"We were saved miraculously by the grace of Lord Kailash," said Vishal. The team was caught in a landslide at Dharchula in the Kumaon region last Tuesday on their return trek and two of them were seriously injured.

Vishal spoke to The Indian Express about his hair-raising trek to Tibet. The month-long yatra, which Vishal calls "a soul purging experience", was organised by the Indian External Affairs Ministry. The California-based businessman, Vishal, was one of the few chosen by the MEA after a series of medical fitness tests.

Says Vishal, "We were walking back in the rains along the river Kali bordering India and Nepal. On the last leg of our trek, we were already quite fatigued. what kept us going was the energy of having been to the abode of Lord Kailash."

"Andsuddenly before we could realise or react, the visibility went to zero and it started raining rocks. We didn't know where to turn and what to do. For six to seven minutes, a blinding hail of rocks was falling all around us. In sheer panic, one of us shouted -- stand with your face to the mountain wall."

When the rockslide finally subsided, the team found one of them had been badly hurt. "While we were tending to him, we heard Nepalese villagers across the river whistling at us. Seeing that we're ignoring them, they started waving frantically, pointing to the gorge down below. We then checked around and realised one of us was missing. We looked down and saw our teammate from Pithoragrah, Rajesh Mishra, was hanging precariously some 40 feet below on the edge of a rock, just two inches away from the swift-flowing Kali. We didn't know how to save him," said Vishal.

Mukesh Pant, a policeman among the pilgrims, jumped down risking his life to save his teammate. "With great difficulty Pant carried Mishra back onthe road. Somehow we managed to carry the injured using bedcovers as stretchers to the nearest hospital some 15 km away," Vishal recounted.

The first-leg of the journey to Kailiash-Manasarovar though quite strenuous had been accident-free.

"The other side is very pleasant this time of the year, but it rains and is risky on the Indian side. That's how it is, never good on both sides," said the former prime minister's son.

It was eventless from Kathgodam to the base camp in Dharchula, from where it is a nine-day walk to the Indo-Tibetan border Tawaghat and the Lipulekh pass, close to 18,000 feet above sea level. The team had to cross the pass early in the morning. "It closes by 8-9 am. Strong winds start blowing, making it impossible to cross it later," he said.

Interestingly, travellers from both sides cross the pass simultaneously, exchanging mules and ponies to carry the luggage across. The casualty rate here is very high because of the low visibility rate.