The 52-km circumambulation of Tibet's Mount Kailash is no ordinary trek

This involved walking five hours on the moraine of a small glacier that comes off the north face of Kailash

It felt like I was standing naked before the gods. I had woken up before first light and gone out into the biting cold to see if I could catch a glimpse of Mount Kailash and make a prayer for fair weather for my journey. It was the most daunting day of my Kora, the four-day, 52-km circumambulation of Kailash. Today, over the course of 18.5 km I would climb 1,900 ft through the Hla Chu valley to the highest point at Dolma La Pass (18,500 ft), and then make a steep, 2,600-ft descent into the Dzong Chu valley. Campfire