Tarboche

Tarboche is a flagpole in a wide valley, and it is one of the most significant places in western Tibet. This is where the Kailash kora begins in earnest: the track from Darchen runs up into the Lha Chu valley, the walls close in, and at Tarboche the mountain's outer circuit formally starts.

Just beyond it stands Yam Dwar — the gate of Yama, lord of death — through which Hindu pilgrims pass to begin the circuit. Walking through it is understood as a symbolic death and rebirth, which is the frame the whole kora is walked in.

The flagpole at Saga Dawa

Once a year, at Saga Dawa — the full moon of the fourth Tibetan month, marking the Buddha's birth, enlightenment and passing — the pole is taken down, re-dressed with new prayer flags, and raised again. Thousands come for it. The pole must end up perfectly vertical: a lean is read as a bad omen for the year ahead, and the raising is managed with enormous care and considerable tension.

It is the largest gathering of the Tibetan year in this region, and if your dates are flexible it is worth building an itinerary around — with the corollary that everything from permits to guesthouse beds is under pressure that week.

The rest of the year

Outside the festival Tarboche is quiet: the pole, its flags, a scatter of mani stones and the valley walls. There is a sky-burial ground nearby associated with the 84 mahasiddhas, and the ordinary courtesy applies with unusual force — it is in use, and it is not a viewpoint.