Mansarovar yatra from a cycle’s outlook

“The higher you go, the more magical, mystical and spiritual you feel. It was tough, but we never felt tired. You need to go back to nature and experience that peace,” Gujarat cadre IAS officer Anita Karwal said on the sidelines of the lauch of her book ‘Kailash Mansarovar – Cycle Rides Soul Journeys’, co-authored by former journalist Anurita Rathore.

The travelouge, which is written from a cycle’s point of view, is about the 550 km cycle journey from Nyalam to Horseshoe in Tibet made by a dozen-odd travellers asscociated with Ahmedabad Bicycle Club about three years ago.

“Through the book we try to relive the entire journey in a manner that the reader feels that he is right on the spot. When we reached Mount Kailash, we felt we were really in front of Kailash. So we thought that there is a case to write a book about it,” said Anurita.

The story  revels in the beauty of Tibet, imbibes the elements of nature right up to the parikrma of Mount Kailash, soaks up the history of the place and geography to present an account of the trip.

The trip is a result of Harsh Shah, president of Ahmedabad Bicycle Club, travelling to  Leh and Ladakh and wanting to explore something quite different. He managed to form the team who finally drove from Nyalam to Horsheshoe.