Dolpo trekking guide: Phoksundo, Tarap and Shey

Dolpo, written Dolpa for the district, lies in Karnali Province in western Nepal, behind the Dhaulagiri and Kanjiroba ranges and west of Mustang. Its northern valleys sit on the edge of the Tibetan plateau, in a rain shadow so deep that barley fields and villages survive above 4,000 m. Most of the region falls within Shey Phoksundo National Park, created in 1984 and, at about 3,555 square kilometres, the largest national park in Nepal.

Few places in Nepal are as hard to reach. There is no road into the upper valleys, mobile signal is patchy or absent, and supplies still arrive by mule, yak or on people's backs. That remoteness is exactly why trekkers come: Dolpo gives you a way of life, landscapes and silence that are now rare in the Himalaya.

For permits, Dolpo is split in two. Lower Dolpo covers the southern valleys, including Dunai, Phoksundo Lake, Ringmo and the Tarap valley with Dho Tarap. Upper Dolpo covers the north beyond Phoksundo: Shey Gompa, the Nangkhong valley with Saldang and Namgung, and the villages near the Tibetan border. Upper Dolpo is far more expensive to enter and far less visited.

Both are restricted areas. Permits are issued only through registered agencies to groups of at least two foreigners with a licensed guide. On top of the restricted-area permit you pay the national park entry fee. The figures below are as we understand them; check current status before you travel.

Almost every Dolpo trek begins with two flights. The first is from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, a hot town in the Terai near the Indian border, about an hour by air. Most trekkers spend a night there. The second is a morning flight in a small plane from Nepalgunj to Juphal, about 40 minutes, landing on a short hillside airstrip at about 2,475 m. From Juphal it is a three-hour walk to Dunai, the district headquarters.

Juphal flights depend on clear weather in the hills and are often delayed, sometimes for days in cloudy periods. Build two spare days into your plans for the return. Rough roads are slowly being extended toward Dunai from the south, but for trekkers the flight remains the practical way in.

Dolpo treks range from a week to a month. Times below are from Kathmandu and back, including the flights and a buffer. Every route can be adapted, but the passes set the limits: Numa La, Baga La, Kang La, Saldang La and Jeng La are all above 5,000 m and need settled weather.

• Phoksundo Lake, 8 to 10 nights: Juphal, Dunai, Chhepka and Ringmo, with a rest day at the lake. Lodges on most nights; the easiest Dolpo trek
• Lower Dolpo circuit, 13 to 16 nights: up the Tarap gorge to Dho Tarap, over Numa La and Baga La to Phoksundo, then out. Camping needed for the high section
• Upper Dolpo traverse, 22 to 26 nights: Phoksundo, Kang La to Shey Gompa, Saldang, Jeng La to the Tarap valley and down the Tarap gorge. Full camping expedition
• Dolpo to Mustang, around four weeks: from Upper Dolpo east via Charka to Upper Mustang and Jomsom. Both restricted permits; for very experienced trekkers only

Phoksundo is the reason most people first come to Dolpo. The lake lies at about 3,610 m, held back by an ancient landslide dam, and has been measured at about 145 m deep, the deepest lake in Nepal. Its colour shifts through the day from deep blue to turquoise, depending on the light and the season. At its southern end, the stone village of Ringmo and its chortens stand on the old dam, and a short walk away a Bon monastery sits on the shore.

Below the lake, the outflow drops over a tall waterfall into the gorge of the Phoksundo Khola, which you pass on the way up from Chhepka. The trail along the west shore, cut into the cliff above the water, is the route north toward Shey and Upper Dolpo. Local people regard the lake as sacred, so visitors should not swim, fish or wash in it.

The trekking season in Dolpo is shorter than in most of Nepal. May and June, and September and October, are the best months. Because Dolpo lies in the rain shadow, the upper valleys stay fairly dry in July and August, and some groups trek then, but monsoon cloud in the lower hills disrupts Juphal flights and makes the trails below Dunai muddy and prone to landslides.

From November, snow begins to close the high passes, and by December many people in the upper villages move to lower ground for the winter. Phoksundo itself can be visited in early November and in April, but expect frozen mornings and some closed lodges. Winter treks are possible only as specialised expeditions.

The Dolpo-pa, the people of Dolpo, speak a Tibetan dialect and follow Tibetan Buddhism or Bon, the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet, which survives here more strongly than almost anywhere. Ringmo by Phoksundo Lake and parts of the Tarap valley have Bon monasteries; you can tell Bon chortens and prayer walls because followers walk around them anticlockwise. Shey Gompa and the monasteries of Saldang and Namgung are Buddhist.

Most Dolpo-pa families farm barley, buckwheat and potatoes and keep yaks, sheep and goats. Trade with Tibet, once based on exchanging salt for grain, still matters. In late spring many families also go to the high pastures to collect yarsagumba, the caterpillar fungus prized in Chinese medicine, which has become one of the region's main sources of cash. If you trek in May or June, you may find villages half-empty for this reason.

Two works made Dolpo known abroad: Peter Matthiessen's book The Snow Leopard, about his 1973 journey to Shey Gompa with the biologist George Schaller, and Eric Valli's film Himalaya, released in some countries as Caravan, shot among Dolpo's salt caravans in the late 1990s with local people in the lead roles.

Apart from the Phoksundo route, Dolpo is a camping region. Your agency supplies a guide, cook, kitchen crew, tents and mules or porters. This, together with the flights and permits, makes Dolpo more expensive than lodge treks. As a guide, a 13-night Lower Dolpo circuit costs from about USD 3,400 per person and a 24-night Upper Dolpo traverse from about USD 7,500, both for two people sharing and including permits.

Rescue is slow. Helicopter evacuation is possible in good weather but can take hours or longer, so your insurance must cover high-altitude trekking and evacuation. Choose an agency whose guides carry a satellite device, plan proper acclimatisation days, and be prepared to turn back from a pass if the weather or your body says so.

• A sleeping bag rated to −15 °C or colder for Upper Dolpo
• Warm down jacket, gloves and hat, even in summer
• Water treatment: tablets or a filter, since there are few shops
• Cash in Nepali rupees, as there are no ATMs beyond Nepalgunj
• A power bank or solar charger