The first group of pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra this year arrived in Almora on Saturday.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had flagged off the first batch of Kailash Mansarovar Yatris, who will travel through the Nathu La pass, from the national capital on Thursday.
The new route of Nathu La pass this year will enable the pilgrims to drive all along, travelling first from Gangtok in Sikkim to Shigatse in Tibet, from where they can take vans and buses on the existing road
to Mansarovar and Kailash directly.