Upper
Dolpa offers a real adventure trekking
on remote and rugged natural unspoiled
corner simply beyond the Himalayan
valleys across western Nepal. This
upper Dolpo region preserves one
of the last remnants of traditional
Tibetan culture where the pre-Buddhist
Bon-Po religion is still in practice.
High mountains including the Dhaulagiri
massif to the southeast surround
this spiritual sanctuary that remain
cut off by high passes closed by
snow half the year.
Dolpo remains a truly isolated corner
of Nepal. Time has stood still here
for centuries as the inhabitants
of Tibetan stock continue to live,
cultivate and trade the way they
have done since time immemorial.
The finally preserved Eco–system
encompasses a wild and wonderful
variety of flora and fauna, including
the blue sheep and elusive snow
leopard. This upper Dolpo trek is
one of the great trekking experiences
in Nepal. It has given birth of
Peter Matthiessen ‘s masterpiece
and best selling book “ Snow
Leopards” and Eric Valli’s
Oscar nominated movie CARAVAN (also
known HIMALAYA) was featured in
this isolated Himalayan sanctuary
of Dolpa.
After
exploring Kathmandu wonder’s
historical sights and obtaining
special permit for the upper Dopla
trekking we take our flight to Juphal
via Nepalganj. Following up Matthiessen’s
footsteps, we trek north on to Shey
Phoksundo National Park before joining
ancient Nepal Tibet trade route
and steep ascent to cross the Nangdola
pass (5110m), enjoy the views of
whole of Dolpa valley to Dhaulagiri
and the snow capped peaks in boarder
with Tibet. The scenery begins to
change with the hills becoming shades
of red, brown and gray. Eventually
you can hear prayer flag fluttering
at the top of the pass, and the
view opens up dramatically looking
east towards the snow peaks of the
Kanjiroba and magestice Dhaulagiri
range. We soon walk through the
pleasant green pastures to the pristine
Phoksundo Lake full of crystal deep
blue fresh water contrasting with
the weathered red and brown hills.
On
our trek to upper Dolpa we pass
many mystical stunning peaks and
witness the spiritual charms of
remote monastery of Shey Gompa,
which was established in the eleventh
century and little has changed here
since then. We cross over other
two high passes: the Sela (5094m)
and the Jyanta pass (5221m) before
trekking descend to the Dho Tarap
valley in our way to Juphal airstrip
to end our historical trip of lifetime
to upper Dolpa, the land of mystery,
scenery and peace.
