The following post is a part of the “Kailash Mansarovar Yatra” Blog Series Into the Sacred Space. To read complete travel memoirs and trip report, please visit here.

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As we were being ushered out of the plane through to the corridors and lobby area of the Terminal three of the New Delhi airport, I firmly hoped that the journey to the Kailash Mansarovar must have madly induced the Himalayan addiction in at least a few of us. Loyally encompassing the majestic powers of nature, the Himalayas are spiritually safe passages crafted by nature for us to support our Journey of Life. Readers of bNomadic would discover corroborative evidences sprinkled in various posts of the blog to this inspirational belief related to the Himalayas.

Walking through the corridors of the airport;  carrying my feebly packed untidy backpack smeared with the trans-Himalayan dust, I felt a pure contentment of having completed a journey that I always dreamed of. Compared to the previous century explorers and travellers, ours was of course a modern (and comfortable) way of undertaking this journey. I almost felt that there is nothing else left on this planet where I needed to reach but then there are other hidden gems and corners waiting to be explored in the Himalayas.

Glittering Gurla Range towering above Barkha Plains. This and the featured image (from Barkha) of this post by Rita Willaert. I wish to express my most sincere gratitude to the noted photographers Rita Willaert and Jen Reurink who kindly shared and consented their photographs to be used on bNomadic. 

Minutes later, as everyone waited for their bag to bounce along on the conveyor belt, I noticed a massive poster on the wall adorned with a quote from Aitareya Brahmana, an ancient Hindu text, “There is no happiness for him who does not travel…” Now this was a religious conformity to the fact that to travel is to realise the love with inner self. We need the Kailash type serene and calm refuges in a world of storm that we go though in our routine mundane city life. Withdrawal to a natural and Godly retreat in the Himalayas with such a purpose in mind is nothing but a sign of absolute wisdom and strength.

The writings of the famous spiritual explorers of the Himalayas; from Swami Pranavananda to Paul Brunton reflected that if we purposefully withdraw ourselves to a Himalayan sojourn for a while so as to reconsider our desires and survey our courses and if we use the leisurely opportunity to address our internal agitations as well as refine our instincts, we cannot be doing wrong. And with this very thought in mind, I continue to explore and reach more hidden corners of the Himalayas located further afar.

Not only my inner self but as I write this last post of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra blog series, almost eight months after the yatra happened, I see a lot of aesthetic changes around me at home. From my workstation to lounging area or my bedroom, living room or drawing room, the walls, shelves and tables are now adorned with photo frames or souvenirs from this yatra.

On a concluding note, I’d admit that our yatra through the forbidden country – the land of snows and monks – had all the “elements” of Himalayan travel. And as Heinrich Harrer would recall, “For romantics, there was even the attraction of the blue poppy that flowered in secret beyond the mountains!” No wonder missionaries, intellectuals, adventurers, travellers and scientists were always keen to explore the secrets and mysteries of that country. With this thought, I’d request each one of you to constructively devour Himalayan adventure, discovery and knowledge in your own ways.

Here follows a recap of the yatra in this small video. The background score belongs to Sahil Jagtiani.

Thanks. Happy travelling.