Mount Kailash Tour with Everest Base Camp

May to October is the open season for Mount Kailash and the Tibet Autonomous Region, and most groups travel between May and September to avoid the harshest weather. April and October are possible but cold, with snow on Dolma La. The Tibet border with Nepal is typically open year-round, but the CMA permit issuance schedule follows Beijing's rules and can close with little notice, so confirm permit availability with Swotah before you book.

June to August brings the warmest days but also the monsoon's northern arm, which can affect the Kailash region with afternoon rain and occasional road closures. May and September give the most stable weather and clearest skies for both EBC and Kailash. The Saga Dawa festival, the most auspicious time for the Kora, falls on the full moon of the fourth Tibetan month, usually in May or June; permit quotas fill faster during that period. Winter (November to March) is effectively closed due to snow and restricted permits.

Visiting Tibet as a foreign national requires three documents beyond a standard Chinese visa: the Tibet Travel Permit (TTP) issued by the Tibet Tourism Bureau, the Alien's Travel Permit (ATP, also called the CMA permit) for areas outside Lhasa including Shigatse, Gyantse and the Kailash region, and the Military Area Permit for the Ngari (Kailash) region specifically. A standard Chinese tourist visa alone does not permit entry to Tibet. Swotah handles all three permits as part of the group booking, but permits are issued to groups and cannot be processed for independent travellers.

Processing the Tibet Travel Permit takes approximately 20 working days and requires a scanned copy of your Chinese visa and passport. The ATP and Military Permit are arranged in Lhasa after arrival. Nationals of certain countries (including citizens of the US, UK and Germany) have faced periodic restriction on Tibet entry; check current regulations with Swotah as part of the booking process. Bring six photocopies of your passport and visa for permit checks along the route.

Accommodation on this tour ranges from comfortable three-star hotels in Lhasa and Shigatse to basic guesthouses on the Kailash Kora. Lhasa nights are at a centrally located hotel near the Barkhor, with en-suite bathrooms and hot water. Shigatse and Gyantse offer similar three-star standard. In Saga and Darchen, guesthouses are functional but simple, with shared bathrooms common. At Rongpuk, the monastery guesthouse at about 5,000 m is the highest permanent accommodation on the route, with basic rooms and limited heating.

On the Kora itself, Diraphuk guesthouse (day 8) and Zuthulphuk guesthouse (day 9) are small Tibetan teahouses with dormitory or basic twin rooms, no hot water, and no guaranteed electricity. A sleeping bag rated to at least -10 C is essential. Swotah books all accommodation in advance; on a group tour this is the only way to guarantee a room at Diraphuk, which has very limited capacity.

Food on the road sections of this tour is Tibetan and Chinese in equal measure: tsampa (roasted barley flour), butter tea, thukpa (noodle soup), momos (dumplings) and rice-based Chinese dishes are all standard. Hotels in Lhasa and Shigatse have broader menus with Western options. Vegetarian food is easy to find and Tibetan cuisine is largely plant-based away from the cities.

Drinking water safety is a genuine concern above 4,000 m. Bottled water is available at every town and guesthouse, but on the Kora between checkpoints it is not reliably stocked. Swotah recommends carrying a water filter or iodine tablets as a backup. Do not drink untreated stream water anywhere on the route. At Dolma La and above, eating and drinking a little at regular intervals, even without appetite, helps maintain energy and reduces the risk of altitude-related symptoms.

Lhasa is the start and finish point for this tour. The most direct access from Nepal is the Tibet border crossing at Gyirong (Kerung), a roughly eight-hour drive from Kathmandu with group permits pre-cleared; this route is open seasonally. From mainland China, Tibet Airlines and Air China fly direct to Lhasa Gonggar Airport from Chengdu (two hours), Chongqing and Beijing; the Qinghai-Tibet Railway from Xining is a slower but popular option at 21 hours.

All arrivals must hold a valid Tibet Travel Permit before boarding any flight or train to Lhasa; airlines and rail staff check permits at the gate. Swotah coordinates permit logistics and advises on the entry route that best matches your existing visa. Once in Tibet, the entire itinerary runs in private Land Cruisers organised by Swotah's Lhasa partner, so no further independent transport arrangements are needed.

The Kailash Kora is a 52 km circumambulation of Mount Kailash (6,638 m) completed over three days on foot. Kailash is considered the axis mundi in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon cosmologies, and pilgrims from across Asia complete the circuit as an act of devotion. The Kora begins and ends at Darchen (4,560 m), the small town at the southern base of the mountain, and travels clockwise for Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims.

Day one follows the Lha Chu valley 20 km north to Diraphuk (4,700 m), a guesthouse below the north face of Kailash. The views of the north face are the most dramatic on the entire circuit. Day two is the Dolma La day: the climb to the pass at 5,630 m is steep and gains about 900 m from the overnight point, taking most walkers three to four hours from camp. The descent to Zuthulphuk (4,790 m) is long and the knees take the load. Day three is a short seven-kilometre walk back to Darchen. Yaks carry luggage between camps so you trek with a light daypack.

The Tibet-side Everest Base Camp (5,200 m) is reached via the Rongpuk Valley on the north side of the mountain, approached from Shigatse along the Friendship Highway. The Rongpuk Monastery (5,000 m) is the highest monastery in the world and gives an unobstructed view of Everest's North Face from the valley floor. The base camp itself is the staging area for expeditions on the North Ridge and Northeast Ridge routes.

Unlike the Nepal-side Base Camp at 5,364 m, the Tibet-side camp at 5,200 m is accessed entirely by road from Rongpuk, so there is no trekking required to reach it. This means the acclimatisation context is different: you arrive by vehicle at altitude rather than walking in over several days. The overnight stay at Rongpuk is deliberately slow-paced to allow the body to adjust before the long drive west toward Kailash. Photography conditions on the north face are best in morning light.

Mobile connectivity across Tibet is provided by China Mobile and China Unicom on a 4G network. SIM cards issued outside mainland China (including Nepal SIMs) do not work in Tibet; a Chinese SIM purchased in Lhasa or Chengdu is the only option. Note that WhatsApp, Google services, Instagram and most Western social-media apps are blocked in China; a VPN must be downloaded and tested before entering China.

Hotels in Lhasa and Shigatse have Wi-Fi, though speeds are often slow due to the Great Firewall overhead. On the Kora, there is no reliable Wi-Fi, and electricity at the guesthouses at Diraphuk and Zuthulphuk is limited to a few hours each evening from a generator. Bring a power bank with at least 20,000 mAh and pre-download offline maps (Maps.me works well for the Kailash region) before leaving Lhasa.

Responsible travel in Tibet has political and cultural dimensions beyond the environmental. Photography of military installations, checkpoints and security personnel is prohibited and can result in permit cancellation. Follow your guide's instructions at all sites; some areas of the Jokhang and Potala have photography restrictions that are enforced. The Kailash Kora is an active pilgrimage, not a tourist trail: walk clockwise, do not circumvent queues at the Dolma La prayer flags, remove hats at guesthouses and stupas, and do not play loud music.

Tipping is customary but not fixed: a common guideline is USD 8 to 12 per day for the guide and USD 5 to 8 per day for the driver, paid at the end of the tour in cash. On the Kora, yak handlers are tipped separately at Darchen after the circuit is complete. Carry USD 100 to 150 in small bills specifically for tips. Supporting local guesthouses on the Kora rather than carrying all food from Lhasa also puts income directly into the Kailash community.