Upper Dolpo Trek
25 Days
$4,400
Per Person
Overview
upper dollop trek is most beautiful trek of Nepal , it is high pass and challenging destinations. Dolpo region lies between the Tibetan plateau in the north and the Dhaulagiri Himalaya Range in mid-western part of Nepal. This region is among the few inhabited places that are above 4000 meters from sea level.
Since 1984 it has been the country’s largest national park and conservation site. The Shey Phoksundo National Park sustains an abundance of endangered wildlife including musk deer, Himalayan Blue Sheep, Ghoral, Himalayan Black Bear and snow leopards.
The spiritual lake of Shey Phoksundo is one of the highest altitude lakes in the world. Kanjirowa Himalayan range, Ringmo village, monasteries, stupas and gompas are other important attractions for tourists. These natural and cultural wealth of the Dolpo region attract the visitors from all around the world. Because of that, this region has also been filmed in some international movies like The Himalaya and Caravan. Caravan was a huge success and was nominated for Oscar award in the best foreign language film category. The presentation on these movies and several other documentaries highlight on the typical Dolpo lifestyle, the ancient salt trade, local agriculture and culture of this region.
This trekking package of 25 days brings you to the amazing trip to this isolated Himalayan region. It will be a once-in-a-life-time experience that nobody would like to miss. We are eager to welcome you to this remote trekking paradise. Please see the itinerary for details.
Detail Itinerary
Day 1 - Arrival
Ou team representative will welcome you at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu and transfer you to a fine hotel. You can roam around the nearby market and restaurants. Our trip manager will brief you about the trip ahead in the evening. You will be spending the night at a hotel.
Day 2 - Flight to Juphal and Trekking Begins
After a pleasant overnight at Kathmandu, we will begin our trip with a domestic flight to Nepalgunj. Nepalgunj is our transit point. We are having another flight to Juphal (2320 meters). The flight gives the opportunity to enjoy the panoramic views of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri peaks to the north. We land at Juphal airstrip from where our real trek begins. We will have a walk for about 4.5 hours from the airstrip that leads to our overnight camp at Dunai village (2140 meters). It is a small township and the administrative headquarter of Dolpo region.
Day 3 - Dunai - Hanke
From the camp at Dunai, we will continue the trek. Today’s destination will be Hank (2600 meters). It takes 4.5 hours to reach there. During the walk, we can see beautiful views of the Kagmara Peak up in the valley. As we have just started the trek, we will go slow and have a comfortable walk. After we reach Hank, we will set up camp for overnight stay.
Day 4 - Rechi
The path from this camp leads to small ups and downs along the riverbed as the ascent takes us steeply to 3000 meters. There are several streams along the way to freshen ourselves as we move up. Trekking continues upstream to reach Recchi (2940 meters). We will walk for around 5 hours to reach our destination. You will enjoy the landscape around. After the day’s trekking, we will stop at a fine place, set up tents and enjoy the camping.
Day 5 - Phoksundo Lake
On this day we will continue our journey along the valley floor to reach the spiritual Phoksundo lake at an altitude of 3733 meters after 5-hour trekking. The tiring day will end with the view of the serene blue lake and its cool water. It will make you forget all the tiredness and freshen up your energy level. We will spend our night in the tent that we will set up nearby.
Day 6 - Know the Phoksundo
Today will be a well-deserved rest day at the Phoksundo lake premises. Phoksundo is an alpine freshwater lake in Shey Phoksundo National Park. It is the deepest lake of the country with a maximum depth of 145 meters (476 feet). We will enjoy our day by taking photographs roaming around going for a short hike to the village of Ringma and the Buddhist monasteries around. There are more than 20 stupas and one gompa around the lake. We will return to camp for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 7 - Phoksundo Khola Trekking
From Phoksundo lake, we continue our adventurous trek to reach Phoksundo Khola (3500 meters). We walk for 6 hours through the rough and rocky ledge along the western bank. The lake is the source of the Phoksundo river. On the bank of the river, we set up the tents for dinner and overnight stay.
Day 8 - Phoksundo Bhanjyang
Today’s walk leads along the path through a glacial valley that now heads to Phoksundo Bhanjyang (4400 meters). This will be a long trekking day. The trail will pass through the confluence of mountain rivers, meadows and ultimately the Kang-La pass. Our accommodation will be in tents ahead of the pass.
Day 9 - Trek to Shey Gompa
We will start our walk early in the morning. Today’s destination will be Shey Gompa (4160 meters). There are excellent views down upon the large valley. You will enjoy the views of the river, grazing fields and herds of mountain sheep (Changra). A red chorten appears as we approach Shey Gompa. After crossing a wooden bridge, we enter the Shey Gompa compound. We set up the camps and stay there during the night.
Day 10 - A day at Shey Gompa
We hike around Shey Gompa and rest on this day. The monastery is also known as Crystal Monastery because Shey means ‘crystal’ in the local language. It is a very ancient monastery built by a Lama guru Tenzing Ra-Pa during the 11th century. Even today, monks and Lamas meditate and study Buddhist texts here. Knagju Nala and Yeju Nala are the two rivers that meet in this region. It is a perfect place to observe the Tibetan culture, Buddhist traditions with stone mani, prayer wheels, and flags. The amazing trip to this monastery certainly makes this trek special.
Day 11 - Trek to Namgung
After a day at Shey Gompa, we will resume our journey by following a trail to Namgung(4430 meters) through Saldang Pass (5010 meters). The trail is zigzag and rough. Namgung is a small village in the Dolpo region. The economy of the region is based on agriculture, animal husbandry, and trading. Potato, radish, buckwheat, and oilseed are the major crops cultivated. We will pass the night in our tented camps.
Day 12 - Trek to Seldang
Leaving the Namgung village, our trek heads towards Saldang (3770 meters). After four hours of hard ups and downs, Saldang appears below on a plateau high above the Namkhong Mala. Saldang is the largest village of inner Dolpo area and also the most populated one. An ancient trade route to Tibet goes through this village. We stop at this place and camp for the night.
Day 13 - Trek to Sibu
Today’s journey will pass through terraced fields, stupas, chortens, heaps of mani stones and sloppy ways. Although we will walk for six hours, it will be an easy walk. The trail is comparatively pleasant as we don’t have to pass through steep slopes today. Finally, we will reach today’s destination - Sibu at an altitude of 4000 meters.
Day 14 - Sibu - Jeng La Phedi
We walk along the trail that passes by Nam Khong river in the morning. As we move further to the north, we can see barren lands with less vegetation and herds of Yaks used for transportation. After crossing the confluence of two streams, our trail picks up in altitude as we climb up to the base of Jeng La. The base is called Jeng La Phedi (4480 meters) which will be our stopping point for today.
Day 15 - Trek to Tokyu Gaun
As we continue our journey from Jeng La Phedi, we are going to cross Jeng La Pass after climbing for two hours. At an altitude of 5090 meters, we can get the view of peaks to the south including the north face of Dhaulagiri. Now the trail goes downhill as we pass through green Tarap valley, Tarap Chu river and the cultivated fields, chortens, and gompas. After 7 hours of trekking, we will reach Tokyu Gaun and stay there in our tented camps.
Day 16 - Trek to Dho Tarap
From Tokyu Gaun, we move further down along Tarap Chu river. As we move down, we can see the beautiful greenery again on the sides of the river. We will pass through the Crystal Mountain School sponsored by a French NGO. After just two hours of walking, we will reach Dho Tarap. The village is surrounded by fields of potatoes, buckwheat, and barley.
There are two monasteries nearby, which we can visit as we will have plenty of time on this day. People of Tibetan and Magar origin leave peacefully in this village practicing their own cultures and religions. We will take rest in a camp in the evening and during the night time.
Day 17 - Trek to Tarap River
Today is one of the toughest days in our trip. We are going to have a seven hours of walk through a rough trail. But we can customize the trek and shorten the distance we cover today by selecting a closer campsite. We come across a gorge passing along the bushes of juniper and wild rose. After we reach the confluence of Tarap Chu river and Lang river, we set our camps nearby for night stay.
Day 18 - Trek to Khani Gaun
We continue our journey down the gorge of the Tarap river, that will eventually take us to Khani Gaun(2550 meters) by the end of the day. The valley gets narrower making a deep gorge. As we reach Khani Gaun, that is beside the Tarap river we would have walked for about seven hours. We will have good rest at the camp that we will set up there.
Day 19 - Trek to Tarakot
Today we leave Khani Gaun and we head towards Tarako. We will pass through the forests, rivers, gorge and cultivated fields for about four hours. Tarakot is an old fortress situated south of Bheri river at an altitude of 2537 meters. There are few chortens and gompas nearby. We will select a suitable site for camping and will be staying at the camp for the night.
Day 20 - Dunai revisited
We will continue our walk beside the Bheri river and along the pine forests. After completing a circuit, we will reach Dunai, the same place where we had stayed on our second day of this trek. It will take five to six hours to reach there. We will stay in tented camps in Dunai once again.
Day 21 - Back to Juphal
We will fly to Kathmandu via Nepalgunj, once again enjoying the great views of mountains and valleys from above the clouds. With the beautiful trekking memories of Dolpo region, we will land at the Kathmandu airport. You will be transferred to one of the finest hotels in Kathmandu for night stay.
Day 22 - Flight to Kathmandu
We will fly to Kathmandu via Nepalgunj, once again enjoying the great views of mountains and valleys from above the clouds. With the beautiful trekking memories of Dolpo region, we will land at the Kathmandu airport. You will be transferred to one of the finest hotels in Kathmandu for night stay.
Day 23 - Leisure day
Today is one of the toughest days in our trip. We are going to have a seven hours of walk through a rough trail. But we can customize the trek and shorten the distance we cover today by selecting a closer campsite. We come across a gorge passing along the bushes of juniper and wild rose. After we reach the confluence of Tarap Chu river and Lang river, we set our camps nearby for night stay.
Day 24 - See you again
This will be the last day of our togetherness for this time. Our staff will drop you to the airport. The 25-day program comes to an end. With the hope of seeing you again, we wish for your safe and great journey ahead.
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