Guge, The Lost Kingdom

After my Mount Kailash Kora followed by a walk on the shores of  Lake Manasarovar in July 2002; the onward journey across the high and vast western Tibetan Plateau took us to a world of awesomeness -- the ruins of the Guge Kingdom.

I stood in awesome silence before this imposing, Guge, The Lost Kingdom

The Lost Kingdom of Guge is situated on the high, open and barren Tibetan Plateau in the most rugged regions; at an average altitude of 3700 metres above sea level. 

According to history, Guge was established around the 10th century -- the Tibetan Empire, known as Tubo; situated in the Sutlej valley, about 1900 kilometres west of Lhasa.
A once flourishing regional kingdom with great religious significance, it was the trading heartland of Guge. 
The constant conflict, friction and eventually invasion from the neighbouring regions may have brought about the demise of Guge in the mid-17th century.

Then again, how and why the kingdom and her people that had survived for about 700 years had mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind the ruins that cover a vast area  -- the palace with numerous rooms on the summit of the hilltop, the monasteries on the mountainsides and the cave dwellings at the foothills, will continue to be a puzzle. 

The maze of stairways -- the ascent and descent of each huge step to the summit of the palace ground, the hike in each nook and cranny in the cave dwellings; stepping back in that era, to fathom the birth and demise of an ancient civilization, had been most extraordinary. 

 The honeycomb-like stone ruins of the cave dwellings and passageways

 The ruins of cave dwellings at the mountainside

The ruins were mostly perched high on the rocks on the mountainside -- the most incredible engineering feat and structure!

The majestic Himalayan mountain range yonder

The several temples that house sacred relics, the murals in pristine condition, stone carving and sculpture tell the story of the artistic skills of the people. 

Descending the narrow labyrinth-like stone ruins stairway

One of the numerous cave dwellings -- the air within felt incredibly cool

Indeed, a truly enigmatic experience, to have had walked the land of this high open, vast ruins and, all of its surroundings; just the three of us, Sherrap and our Tibetan driver, on this day. 

Tholing Monstery 
According to history, this religious centre was built by the second king of Guge Kingdom in 996, perched on a crag in the mountains, at an altitude of about 3800 metres above sea level. 
"Tholing" in Tibetan means, 'hovering in the sky forever'. 

Journeying across The Wild West of Tibet

The immense Himalayas -- this region, at an average altitude of 4500 metres is remote, rugged, windy and cold.

The sacred Mount Kailash (6714m) and the sacred Lake Manasarovar (4588m) attract many local and international pilgrims; largely, the Buddhist, Hindus and Bonpo to this region.

 Lake Manasarovar --  there are several interesting ancient monasteries around the shores of the lake.

A vast unforgiving barren landscape with the snow-capped Himalayans mountain range in the distance

Feeling the heat at an altitude of over 4000 metres above sea level, this stretch of mountainscape appeared surreal -- the stark contrast of the desertscape, the turquoise lake and the endless snow-capped Himalayan mountain range.

Driving across diverse landscapes, windswept terrains, the climate often changes when the sun and snow happened within the same day. 

 Snowy journey through the mountain pass

We spotted some wild donkeys. Tashi captured this shot before it quickly disappeared! We saw some beautiful wild Tibetan black-necked cranes with red crown, when on our way to Mount Kailash. 

The Unpredictable

This happened in the remote, rugged terrain of the wild West when at times, there were no paved roads and, only the most experienced of Tibetan drivers could navigate in these regions.

While on our journey to Mount Kailash, our 4WD vehicle suddenly sank into soft ground. Sherrap had to call in a tow truck! The kind Tibetans appeared one after another and, happily gave us a helping hand. 

Back on the road again!!

I was not anxious when we got held up with this incident because Sherrap was with us. Nevertheless, I thought it was hilarious at that moment. We all had a good laugh after our vehicle got out of trouble!!

The one time I almost freaked out was in Mount Kailash, on the first day of our unguided trek, when Sherrap and our driver went away for hours to find helpers and yaks to carry our supplies for the kora.

This had been one of the most exhilarating wild journeys, in addition to the several amazing detours; the fortune to have had glimpses of the deep soul of The Wild West of Tibet and the Tibetan people in this region. 




Getting there

All foreign travellers are required to obtain the permit to travel to Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. Most Indian pilgrims would do the overland Kathmandu route while the few visitors would arrange to fly in by helicopter from Kathmandu though now it is easily accessible by flight. 
We flew into Lhasa from Chengdu, spent four nights in Lhasa. 
We took the overland route : Lhasa--Shigatse-Lhatse--Saga--Mayumla Pass--Darchen--The Kailash Kora on foot-Lake Manasarovar--Guge, The Lost Kingdom--Gar--Gertse--Tsochen--Shigatse--Lhasa.
We spent a further three nights in Lhasa before departing for Chengdu. 

Accommodation
We stayed in 3 star, local standard hotel in Lhasa. The rest of the route, we stayed in guesthouses or camped by the riversides. 

(June/July 2002)

A special "too-je-che" to our dear friend, Sherrap!!