Boaters discover riverside hermit caves containing offerings to Buddha.
Photo by Travis Winn.
This expedition was led by Pete Winn of Earth Science Expeditions. After trekking around Mt. Kailash, the 9 member team, including Tibetan Chong Dak, loaded their inflatable kayaks on yaks and hiked or rode yaks 40 miles over a 17,500' pass (the source of the Sutlej, 31 11 10N, 81 11 49E) to the Indus headwaters, only to find that the Chinese had built a road along the river from the takeout at Bongba.
However, the hikes were incredible and the upper Indus (Senge, or lion) flows through a spectacular valley.
The team floated 70 miles in 4 days, from 28 99 56N, 86 56 29E to near 32 13 05N 81 14 33E. The Class 2 river was flowing about 300 cfs at the put-in and 1500 cfs at the take-out, with an average gradient of about 15' per mile.
Put-in elevation was about 16,500'. Although the team was only the second group of foreigners to visit the Dratgye Monastery, and although they only saw one vehicle on the road, this is not a good repeat run due to its remoteness and the fact that the Chinese are building a dam at the take-out.
(A video of the Mt. Kailash "Kora," the trek to the Indus headwaters (Tsenge He) and footage of the river trip is linked below.)
A First Descent of the Indus River Headwaters: Tibet's Tsenge He (Lion) River (Part 1 of 4)
In 2005 a team of American and Tibetan kayakers paddled a first descent of Tibet's Tsenge He ("The Lion") River -- the headwaters of Pakistan's mighty Indus.
To reach the Tsenge He's source meant passing near the stunning 22,000-foot black-rock peak of Mount Kailash -- the sacred abode of Lord Shiva -- and a pilgrimage aspired to by billions worldwide.
Mount Kailash is unique in that it is the world's most-venerated holy place while also the least visited.
This is the story of a trek to the source of one of the world's great rivers by a group of friends who traveled together for a chance to paddle through the stunning landscapes of Tibet.
A First Descent of the Indus River Headwaters: Tibet's Tsenge He (Lion) River (2-4)
Part 2: The Mount Kailash "Kora"
A Kora around Mount Kailash often takes three days requiring a trek to an altitude of 18,200 feet at the Drölma Pass. As Kailash is considered the sacred abode of Lord Shiva, out of respect no one has sought to summit its 22,000-foot peak.
Mount Kailash is unique in that it's the world's most-venerated holy place while also the least-visited. Key to the creation myths of four major religions and billions of people, Kailash is only seen by, perhaps, a thousand pilgrims each year.
Some pilgrims will perform body-length prostrations around the entire mountain -- often having made the long journey to Kailash in the same manner.
A Kora around Mt Kailash is a lifelong aspiration of billions of believers worldwide intended to bring one good fortune and spiritual rebirth; Tibetan Buddhists believe that completing a single Kora washes away the sins of a lifetime -- completing 108 Koras ensures one's transcendence beyond Samsara to true enlightenment.
A First Descent of the Indus River Headwaters: Tibet's Tsenge He (Lion) River (3 of 4)
Part 3: Paddle from the Put In at Cushu to Sang Sang
The Tsenge He (or "The Lion") River is the headwaters of Pakistan's Indus River. Beginning as a burbling glacial stream at over 16,000 feet, the Tsenge He tumbles off the TIbetan Plateau and drains the north side of the supremely sacred Mount Kailash -- the navel of the universe according to several world religions -- and is also the source of three other major Asian rivers - the Brahmaputra, the Ganges, and the Sutlej.
We paddle the sparkling waters of the Tsenge He, into the exquisite desolation that lies within the rain shadow of the Gangdise Mountain Range.
Eventually forced to abort the first-descent several miles above dam construction by the Chinese, we opt to transport back to an area near Sang-Sang to find a suitable place to put in to paddle a 60-mile section of the Raka Tsang Po River that we'd planned to run in 2002.
A First Descent of the Indus River Headwaters: Tibet's Tsenge He (Lion) River (4 of 4)
Part 4: Tsenge He Pull-out, The Road Trip Back to Lhasa via the Raka Tsnag Po River.
It would take three very long days of driving to make it from the Senge He take-out to above the dam to the town of Sangsang over some of the highest road passes on the planet.
The first night of this epic little road trip ended in Gertze on the southern edge of an area called the Chang Tang, a region of large lakes set aside to preserve breeding grounds of an endangered antelope called the "Chiru."
Passing through high-desert plateau, the second night outbound to the Raka Tsang Po found us the town of Tsochen while a Tibetan rodeo was underway; this annual festival draws family groups of nomadic herders in from afar for three days of horse racing, food, traditional dancing -- and lots of fashionable Tibetan-nomad flirting.
Eventually, we dropped the duckies in a spot along the Raka Tsang Po River we dubbed the "Happy City Rapids."
Thus began a three-day, scenic 60-mile paddle along the Raka Tsang Po River amidst some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable.