To the south side of Mount Kailash lies the holy Lake Manasarovar, the scenery around which is beautiful. It has been recognized as the “the center of the world” by Buddhism believers and Bonismo believers since ancient time. Lake Manasarovar has many roles: It is one of the three holy lakes in Tibet as well as the source of the four major rivers in Asia. Compared with the water of other freshwater lake, the water of Lake Manasarovar is the purest. Legend has it that Yao Chi (the place where Queen Mother lives) is located at Lake Manasarovar. For many centuries, all the pilgrims regard it the happiest thing if they could do kora around the lake and take a bath in it. Even normal tourists would agree that Lake Manasarovar is the king of all holy lakes once they have seen the lake themselves.
Lake Manasarovar is 4,575 meters above sea level and the circumference of the lake is about 60 kilometers. The actual length of a journey around the lake is related to the route. If you enjoy the scenery of the lake along the carriageway, the length is about 90 kilometers. If you enjoy the scenery of the lake along the lakeside, the total length is only about 85 kilometers.
There are generally two routes for tourists to enjoy the scenery around the lake, one with Qiwu Temple being the starting point and the other with Huo’er Village being the starting point. If you plan to enjoy the scenery of Mount Kailash first and then enjoy the scenery of Lake Manasarovar, you should choose Huo’er Village as the starting point, and then continue your journey in a clockwise direction. If you plan to enjoy the scenery of Lake Manasarovar first and then enjoy the scenery of Mount Kailash, you should choose Qiwu Temple as the starting point, and then continue your journey in a counter clockwise direction.
The terrain around Lake Manasarovar is relatively flat and there isn’t much ups and downs. Therefore, there are roads for vehicles to pass. Most of the tourists and photographers prefer to enjoy the scenery around the lake by cars, and they can also enjoy the scenery of Mount Kailash and Gurla Mandhata (the highest peak of the Nalakankar Himal, a small subrange of the Himalaya) along the way.
You can complete the journey around Lake Manasarovar by car within one day; by bike, two days; and on foot, three days. But you can also complete the journey in four days if you don’t want to be hurried.
According to the itinerary, tourists can enjoy the scenery of Lake Manasarovar for half a day. Because the scenery around the lake is quite similar, so half a day is enough. We hope that you could spend more time on the landscape which are more beautiful and magnificent. If you have been to Tibet for many times before and only want to walk around the lake this time, please contact us and we will tailor a private itinerary based on your own requirement.
The terrain around Lake Manasarovar is relatively flat. Therefore, tourists can complete a journey around the lake faster than the journey around Mount Kailash, with a speed of around 30km/day.
The scenery around the lake is different in four seasons. When you are walking around the lake, all you can see has nothing different. Therefore, tourists are suggested to enjoy the scenery around the lake by car, and when there is better scenery on the way, they can walk for a while. In this way, tourists can not only save time, but can also enjoy all the scenery around the lake.
The best time to enjoy the scenery around the lake on foot is May-June and September-October, when the weather is relatively pleasant and it barely rains or snows. So the road conditions can be better during this period, and cars can pass easily .
You can see the beauty of Lake Manasarovar at any time of the year by car. The snow melts in spring; the sky is rather blue in summer; the weather is cool in summer; and it snows in winter. You can go there at any time for pilgrimages or sightseeing.
The Qiwu Temple located to the west side of Lake Manasarovar is the best location to enjoy and take pictures of the scenery of Lake Manasarovar.
And the excellent scenery along the section between Sewalong Monastery (to the east side of the lake) and Chugu Temple (to the south side of the lake) is one of the favorite for photographers. If you take pictures from the Sewalong Monastery- Chugu Temple section, you can also take pictures of both the lake and Mount Kailash Besides, you can also get a far view of Gurla Mandhata from this section.
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