The trek to Kailash and Manasarovar was a divine intervention, a design by the great ecosystem called Nature. It was not just calling me — it seduced me, cast me under its spell and led me by an invisible hand. For 32 days, I was in a trance — traversing range after range, crossing high-altitude passes, jumping over brooks, feeling every living and inanimate being in conversation with me. The silence spoke. In that rarefied atmosphere, hunger, thirst and aches were inconsequential. What mattered were the mountains, their wonder, the awe and my insignificance. Kailash: Jewel of the Snows is an account of that interlude, which swings me time and again to the Himalayas.

 

It is not about running away from cities, home or responsibilities; it is about craving and desire for that which makes me feel alive. Thousands of feet above on a mountain top, closer to the stars and, possibly, the heavens, the universe throbs inside me, it talks to me.

No sooner I am in the plains than I start planning the next trip. One thing that saddens me the most is leaving the mountains and heading down. It is like parting from the beloved. It is agonising; the longing is so strong that I feel like turning back midway to return to the snow-clad peaks, rocky cliffs, glacial streams and scent of the pine and deodar. The unending trails lead you to the top, the place where you are one not just with nature but with your inner self — where nothing but peace prevails. We are in love, mountains and I.

Rajinder Arora is a Delhi-based mountaineer and entrepreneur

Beasts of burden: Jhabbus — brethren of the Tibetan yak — carry the goods of a nomadic caravan along Lake Manasarovar

Men in charge: Trekkers depend on Tibetan porters to see them through to the destination. In this image, the author catches his breath at Lipulekh pass

Seeking nirvana: Prayer flags and chortens (Buddhist stupas) are a common sight along the trek route to Mount Kailash. An image from Dolma La, a pass above 18,000 ft

The myth flows on: Many Hindus believe that Lord Brahma, said to be the creator of Lake Manasarovar, floats in it in the form of a swan

Take me along: Though a road has reached the banks of the Manasarovar, the circumambulation or parikrama of the freshwater lake requires considerable effort

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Holy abode: Mount Kailash, together with Lake Manasarovar, is the most sacred place on Earth for millions of Hindus, Buddhists and Jains
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