Trekking in the Upper Dolpo Trek, you cover narrow valleys to wide Tarap valleys, semi-desert highlands to pristine snow-capped mountains, crystal clear dazzling lakes and green forests to rushing rivers. Upper Dolpo Trek offers you Dollop’s extraordinary natural beauty captured in the Oscar-nominated movie ‘Caravan.’ Also, you witness the pristine water of Shey-Phoksundo Lake. Enjoy the most scenic mountains, hidden valleys, and ancient shrines such as Shey Gompa.
Your trek to Upper Dolpo starts after flying from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj to Juphal in the Dolpa district. Then, you walk to various traditional villages, hike to Shey-Phoksundo Lake, step along the Tarap valley, stroll along the Bheri River and pass Jeng La Pass. Finally, you visit Yangze Gompa, observe Buddhist culture and enjoy rural hospitality.
Visit Dolpo region – out of the world. Opened up for tourism in 1989, Upper Dolpo Region Trek offers you unforgettable adventures in your life – Mt. Dhaulagiri, Mt. Sisne, Mt. Kanjirowa, Lake Phoksundo, Tibetan plateau, yak caravans, and over 130 Gompas. You pass through Himalayan passes, reach Dho-Tarap – one of the highest settlements on earth, meet Himalayan people (Tibetan origin), observe their Buddhist culture, visit Gompas and feel the warmth of organic hospitality.
In addition, you trek in the Shey-Phoksundo National Park – the country’s largest conservation area, accompanied by natural flora and fauna, see several species of birds and animals, may encounter Himalayan sheep, musk deer, jackals, and snow leopards.
Do not feel shocked seeing growing crops, animal husbandry, and trading at this higher altitude. In Dolpo, crops (mainly barley) can be grown once a year. In some lower villages, we see people growing buckwheat, oilseed, potato, and radish. You will explore the harsh life of the Dolpali people.
Book your Upper Dolpo Trek with Nomadways Adventure. We promise you to provide the best quality trekking services, security, proper guidance, and assistance. So be ready to collect the most beautiful memories, natural-thrilling moments, and life-changing activities.
You will meet our representative when you land at the Tribhuvan International Airport. He/she will greet you, drive to our luxury Nepali authentic restaurant, and assist you in checking in at Thamel. So, please keep your eyes on someone holding a placard with your name or our company’s name – Nomadways Adventure.
In the evening, we arrange a short introduction meeting. After that, you will meet your guide, and our trekking expert will provide you with all the detailed information about the trek.
We offer you a welcome dinner, and you simply take a rest at the restaurant. Then, overnight, you stay at our hotel and restore your energy to accomplish your upcoming adventurous trip to Upper Dolpo Trek.
Today, you are going to enjoy the Kathmandu Valley Tour – the city full of World Heritage Sites, Nepali culture, and many more to explore.
Early morning, we offer you a warm breakfast, and your sightseeing starts with our city guide. At first, you visit Pashupatinath Temple – the holiest Hindu Temple on the bank of the sacred Bagmati River, then move to Boudhanath Stupa – the most significant Buddhist Stupa architecture in the world. After that, we will drive you to Patan Durbar Square. In addition, we take you to Swayambhunath Stupa – the 2000 years old legendary stupa on the hilltop also nick-named as monkey temple. Finally, we come to Kathmandu Durbar Square, observe Kumari Temple (living goddess temple), Nautale Durbar, the Kaal Bhairav, the Swet Bhairav, the freak streets, and more.
Your exciting city tour finishes in the evening. Then, you take a delicious dinner and take a rest collecting energy for the upcoming adventure.
Your Upper Dolpo Trek starts today. We catch an early flight from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj – one of Nepal’s main cities and business hubs. After a flight of around 30 minutes, we land at Nepalgunj airport. Then, we drive you to the guest house. Finally, you visit some exciting places in Nepalgunj.
Overnight, we stay here in Nepalgunj.
Having warm breakfast early in the morning, we drive you to the Nepalgunj airport and catch a flight to the Dolpo region. After a scenic mountain flight of half an hour, we land at Juphal airport – the only airport in the Dolpo region.
From Juphal airport, we walk passing farmland and then along the bank of the Bheri River. Further, strolling on the narrow gorges for a few hours, we reach Dunai – the administrative headquarters of Dolpa district.
You can explore and enjoy the Dolpali lifestyle, culture, and habitat in the evening. Overnight, we stay here at Dunai.
After a delicious breakfast, our trek to Renji starts from Dunai. Then, we trek along the bank of the Bheri River, cross a suspension bridge, and pass through deep gorges, forests, and terraced fields. Then, we reach Tarakot (Renji). This village carries the history of ancient times.
Overnight, we shelter at a camp.
Early in the morning, we take a delicious breakfast and begin our trek to Phoksundo Lake, the purest in the Himalayas. From Tarakot, we cross a suspension bridge and pass through buckwheat fields, enjoying spectacular views of Putha Himal and Churen Himal in the distance. Further, we cross a few streams and reach Khani Gaun. Then, we drop to Sandul Gompa and keep following traces through dense forests and narrow gorges. Finally, we get Laini – a beautiful village in the Phoksundo lake region.
We enjoy our delicious breakfast at Laini, admiring the magnificent vista of the rushing waterfall. The trek starts in Laini and climbs to a low pass and rocky canyon before descending to the Tilba Khola waterfall. We ascend another slope from here and then drop to Chyugur Khola and cross the suspension bridges to reach Nawarpani.
We spend the night in the Nawarpani setting up a camp.
Today, you enjoy one of the variable trails of the trek. Early morning, we follow the gorges down, cross a bridge, and drop to Tarap Chu River. Then, after crossing a wooden bridge over Tarap River, we climb Serkam ridge. After that, we go down to Sishul Khola and reach a valley.
We set up a camp here and spent the night.
The first hour of today’s walk takes you along a level route that winds its way north through a glacier valley. There is an antique wooden bridge at the confluence of the Phoksundo Khola and another mountain stream. It is taking the hardly perceptible track to the northeast of the valley. You must scramble over rocks and stones and cross a brook that runs down the steep hill since there is no other way. After a steep rise to a sheep pasture, the trail veers into a rocky ravine. The Kang-La, the pass that leads to Shey Gompa, may be viewed from another valley after an arduous journey to the peak.
The morning trek leads to a difficult ascent covered with slate. The ascent is difficult, especially on the slate screed. However, the views from the summit of Kang-la (5,160m/16925ft) are spectacular, with a huge valley bisected by a flowing river. After descending sharply to the valley, the trail takes a long meandering trip along the river’s banks, crossing and re-crossing it multiple times.
You pass through meadows where hairy yaks, hundreds of sheep, and domestic mountain goat (Chengra) may be found grazing alongside the herders’ unusual nomadic tent. A scarlet Chorten welcomes our arrival at Shey Gompa (4,390m/14,440ft). And a charming wooden bridge leads up to our overnight camp at Shey Gompa campsite.
Today, we stay at Shey Gompa, explore and rest.
First of all, we visit Shey Gompa – ‘Shey’ means crystal and ‘Gompa’ means monastery. Shey Gompa lies above the intersection of Kangnunala and Yeju Nala Rivers. The Lama of Shey resides at Tsakang Gompa in the north of Shey. Tsakang is famous for meditation. You can further observe prayer wheels, mani walls, prayer flags, stones scripted with Buddhist chants, and Buddhist culture.
In Dolpo, the ancient Tibetan way of life combines animism with the teaching of Buddha. In the north of Shey Gompa, you can see Crystal Mountain – the strangest mountain in the region. You feel lost in the beauty of nature surrounded by the purest sacred mountains.
Today, we trek from Shey Gompa to Saldang La. We pass through the grey-stony gorge and follow the zigzag trails, which take us to Saldang La.
Further, we descend to and reach Namgung village, passing yak and sheep pastures. At Namgung, we visit one famous monastery named Namgung monastery, a red stone structure built against the backdrop of a cliff.
Overnight, we stay at Namgung village.
Today, we leave Namgung village for Saldang – the largest village in the inner Dolpo area. Our trek starts ascending towards Saldang. After a 4-5 hours trek, we reach Saldang.
We spend the rest of the time exploring Saldang village and nearby areas. You can enjoy pristine mountains views, beautiful slopes/cliffs, and traditional village with stone-built houses, high-altitude farmland, and pastures.
Saldang used to be the trade route between Nepal and Tibet. However, it was stopped after China invaded Tibet in 1959. These days, the trade is restored to some extent, and mid-Nepal receives the salt from Tibet, which is also filmed in the Oscar-nominated film ‘Caravan.
After early breakfast, we trek from Saldang to Yangze Gompa. We follow the trail to Nang Chu River, passing by wild barren terrain. With some ups and downs over the slopes, we come toLuri gaun – a small village.
Further, we continue our journey and reach Yangze. Finally, we observe Bon-Po Monastery – a very old monastery in the region.
Overnight, we stay at Range.
On this day, we leave Yangze Gompa after early breakfast. Then, following a long way trail and passing through Nishal Gaun and Shimen Gaun (two remote villages), we reach Saldang for an easier and faster trek to Sibu.
From Saldang, we trek along the riverbed and pass through terraced fields, stupas, chortens, mani walls, and Chiba monastery, which takes us to Namdo village. From Namdo, we trek for a further two hours and reach Sibu – a small village. Overnight, we stay here at Sibu.
After early breakfast, we descend to the Nam Khong Khola (small river), strolling on the caravan of yaks. Then, we walk along the Nam Khong Khola. After walking for a few hours following the same river, we arrive at the intersection of two streams. From here, we climb up to the bottom of Jeng La.
Overnight, we stay here at Jeng La Phedi.
Early morning, we climb trek for about 2 hours to reach the top of the Jeng La Pass. You can enjoy an astonishing view of mountains – Dhaulagiri massifs and other peaks.
After enjoying the best time at Jeng La Pass, we drop down to Tarap valley – a beautiful green valley with vast plains in high mountains and farmland.
Going down, we reach Tarap Chu. We observe traditional villages with their cultivated fields and many gompas, prayer wheels, chortens, and mani walls. After a short walk on this beautiful valley, we reach Dho Tarap and take shelter.
Today, we take rest, acclimatize and explore DhoTarap. ‘DhoTarap’ means ‘lower end of the valley’ in Tibetan.
At Dho Tarap, we see a cluster of houses surrounded by crop fields. Also, trek up to the Ribo Bhumpa Gompa above the village. Inside the chorten, you can see paintings representing both Bompo and Nyingma traditions. From Nyingma Gompa, you can have an excellent view of the Tarap valley.
Also, this night, we spent here at Dho Tarap.
Today, we walk passing the wide valley to the narrow gorges. Further, we pass through juniper bushes and wild roses. Finally, in the afternoon, we reach the intersection of Tarap Chu and Lang Khola.
We set up a camp here at the meadow (Karma kharka) and spent a night.
Early morning, we descend to the gorge of Tarap River and then walk along the riverbed. We might meet Dolpali people taking their herds to lower pastures. Along the way, we have cross-stone logs fitted temporary slabs over fast-flowing small rivers, jump and pass through narrow gorges.
Finally, we reach Khani Gaun, set a camp, and spend the night there.
Today, we trek from Khani kharka campsite to Tarakot village. Following the rough trails, we reach Lalberi village. Further, we continue our trek passing through a beautiful forest and reaching Tarakot, which local people call ‘Dzong’ (fort). It was the capital of this region before the Gorkha dynasty.
We take lunch at Tarakot and continue our trek walking along the Bheri River. Finally, we reach Dunai.
Overnight, we stay at Dunai and celebrate the triumph of our trek.
Today, we do not hurry to commence our trek to Juphal because it’s just 2-3 hours walk from Dunai. Instead, walking along the Bheri River, we ascend to the small airstrip of Jhuphal.
We set up a camp at Juphal spent a night for the next day’s flight to Nepalgunj.
Early in the morning, we fly back to Nepalgunj from Juphal in Dolpa. For 30 minutes flights, you can see the Himalayan foothills, pristine mountain views, rolling hills, green forests, and human settlements.
When we land at the Nepalgunj airport, if time allows,we take a rest and have something at a luxurious hotel based on the flight schedule to Kathmandu.
Finally, we catch our flight to Kathmandu and land at TIA. We will transfer you to your hotel.
You can take a rest or explore the streets and markets in Kathmandu. Even you can enjoy various cuisines at different restaurants in Thamel – Nepal’s No. 1 tourist city.
On this final day, offering you a light breakfast, we transfer to the Tribhuvan International airport via our private transportation. We bid you a happy ‘Goodbye’ and wish you a safe flight.
Trekking requires careful selection of gear to ensure comfort, safety, and efficiency on the trail. Depending on the conditions (terrain, weather, duration), the equipment you need may vary, but here’s a comprehensive list of essential trekking gear:
The trek is graded as strenuous due to high altitudes (above 5,000 meters), remote locations, and long walking days of 6–8 hours.
Spring (April–May): Clear skies, moderate temperatures, and blooming flora. Autumn (September–October): Best visibility and pleasant weather. Avoid winter (November–March) due to snow and extreme cold, and monsoon (June–August) due to heavy rain and landslides.
The highest point is Kang La Pass (5,360 meters/17,585 feet). Other high passes include Nangdalo La and Saldang La.