In Search of Mount Kailash : Travels in the Himalaya – Alex McKay

Secluded in a remote corner of the Himalayas, Tibet’s ‘Mount Kailash’ is the world’s most widely revered mountain – and after a decade of travelling, Alex McKay hitch-hiked to Kailash in 1986 and quickly became obsessed with it. Soon after, he became an academic and published the definitive history of the sacred site and its Indian off-shoots.

In Search of Mount Kailash recounts Alex’s early Himalayan travels and how he came to understand the Kailash phenomena. Along the way he meets with extraordinary scholars and devout monks, colourful spiritual masters and hospitable Maharajas, humble pilgrims and wandering shepherds. He interviews the Dalai Lama, states down the barrel of a Chinese soldier’s rifle, and ultimately finds an unexpected home away from home near the source of the Ganges.