Mount Kailash & Manasarovar Kora Tour

A 14-day Kailash yatra from Singapore on HSJ's itinerary usually needs about 10 working days of annual leave, because 14 consecutive days span two weekends. Day 1 is your arrival at Lhasa Gonggar Airport and Day 14 is your departure, so both are travel days, and routes from Singapore connect through Chengdu or Chongqing, so you may need to leave Singapore the day before Day 1 depending on your connection. Day 13 is already a buffer day in Lhasa, held in case snow, road repairs or weather on the kora delay the return, which protects your flight home.

Travellers from Singapore reach the Kailash tour by flying to Lhasa Gonggar Airport, connecting through Chengdu or Chongqing and sometimes Kunming or Xi'an. Flights to and from Lhasa, including from Singapore, are not included, and HSJ confirms the best routing when you book. Your Tibetan guide meets you at Lhasa Gonggar Airport for the transfer of about 1 hour into the city and takes you back on Day 14. The overland borders with Nepal are closed, so this tour starts and ends in Lhasa rather than Kathmandu. Tibet uses Beijing time, the same as Singapore.

HSJ prices its Mount Kailash tour per person in Singapore dollars on a twin-share basis, and the price for each departure is shown in the dates and prices table on this page; the single supplement applies to hotel nights only. The price covers 13 nights of hotels and guesthouses, all four Kailash permits, a licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide, a second staff member and one porter per traveller on the kora, an air-conditioned vehicle with a professional driver, oxygen, daily pulse oximeter checks, breakfast daily from Day 2, all meals from Day 7 to Day 12, a farewell dinner and entrance fees. Budget separately for flights, insurance, horses, other meals and tips.

The best months for Mount Kailash on this tour are May to June and September to October, when the weather on the kora is most settled. The Singapore June school holidays fall inside that window, though nights on the kora drop well below freezing even in summer. The year-end holidays from mid-November to December are outside the listed seasons. Tibet and the Kailash area can close to foreign visitors at short notice. No departures are listed at the moment, so dates can be requested through the enquiry form, and they appear in the dates table on this page when open.

The Kailash kora needs good walking fitness, and HSJ grades this tour 4 out of 5 because you walk about 52 km in three days at altitude, including a 7 to 9 hour day over Drolma La at 5,630 m. The path is non-technical, but every step above 5,000 m is slow. Train for several weeks before you go with stair climbing, long weekend walks carrying a daypack, and leg work such as squats, lunges and step-ups. The rest of the trip is by vehicle, with long days on the road of up to 8 to 9 hours. A porter carries your overnight bag on the kora.

The Kailash tour climbs in steps before Drolma La at 5,630 m, starting with three nights in Lhasa at about 3,650 m. You then sleep in Shigatse at about 3,840 m, Saga at about 4,600 m, Lake Manasarovar at 4,590 m and Darchen at about 4,600 m, with a restful afternoon in Darchen before the kora. The highest night is Dirapuk at about 4,900 m, and Zutulpuk is about 4,790 m. Your guide takes a pulse oximeter reading every morning, there is oxygen in every vehicle and with the guide on the kora, and every traveller completes a pre-trip health questionnaire.

A porter for the Kailash kora is included on this tour, one per traveller, to carry your overnight bag, so you walk with only a small daypack. A horse can be booked in advance at extra cost if you would rather ride, but horses go only to the top of Drolma La, and riders walk the steep descent past Gauri Kund on the far side, so a horse does not remove all of the walking. A second staff member walks with the group, so slower walkers and faster walkers can keep their own pace, and the guide carries oxygen.

The guesthouses on the Kailash kora at Dirapuk and Zutulpuk are basic: shared rooms of two to four, pit toilets, no showers and unheated rooms with warm bedding. The lakeside guesthouse at Manasarovar is a little more comfortable, and the hotels in Saga and Darchen are simple but have private bathrooms. All meals are included from Day 7 to Day 12. Vegetarian and Jain-friendly meals are planned in advance with the crew, so tell HSJ your exact requirements when you book. Choices in the far west are simple, so some travellers bring familiar dry snacks from Singapore.

Mount Kailash can be visited on this tour without walking the kora: travellers who prefer not to trek stay in Darchen, at the foot of the mountain, while the group walks, and rejoin them on Day 10. You still see Lake Manasarovar, Chiu Monastery and Kailash from the plain. HSJ sets no fixed age limit; what matters is health at altitude, which age alone does not predict. Every traveller completes the pre-trip health questionnaire, and if you have heart or lung conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes or past altitude problems, speak to your doctor before booking.

Singaporeans need four permits for Mount Kailash: the Tibet Travel Permit, the Alien's Travel Permit, the Military Permit and the Foreign Affairs Permit, all arranged by HSJ and included, with your guide presenting them at checkpoints. Singapore passport holders can currently enter mainland China visa-free for up to 30 days, but that does not replace the Tibet permits. Book at least 45 days ahead so there is time to process them. Travel insurance covering trekking to at least 5,700 m and emergency evacuation is required and not included. Rules can change, so check before you travel.

Solo travellers can join HSJ's Kailash journey as a small-group departure of 2 to 12 travellers, led by a licensed English-speaking Tibetan guide with a second staff member on the kora, and the same itinerary can also be booked privately for your own family or friends. The price is per person on a twin-share basis. A solo traveller who wants a room alone pays the single supplement, which covers hotel nights only, because the guesthouses at Dirapuk and Zutulpuk have shared rooms and no private rooms. Private dates can be requested through the enquiry form.