The Kora starts in Darchen and initially follows the foothills at the fringe of the Plain of Barkha. An expanse of dust, sparsely scattered with gorse-like foliage, the plain stretches beneath the twin lakes of Manasarovar and Rakas Tal across to the Greater Himalaya, which mark the border with Nepal and India.

After skirting the foothills due west of Darchen for the first hour, the track rises in it's south-westernmost corner, and enters the Lha Chu Valley. The broad mouth of the Lha Chu valley - far greener than the plain we are leaving - is one of the spiritual 'hotspots' of the Kora.

Weather permitting, this offering the first good views of Kailas on the Kora. A Chorten and Tarboche (ritual flagpole) are surrounded by a large number of carved mani stones left by pilgrims over the ages.

Deserted in August, the mouth of the Lha Chu valley is the site of the Tarboche (flagpole) and Kailas' main Saga Dawa festival.

This natural theatre of the Lha Chu mouth is site of the Saga Dawa festival during the full moon of the fourth lunar month - currently around June.

The festival attracts both Buddhist and Bön-po pilgrims from across Tibet. Its culmination involves replacing prayerflags on the Tarboche ceremonially and jointly by both groups, though as ever with Buddhist pilgrims circling clockwise and Bön-po anticlockwise! Again, there are no signs of friction between the followers.

The festival marks the summer opening of Kailas season, and the ballooning of the regional population caused by the influx of pilgrims.