Upper Dolpo

Upper Dolpo is a remote and vast area of Nepal which is situated towards the north face of Dhaulagiri mountain range in the western part of Nepal which is natural as well as culturally rich. Making your journey towards this area will let you explore the remote areas and glance for a bit to the people living in the remote world. Trekking in Upper Dolpo area of Nepal presents various green lushes meadows, beautifully decorated forests with gorgeous snow-capped mountains which truly shows its richness in natural resources and wilderness too as it is the home of wild animals likes snow leopard, blue sheep, mountain musk deer, and many more wild animals. One of the rare thing you will explore in this region is people here live in the elevation higher than 4,000 meters from sea level and allowing you to watch their amazing Tibetan-influenced Buddhist culture and tradition.

Normally, Upper Dolpo trek can be started from Jhuphal. From Kathmandu valley, you can take a flight to Nepalgunj which takes about an hour to reach there. Further, you can fly to Jhuphal from Nepalgunj in about 45 minutes of flight. The actual trekking starts from here towards Dunai (2,850 meters) which is about 2-3 hours of trek. Your trekking follows the way to Ankhe (2,896 meters), Sulighat, Phoksundo Lake (3,611 meters), Phoksundo Khola, Phoksundo Bhanjyang, Shey Gompa (4,500 meters) via Kang La Pass (5,360 meters), Namduna Gaun (4,800 meters) via Saldang La (5,200 meters), Saldang (3,620 meters), Yangze Gompa (4,960 meters), Sibu (4,560 meters), Jeng La Phedi (4,900 meters), Tokyu Gaun (4,209 meters) via Jeng La Pass (5,090 meters), Dho Tarap (4,040 meters). Dho Tarap Village is the highest altitude village with human settlement in Nepal. Your trek further follows the trail towards Tarap Khola (3,800 meters), Khanigaun (3,150 meters), Tarakot (2,537 meters), Dunai and finally to Jhuphal. Trekking in Upper Dolpo allows you to explore different places in different elevation.

Moreover, some special permits with some regulation are required while trekking in Upper Dolpo region. Only 250 foreigners are allowed to enter in this Upper Dolpo region each year and they are also required to purchase the permit for Lower Dolpo. Permit fee to enter Lower Dolpo is the US $10 per week while to enter Upper Dolpo is the US $50 per day with the minimum for 10 days. Further, it is also required to pay an entry fee to Shey-Phoksundo National Park which is Rs.1000 per person.