The region offers opportunities to visit ancient villages, high passes, beautiful Lakes, isolated monasteries and also to experience the vast array of wildlife inhabiting the region, including Blue sheep, Mountain Goat, Jackal, Wolf and the legendary Snow Leopard.
The people follow an amalgam of Buddhist, Bon, Shaman and Hindu traditions and behind many houses throughout Dolpo you will find carved wooden faces, dok-pa, which offer protection against evil spirits.
Days 1-3: Flying into Kathmandu is an unforgettable experience with the Himalaya spread out before you. You will be met at the airport on arrival and transferred to your hotel. In the morning of day 2 a half-day city tour will introduce you to some of the highlights of Kathmandu. On Day 3 fly to Nepalgunj.
Day 4: Flights to Juphal leave at dawn so it is an early start. From Juphal we set out for Dunai, the administrative center of the region.
Days 5-8: Following the Thulo Bheri via the fortress village of Tarakot to Khanigaon at the entrance to the Tarap Valley. The route down the valley to Khanigaon is a tough one with numerous river crossings, often bridges are washed out, and precarious cliff-ledge sections – not the time to be distracted by the colorful birds darting around and hunting insects in fissures in the rock.
Days 9-11: The Tarap Valley is a beautiful area of barley fields, scattered settlements and numerous Buddhist and Bon Gompas. The reputed Khampa origins of the Dolpa are apparent in the red yarn the men weave into their hair and the ornate headgear of the women. Above Dho, the largest settlement in Tarap, is a chorten within a chorten and Ri Bhumpa Gompa.
Days 12-13: From the Tarap to Phoksumdo Valleys cross the South Numla Pass (5150m) and the Baga La (5190m), immortalized in the superb movie ‘Himalaya'.
Days 14-15: Arrive at the incredibly beautiful Phoksumdo Lake – an unearthly turquoise blue ringed by rocky crags and forest, framed by snow-capped peaks. Standing at the end of the lake, Ringmo is a picturesque village with chorten, mani walls, a Bon gompa and an entry chorten depicting complex mandalas of both Buddhist and Bon traditions.
Days 16-17: From a 3660m ridge there are close views of Nepal's highest waterfall, the 330-meter-high source of the Suli Gad River and back towards the lake. Leaving the open country below Palam – a winter settlement used by the people of Ringmo – the trail enters deep forest high above the river. It is a route of numerous ascents and descents, often dizzyingly steep.
Day 18: Early morning flight to Nepalganj and onward connection to Kathmandu.
Day 19: Depart
