If Tibet is the "roof of the world", then western Tibet is the roof's roof! Our coverage of Western Tibet focuses on the sights that most attract travelers to this remote and difficult land. The most important of these sights is Mount Kailash, Lake Manasarova, and the Tirthpuri Hot Springs. These are some of the holiest sights in Tibet and are imminently important in the religious lives of the Tibetan people.These can all be reached from Darchen, a village on the main highway from Lhasa to Ali. The town of Ali is the seat of the regional government and an important spot to stage expeditions further north or west, out of our current coverage.

This is the land of the Himalayas with great snowcapped mountains, lakes, grasslands and lots and lots of space! In fact, perhaps the sheer emptiness of the region will astound you. In an area of 300 square kilometers, there are only approximately 70,000 Tibetans, mainly engaged in animal husbandry and farming. Any other Tibetans you may meet are pilgrims coming to visit the holy sights of the region.

Climate:
When traveling in western Tibet, you should expect a large temperature difference between day and night. At night, you'll need warm clothing like sweaters AND a thick jacket, while during the day, you'll need to be able to peel off layers and it may be hot enough for a single cotton or silk layer of clothing. For places with altitudes of above 5000m in western Tibet, the temperature could drop as much as 20 degrees centigrade in a day.

Rainfall: It seldom rains in this  region and the seasons differ strongly. From October to April, the amount of rainfall in Western Tibet is only 10%--20% of the annual rainfall. However rainfall from May to September is 90% of the annual rainfall.

In order to avoid snow and avalanches, the best time to travel in western Tibet is between May and July, and September and October.

Local Features: Guge Ruins
What exactly did happen to the state of Guge in what is now western Tibet? From the 10th to the 17th centuries, the people here were strong believers in Buddhism and Tantrism. Said to care little for military and economic affairs, these people preferred to spend their time creating masterpieces of Buddhist art. Their civilization disappeared quite suddenly in the 17th century and fell into ruin. There are no signs that they were destroyed by war, although historians theorize the kingdom of Kashmir of the time invaded Guge, yet the weapons of the Guge state even today, sit in their caches in the ruins of Guge, as if they were never used.

The faith of the Guge people helped them create great treasures of Buddhist art, including statues, wall murals, and Buddhist scriptures. While many Buddhist statues were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution and other periods of anti-Buddhist turmoil, many of the wall murals of the Guge still remain. Many Chinese travelers like to compare the murals of Guge with the murals of Dunhuang, but the art of Guge is quite different with Tantric references and cultural influences from Central Asia and the Indian Sub-continent.