.
• Tips for Tibetan drivers, guides, and Sherpa crew
• Personal expenses, souvenirs, and city meals
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Moments That Define This Trip

The Kailash Kora

Three days. 52 kilometers. A 5,200-meter pass. The circumambulation of Mt. Kailash is considered by Hindus to wash away a lifetime of sin and by Tibetan Buddhists to offer liberation from the cycle of rebirth. You do not have to subscribe to either belief to understand that walking around this mountain, in wind, at altitude, in silence, is not like other walks.

Mansarovar Puja

The Puja ceremony at the shore of the world's highest freshwater lake, performed at dawn, with Kailash reflected in the water behind you. For Hindu pilgrims, this lake is as sacred as the mountain above it. The ceremony is quiet, deliberate, and has been performed here for thousands of years.

Drolma La Pass at 5,200m

The highest point of the Kora is the most sacred ground on the route for Tibetan Buddhists. The pass is dedicated to the goddess Drolma, and crossing it is considered a symbolic death and rebirth. Whether or not you carry that framework with you, the physical experience of reaching 5,200 meters after days of trekking at altitude is something most people only do once.

Milarepa's Cave at Zuthulphuk

The great ascetic Milarepa, an 11th-century poet, yogi, and saint of Tibetan Buddhism, is said to have meditated at Zuthulphuk Monastery, leaving his handprints pressed into the cave wall. The handprints are still there. The monastery has been rebuilt around them. It is one of those places where the distance between the past and the present collapses unexpectedly.

Sarangkot Sunrise

From the hilltop of Sarangkot, the first light of morning hits the Annapurna massif and Dhaulagiri, two of the world's highest peaks, turning them orange, then gold, then white. This is Nepal's most celebrated sunrise view, and it earns the reputation. Coming after twelve days on the plateau, it is also, quietly, a kind of homecoming.