When we talk about the high mountains of Tibet Plateau, the Himalayas will come to minds for most people. The Himalayas is the most famous one of the Tibetan Mountain ranges, for it contains 10 of the 15 highest mountains in the world. The Himalayas form a great divide between the subcontinent of India and the Tibetan Plateau, and it is where you will find the highest mountain in the world - Everest.
Nowhere will you find in the world 26 of the 100 highest mountains clustered together in a single place except in the Tibetan Plateau. Several mountain ranges run along the Tibetan Plateau. They are the Himalayas, Karakoram range-Tanggula Mountains, Gangtise-Nyenchen Tanglha, the Kunlun Mountain Range, and Hengduan Mountain Range. Here is a rundown of the most famous highest mountains of Tibet:
1. Mount Everest is the main peak of the Himalayas, as the highest mountain on earth, towering around 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level. It sits right at the very border of Tibet and Nepal and has base camps on each side. The Tibetans refer to Mount Everest as “Chomulungma” which means “Goddess Mother of the earth”; while the Nepalese call it "Sagarmatha", which means "forehead in the sky". These base camps are frequented by tourists who are desirous of taking a glimpse of the highest point in the world and climbing expeditions who want to scale this majestic mountain.
2. Mount Shishapangma is ranked as the 14th highest mountain on earth with a height of 8,027 meters (26,335 feet) above sea level. It holds the distinction of being the only Eight-thousander that is completely inside Tibet. Moreover, it is the last Eight-thousander to be scaled by humans.
Eight-thousanders are those mountains that are 8,000 meters or more in height, and there are only 14 mountains that are either 8,000 or more in height. The Everest, of course, is the tallest mountain in Tibet, but it does not sit entirely inside Tibet's territory. Shishapangma, on the other hand, is the only one that is entirely inside Tibet.
If you want to see Shishapangma up close, you can reach it by road. However, very few tourists travel this route despite the awesome sceneries that you would see along this way to Shishapangma. If your tour of Tibet includes a tour to Everest Base Camp, you will surely get a chance to glimpse this majestic mountain.
Shishapangma is situated in Tibet's southcentral region. It is roughly five kilometers from Nepal's border. Shishapangma has two summits, one at the height of 8,013 and the other one, at an elevation of 8,027. So, some climbers who claimed to have reached the summit of this mountain, had, in fact, only reached the lower summit. It was first scaled by Xǔ Jìng, who led a Chinese expedition to the summit of this mountain in 1964.
3. Mount Kailash doesn’t belong to the Top 100 highest mountains in the world, but it stands tall as the most sacred mountain in Tibet. Located just near the sacred lake of Manasarovar and Lake Rakshastal, it belongs to Gangtise Mountain Range. Mt.Kailash is considered the center of the world by four religions, namely, Bon, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
In Bön, it is considered as the "axis mundi" (center of the universe). In Hinduism, Mt. Kailash is considered traditionally as Lord's Shiva's Abode. In Jainism, Mt. Kailash is the place where Jain Tirthankara attained liberation (Moksha). And in Buddhism, Mt. Kailash is referred to as Mt. Meru, and thus, it is a sacred pilgrimage site.
Mt. Kailash is around 6,638 m (21,778 ft). This elevation is no mean height too for it is still an over-imposing mountain due to its height. However, it doesn't need to be the highest mountain or an Eight-thousander to be popular among tourists and pilgrims. There were attempts in the past to scale the summit of Mount Kailash, but none has succeeded. Thus, this sacred mountain is still spared from the scaling of humans.
There're two options to get to Mt.Kailash, by flight or by road. Due to the higher price and fewer flights from Lhasa Gonngar Airport to Ngari Gunsa Airport, very few travelers choose to take a flight. Instead, they would take a road trip to Mt.Kailash through the national highways of 318 and 219. The entrance of Mt.Kailash is located at Darchen, which is 2 km from 219 National Road. This road trip takes about 4 days for covering 1500km. |
