On April 24th we reported that a Spanish expedition was planning to climb Mount Kailas in Tibet. The expedition to climb the sacred Peak was given the go ahead by Chinese authorities, but has been called off after protests from mountaineers, Hindus and Buddhists.Kalias is sacred to a billion Hindus, millions of Buddhists, the Jain faith, and followers of Tibet´s native Bon religion. The mountain – perhaps the oldest continually visited religious site of pilgrimage in the world – has not been climbed since the 11th century Tibetan mystic Milarepa rode, it is said, to the top on the rays of the sun. Apart from the pilgrims and adventurers who walk around its base, the mountain has been left untrampled and unconquered, not because it is a particularly hard or risky climb, but out of respect for its status as home to Hindu god, Shiva; the Bon religion´s founder, and the site where Buddhism´s Milarepa won an historic battle.
