Dolpo Region

The Dolpo region is in Dolpa District, Karnali Province, in Nepal's far north-west. It lies behind the Dhaulagiri and Kanjiroba ranges, on the border with Tibet. Dolpa is Nepal's largest district by area and one of its least populated.

Shey-Phoksundo National Park is the protected area that covers most of Dolpo. Created in 1984, it is Nepal's largest national park at 3,555 km², across Dolpa and Mugu districts, with a 1,349 km² buffer zone. It rises from about 2,200 m at Suligad to 6,883 m on Kanjiroba.

Lower Dolpo is the southern half, around Juphal, Dunai, Tarakot, the Tarap valley and Phoksundo Lake. Upper Dolpo is the higher, drier north beyond Phoksundo, with Shey Gompa, Saldang and villages near Tibet. Both are restricted areas, but Upper Dolpo needs a much more expensive permit.

Phoksundo Lake is a turquoise lake at about 3,611 m, the best-known sight in Dolpo. It covers about 4.94 km², surveys put its depth at 136 to 145 m, and it became a Ramsar wetland in 2007. Ringmo village and a Bon monastery stand at its southern end.

The Dolpo-pa are Tibetan-speaking farmers and yak herders who live in the high valleys of Dolpo. They grow barley and buckwheat and for centuries traded salt and grain with Tibet by yak caravan. Khas Hindu villagers live lower down, around Dunai and Tarakot.

Bon is a Tibetan religion older than Buddhism, still followed in parts of Dolpo. You can see it at Thasung Tsholing Gompa near Ringmo, beside Phoksundo Lake. Bon followers walk around shrines and mani walls anticlockwise, the opposite of Buddhists.

Shey Gompa is an 11th-century Buddhist monastery in Upper Dolpo, below Crystal Mountain. Local people treat the mountain as sacred and walk around it on pilgrimage. Peter Matthiessen's book The Snow Leopard made Shey known outside Nepal.

Shey-Phoksundo National Park is home to snow leopard, blue sheep, Tibetan wolf, musk deer and red panda in its lower forests. It records more than 200 bird species, including the Danphe. Blue sheep are often seen on high slopes, while snow leopards are rarely seen.

Dolpo sits north of the Dhaulagiri and Kanjiroba ranges, which block most monsoon clouds. So the upper valleys get little rain and look like the Tibetan plateau. This is why parts of Dolpo can be visited in summer, when most of Nepal is wet.

You need the Shey-Phoksundo National Park entry permit (NPR 3,000 for foreigners) for any part of the region. Lower Dolpo needs a restricted area permit of USD 20 per week, and Upper Dolpo one of USD 500 for the first 10 days, then USD 50 per day. The Shey Phoksundo trek up to Ringmo needs no restricted permit.

No for Upper and Lower Dolpo, because both are restricted areas. You need a registered agency and a licensed guide. You can help you arrange all this for you.

You fly from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, stay one night, and take a morning flight to Juphal (about 2,480 m). Wind often delays Juphal flights, so plan spare days. If flights stop, a jeep road via Surkhet, Jajarkot and Rukum reaches Dunai in about 2 days.

Putha Hiunchuli (7,246 m), also called Dhaulagiri VII, is the highest peak climbed from inside Dolpo. Churen Himal (7,385 m) is higher and sits on the Dolpa-Myagdi border, but it is approached from the Myagdi side. Kanjiroba (6,883 m) is the highest point of Shey-Phoksundo National Park.

There are three main treks. The Shey Phoksundo trek (about 7 to 10 days) goes to the lake and Ringmo, the Lower Dolpo Circuit (about 15 days) adds the Tarap valley and Numa La (5,190 m), and Upper Dolpo (about 25 days) crosses Kang La (5,360 m) to Shey Gompa. Small lodges exist only at Dunai, Tarakot, Dho Tarap and Ringmo, so the longer treks are camping trips.

Dolpo is wilder and harder to reach than Upper Mustang. Both are dry rain-shadow regions with Tibetan culture, but Mustang has roads and lodges, while Dolpo has no road beyond Dunai and mostly needs camping. Dolpo also has Bon monasteries and far fewer visitors.