After taking a few moments to appreciate the view, they all piled back into the Land Rovers and headed for the village of Darchen which was situated at the base of the holy mountain itself. Many of the people who came to Kailash were content to pitch tents on the outskirts of town, but there were a few hotels offering indoor shelter. The Arkana group selected an establishment which advertised itself as a grand hotel. Considering the rest of the bare-bones lodgings in town, maybe it had a right to that title. It was certainly grand by the standards of what they’d encountered so far. Although the hotel didn’t have much in the way of amenities, at least the mattresses rested on bed frames. Cassie was even able to claim the luxury of a room to herself because it was the end of the season and business was slow.
A gentle knock at the door interrupted her thoughts.
Griffin poked his head in. “The fellows are waiting to guide us up the mountain. Are you ready?”
Cassie moaned, struggling to sit up. “Not even close but let’s go anyway.”
***
A half hour later, the little party had labored up the steep incline from the town to reach the path that circled the mountain. Unlike the balmy weather in Kathmandu, the temperature here was barely above freezing. The air felt bone-chilling and dry while the incessant wind blew dirt everywhere. The eeriest feature of the landscape was a complete absence of trees. There was no rustling of leaves. Out here, the wind blew unopposed, and the sound it made seemed hollow and ghostly. The mountains formed a pretty backdrop, but the plateau itself looked and felt bleak—an endless stretch of cold desert four miles above sea level. Even wildlife seemed to shun the barren expanse with the exception of stray dogs sniffing hopefully for scraps of food. Cassie found herself wondering how anybody could scratch out a living in terrain like this. Polyandry was starting to make sense to her now.
As they travelled upward on the trail, they paused to contemplate the peak towering directly above them. It was understandable that this mountain had been singled out as a spiritual symbol by so many religions. Some of them even considered it to be the center of the universe. The summit was oddly symmetrical. It formed a perfect four-sided pyramid without any jagged edges. Unlike some of the neighboring mountains, the top of Kailash was completely covered by snow, and its white cap made it conspicuous for miles around.
The site drew the faithful like a magnet. The Arkana group passed numerous pilgrims walking the path around the base of the mountain. A few of these parties were accompanied by guides and yaks to carry their supplies. The animals wore bells or brightly colored yarn twisted into their thick hair. They seemed unconcerned by the heavy packs strapped to their backs as they picked their way nimbly over the rock-strewn mountainside, occasionally stopping to graze on the pitifully sparse clumps of grass which grew at wide intervals.
The twins informed them that the trail around Kailash measured thirty-two miles. Hindus, Buddhists, and Jainists walked it clockwise. Followers of Bön moved counter-clockwise around the mountain. Some of the hardier pilgrims were making the journey by lying on the ground and creeping forward on their bellies.
The pythia noticed an elderly female pilgrim who knelt on the rocky ground to pray for a few seconds before lying down prone with her arms stretched forward. She made a mark in the earth with her fingers then rose to her feet again to pray before advancing to the marked spot to begin the process all over again.
“That’s gonna take a while,” Cassie confided to Rinchen who was standing beside her.
Today he’d switched his White Sox jersey for a warmer White Sox jacket and cap, but the color distinction remained. His brother wore a blue Cubs jacket and matching cap.
“Performing the pilgrimage by lying down prostrate between each step takes about four days,” Rinchen said.
Cassie was shocked. “But where do they sleep? Where do they find food?”
“There are three monasteries along the trail for shelter. About a day apart,” Rabten informed her. “But since the monasteries can’t house more than a handful of people, most of the pilgrims bring their own food and water. A lot of them bring their own tents too. That’s why they have pack animals. Ordinarily, the walk takes about three days—”
“—but if you want to score extra karma points,” his brother cut in, “then you do the walk in one day. That would take about fifteen hours. Of course, you’d win the karmic grand prize by doing it like that lady on the ground over there.”
“Speaking of karma,” Griffin piped up. “I’ve heard this pilgrimage is supposed to lighten one’s cosmic debt considerably.”
The twins nodded.
“That’s right,” Rabten concurred. “They say one trip around the mountain wipes away the bad karma from a person’s current life.”
“And supposedly,” his brother added, “108 revolutions will take you out of the loop of reincarnation completely.”
“You forgot about the lake,” Rabten murmured to his brother.
“Oh, right,” Rinchen said. “Another Get Out of Jail Free card is to walk the path and then take a bath in Lake Manasarovar. That water’s cold, even in the middle of summer, and I do mean cold. Maybe hypothermia is the ultimate path to salvation. Who knows?” He shrugged expressively.
Winded by the steep climb, they all paused to catch their breaths.
Cassie, straining for air, said, “Guys, I don’t know how we’re going to climb to the top of the peak if we’re already gasping at this
