Nepal Dolpa Trek Lower Circuit

Dolpa, Nepal · Nepal

Challenging13 daysAsia~£2,500 est.

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Overview

Phoksundo does not look real: 145 m of glass-clear water in a desert canyon at 3,611 m, a blue somewhere between turquoise and ultraviolet, with the Bon village of Ringmo on its shore and a thundering waterfall below its lip. Getting there is the point of Lower Dolpo: from the airstrip at Juphal you walk up the Suli Gad gorge through walnut groves and past Chhepka's chortens, reaching the lake on the third or fourth day, with the option of looping over the Numa La and Baga La passes (both over 5,000 m) if acclimatisation and season allow. This is restricted-area Nepal: permits cost real money, a registered guide is mandatory, and beyond Dunai the economy runs on cash and mule trains. Lodges are basic where they exist at all, so camping kit still earns its weight. The Bon tradition — older than Tibetan Buddhism — survives intact at Ringmo, and snow leopards genuinely do hunt blue sheep on the slopes above the lake, as Peter Matthiessen recorded here in 1973. September to November is prime, with spring a fine second window; around £2,500 for the two-week supported trek.