The lower Dolpo trek region is situated about 300 kilometers away to the northwest of Kathmandu in Dolpa district, which is the least developed district in Nepal. Lower Dolpo trek lies in the lower sub-area of Shey Phoksundo national park which is the largest national park in Nepal.
This national park was established in 1984 to preserve the unique and highly diversified Trans-Himalayan ecosystem with various kinds of flora and fauna. The park features a spectacularly diverse landscape in which five percent of the park is forest area which lies in the southern part of the park.
This remote southern part or Lower Dolpo comprises huge river valleys, beautiful lakes, and scattered isolated villages with monasteries and Tibetan Buddhist culture throughout the region.
Lower Dolpo trekking also passes through ancient villages like Do- Tarap with traditional Tibetan stone house clusters, local fields surrounded by beautiful monasteries, and high passes like Numa-La (5,290 m.) and Baga-La (5,175 m.) which add up some adventures in this trek.
One of the highlights of a trek to lower Dolpo is Shey-Phoksundo Lake famed as Nepal’s second largest lake with magnificent turquoise water located near an outlet of Nepal’s highest waterfall. As well as Ringmo village, a typical Tibetan village scenically nestles in the area near a 900-year-old Thashung Gompa as well as the beautiful Kanjiroba Himal.
How to get to the trailhead of lower Dolpo trekking?
To get to the trailhead of the lower Dolpo trek you can either take a flight to Nepalgunj which takes about 55 minutes or take a drive that takes a minimum of 16 hours. Then after this, you have to take a flight to Juphal airport which takes 35 minutes.
Or if you have time, you can even take a flight to Jumla which takes about 6-7 days to reach Juphal. As part of the by-road option, you can take a jeep ride for a few days to get to Dunai however it is not recommended during the monsoon season.
Lower Dolpo trekking Route
Normally the lower Dolpa trek begins from Juphal airport and goes to Tarakot(2543m), Laini(3160m), and Nawarpani(3545m) for the first, second, and third nights of the trek. Then trek goes to one of the highlights of the trek to Do-Tarap (4019m) where we spend two nights for acclimatization. Do-Tarap is a lovely village with amazing local farmland. This village is considered as one of the highest human settlements in Nepal which has a monastery as well.
After this trek goes to a more remote region of this journey and becomes more adventurous. So, next, the trek goes to the Numa-la base camp (4440m) before going over the Numa-la pass (5310m) on the next day. After the first pass, the trek goes to Pelung Tang (4465m) to get ready for another pass which is Baga-La (5175m). The next day trek goes over the Baga-la pass and descends to Dajok Tang (4080m) for the night camp.
After walking in a more desolate region of the trek, the trek descends to greener areas full of vegetation and to one of the main highlights of the trek, Phoksundo Lake (3612m) where we spend our 2 nights for exploration around. After this trek descends to Shyanta (2520m) for another night camp before we head to Juphal (2475m) on our last night of the trek. The trek ends the next morning flying to Nepalgunj and flying back to Kathmandu on the same day.
Lower Dolpo trekking Permits, fees
- "Special trekking permits” which costs $20 USD for a week per person.
- Shey Phoksundo's national park entrance fee cost 3000 rupees per person.
