Mount Kailash & Lake Manasarovar

Location:	Lake Manasarovar
Mileage:	8,500

There’s only another 60 miles or so of dirt today, around Lake Pangong – this lake is part of China and India and represents disputed territory. The road around it is more dust and dirt, but the lake itself is a beautiful mirror image.

Everyone is relieved to leave the dirt behind. The tarmac is brand new and leads into Ali, the provincial capital. Finally fuel stations as we would recognise them – except they won’t fill motorcycles up at the pump - and a room as we’d know it WITH a shower – expect that we have to wait for two hours for hot water!

The following day is a blessing for all as it is tarmac the whole way. We have a break at a local tea house for chai – some like it for others its too sweet!

We pass the holy Mount Kailash and spend the night at the side of Lake Manasarovar – the highest fresh water lake in the world. Like Kailash, the lake is considered scared – drink some of its water and your sins are washed away for one hundred lifetimes. Anyway it costs £20 to get lakeside – yes, £20, so we keep our sinful behaviour and most wonder up to the local Tibetan monastery instead.

There’s no showers again tonight, just a plastic bowl of warm water for face and feet and the weather looks like it is closing in. I’m cooking a past special for the team from the van.