Dolpo Trekking Cost & Itinerary for 2022 /2023

The Upper Dolpo trek takes you through the remote landscape of western Nepal. While walking along the ancient salt trade route, we come across picturesque Shey Phoksundo lake, various high passes, and majestic mountains. The arid landscape between the Dhaulagiri massif and the Tibetan plateau is rich in ancient Tibetan Buddhist cultures. Various artistic monasteries of the local ethnic communities, including Shey- Gumpa, are borne out in prayer flags and traditional lifestyles, which are in pristine form, free of any modern influences.

The Upper Dolpo region is even more remote and rarely explored. There are beautiful mountainous trekking passes; breathtaking views of mountains, gray hills, and grazing deserts in the alpine region; ancient Bon Po, and Buddhist sacred sites. The Dolpo district of Nepal has a strongly Tibetan-influenced culture. Upper Dolpo has some untouched wilderness. The region is part of the sedimentary Tibetan Tethys zone, which serves as a barrier to the semiarid climate of the surrounding region. The region receives less than 500 millimeters of rainfall annually. As a result, Nepal is a desert country with a cold climate.

The Upper Dolpo trek is commonly called the Trans- Himalayan Trek Nepal. It is situated in mid-West Nepal and the itinerary includes the freezing settlement of the legendary Shey Gompa Monastery beyond Phoksundo Lake and one of the closest and open borders with Tibet. While Phoksindo lake is also reached by the lower Dolpo trek, the Upper Dolpo trek takes you to the spiritual heart of the Dolpo Region, also known as the Crystal Monastery, located at the foot of revered Crystal Mountain. The mountain is visited by many devotees for circumambulation, which they believe will free them from the vicious circle of life and death.

Traditional Tibetan cultures and home to snow leopards, blue sheep, and Yaks grazing highlands, upper Dolpo to Jomsom trekking trails take you around immense Himalayan peaks with five high passes Kang La (5,380m, SALDANG La (5,060m, Chharka La (5,015m), more top Sangda La (5,515m), lower Sangda La (5,035m).

The Upper Dolpo Circuit to Jomsom Trek itinerary explores parts of the Great Himalayan Trail trek in Nepal, connecting the Tibet border. Geologically, the region is still in Nepal, but it is ethnically connected to Tibet, similar to the Upper Mustang trek.

The Upper Dolpo trek route was opened to foreign trekkers in 1989 through the restricted area trek in Nepal. This was controlled by the government to minimize the environmental and cultural impacts of the area.

There are Buddhist monasteries to be found in the Upper Dolpo region, as well as Bon Po pre-Buddhist monasteries. It preserves one of the last remnants of traditional Tibetan culture. The Shey Gompa is a Buddhist monastery located at 4200m in the She Phoksundo rural municipality of the Dolpa district in Nepal. Tibetans call it Shey Gompa which means Crystal Monastery. The village was founded in the 11th century. The monastery is the spiritual heart of the Upper Dolpo trek. It is housed in a red two-story building, and its interior is decorated with Buddhist paintings.  In 1220 BS, the Kagyu tribe came to this place and began this festival as a symbol of victory against the evil spirits, the Rakshas. 

Likewise, a large part of Dolpo trekking is also charming Phoksundo Lake which is discovered by Shey Phoksundo National Park at 3,555 square kilometers,  the Shey Gompa, Dho Tarap village is also equally beautiful.

Moreover, Phoksundo Lake is the highlight of the entire Upper Dolpo trek circuit route, which is more than 1,500 feet deep. Its water is of turquoise blue color circled by dense pine forest and the snow-capped magnifications of Himalaya’s views.

The Upper Dolpo Trek itinerary starts by plane from Kathmandu-Nepalgunj-Juphal-Dunai. Various picturesque landscapes can be viewed along the trail, as well as vast mountain ranges. Through arid landscapes and mixed forests, the trail leads to Ringmo Lake and Say Phoksundo Lake and through indigenous cultures. A Buddhist monastery called Gombas Monastery is located in Crystal Mountain, and it contains semi-precious stones and historical buildings. The Upper Dolpo passes through villages inhabited by ethnic Buddhists. Tibetans only speak Tibetan in this area. Our hike will take us to the last settlement before Tibet, and we can see the Tibetan border as we reach Musi Gaun. Continuing our ascent, we reach Jomsom via the Sangdala pass (5,111 meters). It is the starting point of the Upper Mustang Trek, the Tilicho Pass Trek, the Dhaulagiri Pass, and the Thapa peak climb.

Accommodations

The Chharka Bhot has only a basic tea house room during the upper Dolpo trek. but the rest of the places are only camping, with “no tea house access”. of course, Dunai bazaar, Phoksundo lake, and Jomsom have nice accommodations when trekking through the Upper Dolpo. Chharka Bhot is a rural village in the northeast of the region, on the Tibetan border. manage the Shree Chharka Bhot Basic School, a government school. A total of 120 children, including those from the surrounding villages, can now attend classes.  

Local people meals

Upper Dolpo trek region local people’s main meals are Champa, boiled potato, Su Chya, yak, and goat meats. there is no particular irrigation land in the Upper Dolpo territory, and the local people cannot lucrative farming crops because of the parallel high altitude mountainous.

Trekking in the western region of the Dolpo trekking package with a knowledgeable guide and well-equipped porters will be handled by our Nepal wilderness trekking packages at a competitive price of the full board itinerary. Our guide knows the trails, culture, people, and fauna of the Upper Dolpo circuit trek.

Trip Highlights

• scenic flight to Juphal via Nepalganj from the capital of Kathmandu
• Challenging Trek through remote highest mountains
• Discover the unique lifestyle and culture of the mountain people
• Legendary Shey Gompa Monastery
• Explore the majestic monasteries as they were built over many centuries.
• Journey through Miraculous and landscape