We wake to a below freezing morning. I huddle in my sleeping bag as long as I can. After breakfast, we break camp and in small groups pick up the pilgrim trail. We follow the trail near a river and in the distance can see a wide plain, where we turn right to head back to Darchen. Compared to the previous two days of walking, the first three hours of walking is easy, a gradual descent with a few small ascents — and many majestic views. Mainly I walk alone, aware of my body and breath. Occasionally I smile with amazement at the unanticipated series of life-events that have brought me here.
The trail back to Darchen
The end of the kora is something of a let down. After the transfer point where the yaks trains are met by trucks, the trial turns into a dusty road with a strong head wind. At a fork in the road I am uncertain which one to choose, so I stand and wait for a group of Tibetan pilgrims to catch up to me, then follow along with them for the next twenty minutes. They seem to understand what I am doing, smile kindly, and invite me to sit with them when they stop for a rest.
The final approach to Darchen is especially grim: the area appears to be an unregulated dump strewn with glass, metal, and plastic.
Gritty Darchen, with Mt. Kailash in the background
Everyone in our group finishes the kora: some quicker, some slower, some with the help of a horse or a truck.
There is a confusion about our rooms. The guide finds an alternative, another Tibetan guesthouse — the nine of us will sleep in a room with eight beds.
During our afternoon in Darchen, everyone in the group visits the Chinese-run bath house, which advertises “God-healing water.” Somehow they produce vast quantities of hot water with a solar heater — it is appreciated.
