Lower Dolpo Trek

As we start our tour we take an hour’s flight to Nepalgunj which is situated in the south-west border of Nepal and India. The place is hot and tropical as being situated in the Terai region of the country. Overnight at Nepalgunj.

We start our day by flying to Juphal situated at the height of 2,320m. Juphal will be our start point of the trek. A short 2-3 hours walk from the Juphal airstrip leads us to Dunai which will be our stop for the night.

We trek towards Tarakot following the upstream trail banking the Bheri river along a leveled path. We will also cross deep gorges. As we continue to trek further, we are greeted with dry stones and cultivating a  terraced field of Tarakot, which is an old fortress town located on a hillock to the south of Bheri River. Today we will have overnight in a lodge of Tarakot.

We start following the trail on the southern bank of Bheri River that leads us to follow the TarapKhola and head north to Khanigaon which offers the wonderful view of Sandul Gompa across the valley. We make a final ascend on the steep trail to reach Laina Odar. Overnight in a lodge of Laina Odar.

A 5 hours trek of 500 m ascent and 60 m descent will lead us to a beautiful civilization of Nawarpani. The trail will drastically climb up to one point where you can’t even view the river. We reach Nawarpani crossing an exciting suspension bridge over Chaya Khola. We then trek to Toltol which will be our stop for the night.

We will ascend to Charkala (4,920m) and then descend down the side of the valley. The trail then climbs to crest and descend to the dwindling river. The valley becomes narrower. On reaching Do Tarap we will take a good rest and spend the night in a tea house.

Dho Tarap is situated at a high altitude and works as the acclimatization stop for trekkers to avoid altitude sickness. Hence, we stroll around the place and its Tibetan Buddhist Monastery and enjoy our rest day at Dho Tarap.

We will follow the trail leading us to Numla La Base Camp. We continue to ascend up the northern valley in the Himalayan Desert. A beautiful view of the snowcapped mountains will keep us refreshed throughout the trek.

Crossing the Numa La Pass is the hardest part of the trek. The trail leads us to a steep climb with views of different mountains surrounding us from all sides. The trek takes roughly 7 hours.

Leaving behind Danighar, we head towards Temche via another pass, Baga La (5170m). We make a steep ascent along the shabby yak trail. We then descend to a deep ravine and cross a frozen stream to reach Temche.

We descend to Yak Kharka from Temche at first and then ascend to the village of Ringmo passing through the forested path full of lush vegetation of oaks, pines, junipers, and cypress. Accompanied by the amazing view of towering cliffs and a large waterfall, we make our way to Ringmo village, which is a famous Bon settlement in Dolpo region. A short walk from Ringmo leads us to the beautiful Phoksundo Lake which will be our stop for the night.

Phoksundo Lake is situated in a high altitude works as the acclimatization stop for trekkers to avoid altitude sickness. Hence, we stroll around the village of Ringmo and its Tibetan Buddhist Monastery and enjoy our rest day at the lake.

We move ahead of the beautiful mountains as we descend to Chhepka following a stream flowing south across a beautiful forest. We will spend the night at Chhepka.

We head towards Juphal from Chhepka passing through villages of Shyanta and Kageni. As we trek through the forested path from Shyanta, we reach the check post of the Shey Phoksundo National Park. We will then cross the metal suspension bridge over DhimKhola and make our way to Juphal, which will be our stop for the night.

Today we head back to where we started. We take a flight of around 35 minutes back to Nepalgunj and then another 20 mins flight back to Kathmandu.