Kailash Yatra alternative routes are not a fallback for us; they are the reason our departures still ran after the flood.
When the Bhote Koshi tore through the Rasuwagadhi border in the monsoon and took the Friendship Bridge with it, the Kathmandu–Kerung–Kailash road stopped being a road. Our pilgrims still stood at Yam Dwar that season.
They got there by air, by helicopter, and, in a few cases, by the old crossing everyone had written off.
This guide is the one we wish had existed the morning the bridge went down. It sets out what actually changed on the Kerung corridor, the three routes we run when it is shut, and the decision logic we use to place each pilgrim on the right one. If you already hold a booking that assumes Kerung, read the last section first.
What the Flood Changed on the Kathmandu–Kerung–Kailash Road
The flood destroyed the bridge that carries all vehicles across the Bhote Koshi at Rasuwagadhi, so the corridor was closed outright for months.
Pilgrims cannot walk a river of that size, and the gorge road on the Nepal side was cut in several places at the same time. A temporary bridge later restored crossings, but the corridor now reopens and closes with the weather and with engineering decisions on both banks.
That is the honest state of the route. It runs, and we use it, but from late June to early September, its reliability is a forecast rather than a fact. A confirmed opening in May tells you nothing about the same crossing in August.
Our standing practice is to confirm the live status of every crossing with our Tibet partner before we issue a proposal, again when permits are filed, and once more in the days before you leave Kathmandu.
Our Kerung route guide describes the corridor as it works on a good day; this page covers what we do when it does not.
Route One: Fly Into Lhasa and Drive West to Kailash
Flying into Lhasa and driving west is the best Kailash Yatra alternative route for most pilgrims, because it acclimatizes you better than the Kerung road ever did.
You land at 3,650 meters, spend three nights in the city, then climb the plateau in steps through Shigatse at 3,840 meters and Saga at 4,640 meters before the lake. The kora comes only after a week at altitude.
The drive from Lhasa to Darchen covers roughly 1,200 kilometers on sealed road. We break it over four driving days, with two nights at Saga so your body settles before Lake Manasarovar at 4,590 meters.
Every vehicle is private, every hotel is the best the town has to offer, and the Potala, Jokhang, Drepung, and Sera are folded into the acclimatization days rather than bolted on.
The trade-off is time and paperwork. This is a sixteen-day program in which Kerung ran fourteen days, and the international flight into Lhasa, plus a Chinese visa obtained in your home country, are client-arranged, not part of the Kathmandu group-visa system. Flights to Lhasa are available year-round via Chengdu or Kunming; the direct Kathmandu–Lhasa sector operates seasonally, and we confirm its schedule at booking.
The exit is flexible. When the Rasuwagadhi crossing is open, you can drive out to Kathmandu via Kerung and see the plateau twice. When it is closed, you fly out of Lhasa the way you came in.
Our Lhasa-to-Kailash overland route guide walks the plateau road, town by town.
Route Two: Helicopter to Hilsa and Cross at Purang
The Hilsa route is the fastest alternative to Kailash because it replaces a thousand kilometers of plateau road with two flights and a helicopter flight.
You fly from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj in about an hour, take a small aircraft up to Simikot at 2,910 meters, then board a private helicopter for the twenty-minute hop to Hilsa on the Karnali at 3,640 meters.
Hilsa is a footbridge, not a road. You walk across the Karnali with your daypack while our porters carry the duffels, and Chinese immigration at Purang processes you on the far bank.
From Purang at 3,900 meters, it is a single afternoon's drive to Lake Mansarovar. Pilgrims who cross in the morning can watch the sun set on Gurla Mandhata that same evening.
Speed is also the risk. In four days, you rise from 1,400 meters in Kathmandu to 4,590 meters at the lake, so we take oximeter readings at Simikot and again at Purang, and we take a full acclimatization day at Mansarovar before Darchen.
Helicopters do not fly in clouds. We build a weather buffer at Simikot into every Hilsa itinerary and carry a Humla restricted-area permit for each pilgrim, which we arrange.
This is the route we recommend for pilgrims with limited leave, for parents traveling with elderly relatives who cannot sit through the plateau drives, and for anyone who wants the mountain in eleven days.
Our Kailash helicopter route guide covers the flight ladder in detail.
Route Three: The Revived Zhangmu Crossing via Tatopani
The old Kodari–Zhangmu crossing has been pressed back into limited service as a third alternative route for the Kailash Yatra, and it is the closest thing to the Kerung road in feel.
The Araniko Highway runs about 115 kilometers from Kathmandu to the Tatopani border, a shorter drive than the Rasuwagadhi road. Zhangmu sits at 2,300 meters, and the climb to Nyalam at 3,750 meters, then on to Saga, rejoins the familiar plateau route.
It has one quirk that catches every group. Private vehicles cannot drive the final stretch to the border, so pilgrims transfer at Nyalam to a small pool of designated shuttles. A party of two clears in an hour; a group of forty can wait most of a day.
We time our crossings for the first shuttle of the morning and hold the Nepal-side hotel until the transfer is confirmed.
The crossing was closed to pilgrims for years after the 2015 earthquake, and its status still shifts, so we never build a proposal on Zhangmu alone.
We treat it as the reserve option when Kerung is shut, and Lhasa or Hilsa do not suit the group.
Why Korala and Lipulekh Are Not on Our List
Korala, the Mustang crossing into Tibet, is not open to international pilgrims at the time of writing, and Lipulekh belongs to a different system entirely.
Korala is a trade gate; foreign passport holders have no immigration channel there, and no operator can change that from the Nepal side.
We monitor it because a working Korala would put Kailash within two driving days of Jomsom, but we do not sell it.
Lipulekh, on the Indian side, serves the Government of India's official yatra program for Indian citizens selected through its own process.
That route is neither operated from Nepal nor open to other nationalities, so pilgrims traveling with us on Indian passports still choose between Lhasa, Hilsa, and Zhangmu.
The paperwork for each is set out in our Tibet visa and permit guide for Kailash.
How We Choose Your Kailash Yatra Alternative Route
We choose the route based on four questions, asked in order: how many days you have, how your body handles altitude, the size of your group relative to the Kathmandu group-visa minimum, and which crossings are open during your travel window.
The answers place almost every pilgrim within a single conversation.
| Route |
Entry to Tibet |
Typical length |
Acclimatisation |
Weather exposure |
Best for |
| Lhasa fly-in |
Lhasa airport, 3,650 m |
16 days |
Gradual, the kindest ladder |
Low; sealed plateau road |
First-time high-altitude pilgrims, culture with the kora |
| Hilsa helicopter |
Purang via Hilsa, 3,640 m |
11 days |
Steep; needs a lake rest day |
High; the helicopter needs a clear sky |
Limited leave, elderly relatives, private parties |
| Zhangmu crossing |
Tatopani–Zhangmu, 2,300 m |
14 days |
Similar to Kerung |
Medium; monsoon landslides, shuttle bottleneck |
Groups holding a Kathmandu group visa |
Time settles most decisions. Eleven days is Hilsa; sixteen is Lhasa; and fourteen, with a group visa already in hand, is Zhangmu or Kerung. Altitude settles the rest: if you have never slept above 3,000 meters, we steer you to Lhasa unless your leave makes it impossible.
Group size matters because the Chinese group visa issued in Kathmandu has a minimum party size requirement at the time of writing, and that visa is only valid at a Nepal–Tibet land crossing.
A couple traveling alone therefore flies to Lhasa on an individual visa, or joins one of our fixed Hilsa or Kerung departures. We explain both paths before you commit to either.
What Stays the Same on Every Route to Kailash
The mountain does not move, so the heart of the yatra is identical, whichever gate you enter by.
The 52-kilometer kora still climbs from Darchen at 4,575 meters, through Dirapuk to the Dolma La at 5,630 meters, and then down past Gauri Kund to Zuthulpuk. The Mansarovar puja, the dip, and the darshan of the south face from the lake shore are unchanged.
The permit stack is unchanged too. Every pilgrim needs the Tibet Travel Permit, the Alien's Travel Permit for the prefecture beyond Lhasa, and the military-area and foreign-affairs clearances that Ngari demands.
We file all of them, and none can be rushed, which is why our ninety-day booking rule holds no matter which route you take.
Our on-mountain standard also holds. You still walk with a licensed Tibetan guide, a private vehicle waits at Darchen, supplementary oxygen rides in every car, and we still insist on travel insurance that covers helicopter evacuation above 5,000 meters
Already Booked on the Kerung Road: What Happens Now
If you have a booking that assumes Kerung and the crossing are closed, we will re-route you at no change fee on our side and let you know within a day which alternative we recommend.
Every Alpine Kailash proposal carries a route-switch clause for exactly this reason. It names the alternative route in advance, states what changes in cost and in days, and confirms that your filed permits move with you.
Costs move in predictable directions. Hilsa adds the helicopter and the domestic flights; Lhasa adds the international sector to Tibet and two extra nights; Zhangmu costs about as much as Kerung did. We show you the difference line by line before you decide, and the decision stays yours.
What we will not do is hold you to a route that the river has closed. That is the difference between a pilgrimage that is handled and one that is held, and it is why our clients reached the mountain the season the bridge did not.
Read how the whole plateau fits together in our guide to luxury travel in the Himalayas, then ask us which gate is open for your Kailash Mansarovar Yatra dates.
Frequently Asked Questions About Kailash Yatra Alternative Routes
Is the Kerung border open for the Kailash Yatra after the Rasuwagadhi flood?
The Rasuwagadhi–Kerung crossing reopens and closes with the season, so the only reliable answer is a live one. A temporary bridge restored crossings after the flood, but monsoon landslides and engineering work on the permanent bridge can shut the corridor for days or weeks. We confirm the status with our Tibet partner before every proposal and again before departure, and we build every itinerary with an alternative already named.
Which Kailash Yatra alternative route is fastest when Kerung is closed?
The Hilsa helicopter route is the fastest, delivering pilgrims from Kathmandu to Lake Mansarovar in four travel days and completing the full yatra in eleven. It replaces the plateau drive with a Kathmandu–Nepalgunj flight, a Nepalgunj–Simikot flight and a twenty-minute private helicopter to Hilsa. The speed comes with a steep altitude ladder, so we hold a full rest day at the lake before the kora.
Does the Lhasa fly-in route to Kailash need a different visa from the Kerung route?
Yes. Pilgrims who fly into Lhasa enter China on individual Chinese visas obtained in their home countries, not the Kathmandu group visa used at the Nepal–Tibet land crossings. The Tibet Travel Permit, Alien's Travel Permit, and Ngari clearances are still required, and we file all of them. The Lhasa route also excludes the international flight into Tibet, which you book yourself with our schedule guidance.
How high do pilgrims sleep on the Hilsa helicopter route to Kailash?
Pilgrims on the Hilsa route sleep at Simikot at 2,910 meters, then at Purang at 3,900 meters or directly at Lake Mansarovar at 4,590 meters, before Darchen and the kora. That is a faster climb than the Lhasa or Kerung roads, so we run oximeter checks at Simikot and Purang and add a full acclimatization night at the lake. Anyone with a history of altitude illness should choose the Lhasa route instead.
Is the old Tatopani–Zhangmu crossing open again for Kailash pilgrims?
The Kodari–Zhangmu crossing has returned to limited service for pilgrim groups, but its status has changed: it now has a shuttle-transfer bottleneck at Nyalam that can hold large parties for hours. We use it as a reserve route when Kerung is closed, and the Lhasa or Hilsa options do not suit a group. We never build a proposal on Zhangmu alone, and we confirm it is operating before permits are filed.
Can international pilgrims reach Kailash through the Korala Pass from Mustang?
No. Korala is a trade crossing with no immigration channel for foreign passport holders at the time of writing, so no Nepal-based operator can route international pilgrims through it. We watch the pass because a working Korala would dramatically shorten the approach, but until an immigration post opens, the three working alternatives to Kerung remain Lhasa, Hilsa, and Zhangmu.
What happens to my Kailash Yatra booking if the Kerung border closes after I pay?
Your booking moves to the alternative route named in your proposal, and your filed Tibet permits move with it. Every Alpine Kailash proposal carries a route-switch clause that states the alternative, the change in days, and the change in cost before you sign. We charge no change fee on our side for a border closure, show the cost difference line by line, and leave the final choice of route with you.
Which Kailash Yatra alternative route is best for elderly pilgrims?
For elderly pilgrims who tolerate altitude well, the Hilsa helicopter route spares them the long plateau drives and gets them to the lake in four days. For those with any history of altitude issues, the Lhasa fly-in is safer because it climbs in gentle steps over a week. In both cases, the kora itself can be shortened with a pony from Yam Dwar, and we discuss the medical questions with each family before recommending either route.
