Cypriot mountaineer travels to centre of the universe

Unlike many other sites on the globe, Lord Shiva’s home of Mount Kailash is as remote as it is sacred. And not many people can say they have visited. But among them is one Cypriot mountaineer, who not only managed to reach the closest permitted point to the 6,638m peak but recorded his journey there as well.

Mount Kailash is known for strict climbing regulations set by the Chinese government to protect the spiritual significance it holds for millions of Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Bon followers. Buddhists view the peak as the cosmic axis, or Mount Meru, the spiritual centre of the universe.

Alex Larin and a small international team of ten set out to reach it in September, 2024, from Kathmandu, Nepal. “Reaching Mount Kailash is no longer the ordeal it was when Sven Hedin first documented the region in the early 20th century, but it remains unpredictable,” Larin tells the Cyprus Mail. Actively searching online for material on the mountain, quickly brought him to the realisation that the content is limited. Some items were overly long and heavy, while others focused almost exclusively on spiritual interpretations, leaving the need for an honest story about the mountain itself and the journey to reach it.

Larin’s recently created film Kailash carries the tagline ‘geography of the sacred’. “I would like to let that sentence speak for itself,” he says. As with any expedition to the major peaks, the first challenge was the weather. Even the narrow access window brings no guarantees. Within the supposed ‘safe’ seasons, sudden storms or snowfall can derail months of planning in a matter of hours.

Mount Kailash also offers an unexpected obstacle: bureaucracy. Entry into Tibet requires a travel permit issued by the Chinese authorities and “even with all documentation in place, groups may be stopped, delayed, or turned back after security checks,” Larin says, making flexibility all but impossible.

The entire expedition took 21 days, with the Kailash kora – a pilgrimage involving walking around a sacred site – pushing endurance limits as it covers 51km at altitudes above 4,000m through the 5,630m Drolma La Pass. “The route demanded constant attention to forces well beyond our control,” Larin says.

This was underlined shortly after they had left. Heavy rains triggered floods that tore roads apart, sending entire mountain tracks downriver and effectively closing access from the Nepalese side for the remainder of the season. “We were fortunate enough to pass through in time, reach Kathmandu, and board our flight,” says Larin, as that same flood, claimed the lives of more than 30 people.

The search for something sacred that very few people ever encounter was something the mountaineer had dreamt of for many years. And his decision to turn the journey into a film came naturally when Larin showed raw footage from his GoPro to his filmmaker friend, Markus Schuetz, who sensed their potential, and took care of the rest. During their escape form the Kathmandu floods, Larin captured footage of the riskiest places on his phone. “Roads were collapsing, rivers were overflowing, and entire sections of the route were being erased in real time,” he said.

But for Larin, his near-death encounter was not the most memorable part of the expedition. What left an even deeper mark was witnessing the full prostration ritual known as the ‘five-point veneration’. In that ritual, pilgrims lower themselves to the ground so that both palms, elbows, knees, toes, and forehead touch the earth. “What is almost impossible to comprehend is that some travellers complete the entire 53km circuit around Kailash this way, measuring the land with their bodies, step by step, fall by fall,” Larin says.

Mountaineering is becoming a popular activity across the island, with many Cypriots showing an interest in adventure and exploration. Despite that, Tibet remains a less popular destination among European travelers, with other major peaks like Everest and K2 stealing the spotlight.

A Cypriot travelling through Tibet is a rare sight for the locals too. “People had never heard of Cyprus, just as many in Cyprus, these remote communities remain abstract or unknown,” Larin explains. He hopes that in this sense, the film Kailash will kick off a discussion to open cultural and mental boundaries.

The 19-minute movie has been screened at multiple festivals around the globe. Just months after Larin started submitting the film to festivals in October it was an award winner at the Sunny Film Festival in Germany and a finalist at the Independent Shorts Awards in Los Angeles. As a loyal attendee of the Lemesos International Documentary Festival and the International Short Film Festival of Cyprus, Larin is hoping he will be able to screen Kailash there.

“Many of my friends are already asking when and where it might be possible to see the film on a big screen in Cyprus, so fingers crossed,” he says.

The film was created with a very specific goal in mind. The region around Kailash is often surrounded by noise: self-proclaimed gurus, superficial “spiritual seekers,” and performances that, in many ways, desecrate the deeper meaning of the place, Larin says. Wanting to avoid that layer, his intention was to show Kailash without embellishment, presenting an honest picture, accompanied by an almost scientific narrative to preserve the region’s sacred nature. “Not to demystify Kailash, but not to exploit its mysticism either, I would be glad if this modest work helps even in a small way, to make the world feel more transparent.”