Upper Dolpo trek

Upon arrival at Kathmandu, you will be greeted and welcomed by our agency’s representative in front of the Arrival gate with a Display board of Himalayan Exploration Treks then transfer to your Hotel.

During the free day, you may have a chance to visit the heritage site of Kathmandu Valley. We conduct the pre-trip departure meeting regarding upcoming trekking peak climbing, where you meet the trek guide and other team members. They will brief you about the team formation, equipment and nature of peak climbing and other necessary information

As per the flight schedule; about an hour superb airstrip to Nepalgunj from Kathmandu. It crosses a whole range of the western parts of the Himalayas, like Langtang, Manaslu, Annapurna, and Dhaulagiri. Comparatively, it is warmer than Kathmandu. Nepalgunj lies near the Indian border.

It requires making a fight in Juphal in the morning. Forty-five minutes of amazing flight provides super visibility of Himalayan foothills, with views of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mastiff. After reaching Juphal and arranging luggage and other kinds of stuff, then an easy walk to Dunai.

The first day of the adventure takes a bit more time to set up all the luggage. As we cross a bridge over the Bheri River, take a left trail that leads us to Shulighat, the entry point of Shey Phoksundo National Park. The trail goes along the Phoksundo Khola, passing through several small settlements to Chhepka.

The trail gradually climbs up along the valley through the forest. The trail follows several small ups and downs paths; you must cross the river over small bridges leading to Raichi for lunch. At one point between Raichi and Chunuwar, there is a dramatic point where two rivers of distinctly different colors merge to form a single Phoksundo River. Then, we continued to walk to Chunuwar.

The trek goes steeply uphill for the first three hours. There is minimal vegetation, and the hills are dusty in the dry season. As we arrive at the view tower, we can see the highest waterfall in Nepal, with a height of 107 meters, and mind-boggling scenery surrounding the hills. Ten minutes uphill from the view tower, we can get the first glimpse of Phoksundo Lake. Then, the trail gradually descends through the pine forest to the small village of Ringmo.

Today, we will admire the beauty of Phoksundo Lake and possibly hike the small village of Ringo and its Tibetan monasteries. The people of this area follow the Bon Buddhist, known as pre-Buddhist, too.

Ringo village is the boundary between Lower and Upper Dolpo. We will enter a restricted area of Upper Dolpo and follow the trail of the Oscar-nominated movie HIMALAYA, directed by Eric Valli. The trail is a salt trade route between the people of Dolpo and Tibet. The twisted trail is more adventurous along the lake. As we reach a height of 4085 meters, it gradually descends through the dense forest. It climbs up towards an open valley with a spectacular view of Kanjirowa Himal with an elevation of 6612 meters. Then, we reach a beautiful camping place.

The Trekking trail is unique. We enter through high rock walls on both sides and cross a few streams without bridges. The river flows inside the gorge; the walk is uphill but not steep. There is wide open space on the river shore, with stony ground and thorny juniper bushes.

The trail goes steeply for the first two and a half hours over Sandy Mountain to Kang-La, with an elevation of 5350 meters. The feet slid at every step, and altitude sickness may take hold at this point. After walking down the hill from the pass for about 4 hours, we get to Shey Gompa.

You can explore around Tsakang Gompa. It is not a monastery but a retreat. Tsakang had been a meditation center of many great lamas from Tibet. Shey Gompa belongs to the Chaiba community, followers of the Padmasambhava and Kagyu sects. It was the first Kagyupa monastery, and its founder was the lama Ten-szin-Ra-Pa. The monastery was built during the 11th century. She is famous for its ancient Buddhist culture. In Dolpo, the ancient Tibetan way of life combines animism with the teachings of Buddha. Drutup Yeshe introduced Buddhism in the Dolpo Valley. Many years ago, he came to Dolpo and encountered a wild people whose supreme God was a ‘fierce mountain spirit.’ Crystal Mountain is to the west of the Shey monastery. It is an extraordinary mountain, indeed. Its contorted cliffs are laced with quartz and embedded with various marine fossils. Shey Gompa stands above the confluence of Kwangju Nala and Yeju Nala. Near the confluence is a group of prayer mills turned by water wheels.

We have to cross a pass with a height of 5,000 meters named Shey-La. Then, the path zigzags over bare rocks and coarse, eroded soil. The trail subsequently descends to the pastures. It means our approach to Namgung.

The trek leads us steeply climb up, feeling very hard as we arrive at 4700 meters pass. Then we walk down the picturesque village of Saldang. It is one of the largest villages of this region’s strategic location on the trade route to Tibet.

The trek goes to pass through terraced fields, stupas, chhortens, mani walls, monasteries, and several villages. We walk along the gorge, where the bottom is populated with the green field of local barley. We must cross a knee-deep river twice as we arrive at the campsite. A beautiful open ground, thorny juniper bushes are the only vegetation.

This is the last pass of the journey; mentality requires preparation. We walk up a mild horizontal along a river site. We cross the river twice at some point in the trail for a long stretch. But towards the end, it becomes steeper. As we left valleys and villages, we entered the barren hill, almost the highest camp of the journey.

Today, we cross the last pass of the journey that walks up steeply uphill to the pass. We can see the beautiful sceneries of the Himalayas, including Dhaulagiri and the barren lands of Inner Dolpo. The trail goes down from the pass, gradually descending initially, then steeply down towards Tarap Valley. A further 2 hours’ walk from Tokyo Goan, we get to Dho-Tarap (the highest village of the Dolpo.) and a junction from where the route diverges to Jomsom, Mustang, and Tibet.

The trail leads you downhill in a windy gorge along the Tarap River. There are hanging ridges on both sides; sometimes, it even disappears between and under the hills. The trail goes through the narrow gorges with the rushing river. Many mules, horses, and Yak will encounter along the trail to transporting the goods. In the afternoon, the trail seems to have some improvement in construction and sees a modern steel bridge to facilitate the movement of people and animals.

The same course, walk along the river to the narrow gorge a gentle incline through the dense forest. Sometimes, several ups and downs appear along the trail due to the huge rocky stones that represent the quality of the trail and take attention while on trek possibility slippery.

The trail is easy to walk, gradually inclined along the shore of the River. The trail sometimes climbs to the top of the hill and sometimes deep to the level of the River open space trail that leads us to Dunai.

The trail retrace the steps to Juphal while the journey to the mountain. Just walk along the motorable road to Kala Gouda. A steep climb up to Juphal passing through the cultivated rice fields

Early morning, we take a flight to Nepalgunj. It is a wonderful 35-minute flight over the Himalayan foothills, with fine views of the main peaks, including Annapurna and Dhaulagiri to the north. You then catch up on the connecting flight back to Kathmandu.

The day can be occupied as security day in case of flight interruption. Alternatively, you can explore the Heritage site of Kathmandu if you arrive on the scheduled itinerary.

You will be transferred to the airport 3 hours before your scheduled flight to your home country