Upper Dolpo Trek

Upon your arrival at the international airport at Kathmandu, you will be received by our representative from Sherpa Expedition and Trekking and will be escorted to the hotel of your stay in Thamel. After taking a break, the trek leader or guide shall provide you with the briefing on the trekking journey and a tasty dinner awaits you in the evening at a Nepali restaurant serving authentic Nepalese cuisines alongside cultural shows. 

You have the choice to go for a tour around Kathmandu to the world heritage sites namely Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath, Bouddhanath, royal palaces, and courtyards and monasteries.  During the afternoon, we take the flight to Nepalgunj from Kathmandu. Nepalgunj is situated near the Indian border and the flight will take around fifty minutes.  Overnight stay at a hotel in Nepalgunj.

After a hearty breakfast, we head to the Jhupal by flight and then meet our trekking leader or guide. From Jhupal, we reach Dunai via drive where we stay overnight. Dunai is one of the major towns in the Dolpo area where we can spend time exploring its natural surrounding and the market area.

On this day, we move ahead from Dunai to walk along the Thulo Bheri river and climb over a ridge which leads us to the Phuksundo river valley. We can enjoy the sight os the peak Kagmara and then descend down as cross several villages which have walnut trees.  We follow the stream in Dhera,  and settlements after which we ascend to the Rahagaon village occupied by the Thakuri folks. We descend down to a forest after which we get to ANkhe where we stay overnight. Ankhe is the entry point to Shey Phoksundo National Park.

We climb uphill for some time and then move down to a forested area after we reach near a riverbank. We ascend to a ridge and enjoy the amazing views. We descend down to cross the bridge near the village, Ryajik. We move ahead to Sumdu which is near the Sulighat village where we stay overnight.

We reach one of our main destinations that are Phoksundo Lake after walking past many streams and moving along the Pungmo river. We descend downhill to birch and pine trees to get to the upper part of the river, Phoksundo. With short breaks while walking, we get to the village, Ringmo. Ringmo is an interesting village with Mani walls and plastered chortens of mud. We head to Phoksundo Lake and stay there in camps by the lake.

The lake, Phoksundo is a great spot for you to relax and spend time exploring. We take this day to explore and acclimatize since we have reached a higher altitude now. We explore the nearby surrounding and watch the view of the Kagmara peak; we stroll around Ringmo village and around the lake.

After having a great time around the lakeside, we start scaling higher elevation as we move to the upper Dolpo region. We walk across rocky path above the bank of the river as w move ahead to the lake towards the west side. We get to e pasture land which then takes us to the plain of the Phoksundo Khola where we stay overnight.

On this day, we walk on a relatively easier path towards the north of the Phoksundo Khola and then we ascend to get to a ridge which has to offer majestic views of the green valley below the Kang La Pass which takes us to Shey Gompa. Overnight stay at the pasture land.

We head to our destination that is Shey Gompa on this day. We climb up on a rocky trail over the pass of Kang La (5360 meters).  This is the highest point of our trekking journey. We savour the amazing views of the  Dhaulagiri mountain. We get down to the bottom of the hill along the river and then walk past the camps of the cattle herders and then move ahead to the shortens and Mani as we reach Shey Gompa which situated below the Crystal Mountain popular as the Holy Mountain which has an ancient Monastery.

We take this day to acclimatize as we have scaled higher elevation now. Shey Gompa is a great place for exploration given it is a mountainous area rich in scenic natural beauty where we can go tour around the Shy Monastery which is also called the Crystal Monastery.

We move along the Saldang La on this day savouring the views of the Mt. Dhaulagiri and then descend down a grazing area and stop at the Namduna Gaon for the night.

We move across an arid landscape as we move ahead to reach Saldang. A steep climb up takes us to Saldang. Saldang is a large village in the Dolpo region located at a high altitude in the windswept plateau. We stay here overnight.

On this day, we follow the Nang Chu river and have many ascends and descends as we pass Lurigaon and Tiling which are both aherders’ settlements.  We stay at Yangtze in a camp for the night; there is an ancient Gompa of the Bon Pa culture here.

We walk ahead along the same path to reach Sibu which is on the northeast direction. We follow a river across farmland en route Namdo village. We walk ahead to reach the pasture land in Sibu where we stay overnight.

After we stop at the grazing area, we walk along the Nam Khong Khola for some time and we may witness the mules and yaks along the trail to Tibet where trading is done. We finally reach the flat area at the base of the Jeng La pass where we stay overnight.

We climb up a steep pass from Jeng La Pass enjoying the sight of the majestic Dhaulagiri range and then we descend to the valley of Tarap which is the longest and largest valley in Dolpo (20 kilometers). We reach Tokyogaon after walking for hours. This is our overnight stop.  This is one of the most intriguing villages in inner Dolpo and is home to beautiful farm fields as well as age-old monasteries.

We walk downhill to reach Tarap Chu across a lush green valley.  This is a beautiful valley with herders’ settlements and yaks and sheeps grazing here.  We walk to our overnight stop in Dho Tarap. This place is occupied by people of the Tibetan and Magar origin.

On this day, we walk a gradual path at first and then across a slender gorge with bushes of wild rose and juniper.  W may spot the Bharal or Blue Sheep and other animals as w walk to the confluence of the rivers Lang Khola and Tarap Chu.  We stay here for the night.

We walk along the river Tarap and walk past a gorge initially. We move ahead to cross some broken bridges to then cross a river. We finally reach Tarap Khola which is near Kharigaon. We stay here overnight.

We move across the lower Dolpo on this day en route Lalberi and then we walk along a river to reach Tarakot. Tarakot is a big village which has a history associated with the Malla regime.  It has beautiful farm fields and a fortress which guards the village. Tarakot is home to the popular Sandul Gomba situated at the junction of the Tarap Chu river and Barbung Khola where we stay overnight in a camp.

After having an enjoyable time in Tarakot, we get back to Dunai and then drive back to Jhupal. We walk along a wide path with some uphill climbs to the valley and then descend down to the river. Thulo Bheri to finally reach Dunai. If time permits, w get lunch and drive to Jhupal. This is our last night here at Dolpo. We celebrate the completion of the trek on this day.

We board on the flight to get back to Nepalgunj and then w fly to Kathmandu from Nepalgunj. You will be transferred to your hotel upon reaching Kathmandu where you can take rest.

This day is separated for individual activities after the tiresome trekking journey. If you like, you can go for the sightseeing tour around the major tourist destinations around Kathmandu including the major cities of Bhaktapur, Patan as well as Kathmandu. You can go for individual activities along with souvenir shopping on this day.

This day marks the final day at Nepal. Our representative at Sherpa Expedition and trekking will escort you to the airport before your scheduled flight and you return back to your native country or your next travel destination. Thank you for traveling with Sherpa Expedition and Trekking.