Truly a 'Shangri La', and known as 'the Rooftop of the World' Tibet is a plateau locked away in its Himalayan fortress, Tibet has long exercised a siren's hold on the imagination of the West. Tibetans are used to hardship, and despite the Chinese occupation, they have managed to keep their culture and humour alive. Tibet has an area of 1.2 million sq.km and has apopulation of about 2.7 million. The language spoken there are Mandarin, Tibetan and Cantonese.

Tibet is a beautiful land with vast mountain ranges and abundant flora and fauna. Tibetans believe that many of their mountain tops are places where their early kings alighted after descending from heaven, but Mount Kailash has vastly more significance even than this. It is believed to be the hub of the universe and from its locality spring four of Asia 's most important rivers; the lndus, the Yarlung Tsangpo ( Brahmaputra ), a tributary of the Ganges and the Sutlej.The Tibetans are very religious people.

Tibetan pilgrims travel vast distances to set eyes upon Mount Kailash , and many circle the mountain by prostrating themselves head to toe, all the way round.

Lake Manasarova is also considered one of the holiest lakes in the world by Tibetans which lies close to the foot of Kailash.