Phoksundo Lake is in Dolpo district in the northwest of Kathmandu in the western part of Nepal which falls in Shey Phoksundo National Park, the largest national park in Nepal established in 1984.
Shey Phoksundo Lake is considered to be the second largest lake in Nepal with an area of 494 hectares. It is considered the most beautiful destination in the Dolpa district which is famous for its magnificent turquoise color.
Situated at the altitude of 3611 meters above sea level, this mesmerizing Shey Phoksundo Lake truly makes you feel peaceful and calm in the piece of paradise on earth.
The cultural highlight of this trek is the Thashung monastery dates back to 900 years old and is located near the lake. This monastery is based on the Bon-Po religion which is an ancient religion and it is believed that from which the entire cultural base for Tibetan Buddhism formed.
Trekking to Phoksundo Lake offers stunning mountain views of snow-capped mountains like Kanjiroba and an exciting walk along the Thulo Bheri and Suligad rivers.
This trek also provides an opportunity to enjoy beautiful mixed forests of blue pine, spruce, rhododendron, cedar, and silver firs, and if you are lucky enough you also can encounter wildlife like musk deer, Himalayan Thar, leopard, jackal, blue sheep, and Himalayan Black bear!
How to get to the trailhead of the Phoksundo lake trek?
To begin the trek first you need to get to the far-western city of Nepalgunj for which you can either take 55 minutes flights from Kathmandu or take the bus ride which takes more than 16 hours. Then again you can choose 4 days to walk to get to Dunai or take a 35 minutes flight to Juphal then it's 3 hours walk to Dunai. Dunai is the main gateway to Shey Phoksundo lake trekking.
Phoksundo lake trek route.
The trek begins from Juphal(2475m) and continues to Dunai(2140m) for the first night in the mountain. Dunai is a popular gateway to Dolpo trekking so as for the Phoksundo lake trek. Then the trek goes onwards to Chhekpa(2678m) and to Chunuwar(3110m) for the second and third nights of the trek which goes along the Thuli Bheri River and the Suligad river (Phoksundo River).
After this our trek ascends to Phoksundo lake(3611m) which is our final destination of the trip, where we spend two nights exploring around the Ringmo village, visiting Thashung monastery, and hiking up to the viewpoint which provides a stunning overlook of the lake, snow-capped mountains, and surroundings. the second leg of the trek in which we retrace back the same way to descend, spending nights at Shyanta(2520m) and Juphal(2475m) from where we fly back to Nepalgunj and to Kathmandu.
What are the Shey Phoksundo lake trek permits and fees?
To trek to Phoksundo lake, you have required two kinds of permits one is “TIMS CARD” (trekking information management system) which costs $10 USD for organized trekkers per head and $20 USD for independent trekkers per head. The second one is the “Shey Phoksundo national park entrance fee” which costs 3000 rupees per head.
