Upper Dolpo to Jomsom

Arrival in Kathmandu, Tribhuvan International Airport, we will pick you up and drop you at your hotel in Thamel. Set all financial things and we need your original passport with Nepal’s Visa to prepare the Lower and Upper Dolpo restricted area permit. It takes some hours for official formalities to complete Dolpo hiking permits. We fix for meeting time for each other to introduce our guide and brief you on Upper Dolpo to Jomsom trekking information.

Take a flight from Kathmandu to Nepalganj, with a travel time of approximately one hour. Upon arrival, proceed to your hotel for check-in.

Fly from Nepalgunj to Jhupal in 35 minutes. As soon as you reach Juphal, do the shopping and other entire things management, and after Lunch, start trekking roughly about two hours to Dunai village then overnight at Tent Camp.

Cross the steel suspension bridge following the trail through the Thulo Bheri river valley. Walk along with Suli Gaad to Raktang (2,260 m). Again, cross the west bank & trek to Jyalhasa. Keep walking upstream to another bridge on the east bank of Ankhe Khola. Trail through ups & downs to Rahagaon and Parela to the high ridge above. After descending on a rocky path, we reach Chepka village where we stay overnight.

Climbing over a small ridge, cross to the west side to avoid a large ridge and descend to the east side along the riverside to the rocks. The trails make several ups & downs through the forests to a bridge to the Renje village where we stay overnight.

Ascend over a ridge and descend to a wooden bridge & then continue its ups and downs along the valley to Suli Gaad. A wooden bridge leads to the western bank of the Phoksundo river, the trails follow the west bank of river. Trek to Sumduwa, cross the bridge, and climb through a forest of big cedars to Palam village. From the ridge, you can see the spectacular views of Phoksundo Lake and 655 feet high waterfall. A steep descent trail in birch forests to the upper you are in the Ringmo village. Cross a bridge and follow a trail north to Phoksundo Lake.

You will explore Lake and Gompa and then overnight at the same place. Phoksundo lake is almost 4.8 km long, 1.8 km wide, and is said to be 650 meters deep. It is known for its aquamarine color-a greenish blue similar to a special Tibetan turquoise. There is no aquatic life in the lake, which helps to make the waters brilliantly clear. If you toss a rock in, you can watch it for a long time as it sinks to the bottom.

From Ringmo village, begins the journey with a gradual ascent and descent along a narrow trail skirting the edge of the lake. Continuing upward, the trail navigates through a pine forest before making a steep climb and descent to the lake’s westernmost point. At this juncture, where the Phoksundo Khola flows into the lake, a lush meadow emerges, leading into a lengthy valley. We proceed through this valley, following the Phoksundo Khola while avoiding thorn bushes, and ultimately set up camp for the night.

We ascend slowly but gradually throughout the day and reach the bottom of Kang La pass. This camp has been mentioned in the bestselling book by Peter Mathieson, ‘The Snow Leopard’. The name Snowfield Camp the campsite comes from Peter Mathieson’s book.

An early start is followed by a long uphill ascend over the Kangla hilltop. The view from the pass offers awesome. Then we descend downhill walking cause the trail leads to the bottom of the river and the rest of the day is spent following the river. The day ends at Shey Gompa, also famous by the name Crystal Monastery.

Enjoy a rest day for acclimatization, and consider spending your time hiking to Shey Gompa. Trek to the top of a hill for an unparalleled view, making the most of your day in the stunning surroundings.

Another tough day begins after riding a long steep climb to the top of Sela Bhanjyang and is rewarded with views of Mustang Valley and some of the mountains of Tibet and the Kanjiroba Mountain Range. A drop again leads to a riverbed and a more easy terrain in the afternoon finally leads to Namgung village where we fix our camp to stay overnight.

A steep climb for the most of morning ends at Saldang, one of the biggest settlements in the region. Ironically, this one of the most remote villages in the country is home to one of the biggest stars “Thinle” of the country. Thinle was the main character of the academy award nominated movie ‘Himalaya’.

There are often many internal flights during the trek and these extra days are in case of flight cancellations or delays. If on schedule, these days can be used to discover the many valleys of Dolpo that are located in isolated Dolpo and almost unexplored by Nepal visitors.

On the beginning of a journey, we ascend then changes into a descent later in the morning as the trail drops once again to the river. The trek ascends uphill to Khoma La 14,928 feet and then drops down to Khoma Gaon. We fix our camp here to stay overnight.

The trail drops to the river and walks along the riverside. Yet another drop follows a climb to a top of a ridge and ends at a green valley of Shimen. Then walking some hours later we reach Mendo where we fix our camp to stay tonight.

Trek continues to follow the river towards the south and passes through small villages, chortens, and mane walls before reaching Tinje village. It was also one of the major points of the ancient Tibetan trade route.

An easy hiking day continues to head south of the valley. Later in the day, the trail starts to undulate and passes through narrow valleys before reaching the wide valleys of Rapka.

A tough day again to cross over Chharka la located at an altitude of 16,448 ft above sea level. After crossing Chharkha La, a long descent finally ends at Chharka village.

The day can be used as a rest day to prepare for the final few passes of the trek.

The trail goes along the rivers and crossed on suspension bridges throughout the day towards the south of the valley. It keeps heading south of the valley for most of the latter stages of the trek. A final climb leads to Norbulung ending the day.

Once again the trek starts to achieve higher elevation as the trek now enters the final stages. Few passes separate the Dolpo region from Kali Gandaki Valley and Sangda La is one of them. This day’s trek ends at the bottom of Sangda La.

The day to Sangda Phedi includes the crossing of two passes and is one of the hardest days of the entire trek. It climbs up Niwar Pass and then crosses Sangda La pass again however as you are on the pass, it offers stunning views of the valleys and some of the most beautiful mountains. This long descent finally ends at Sangda Phedi.

The trek enters passing several tiny rivers throughout the day. More mountains of Kali Gandaki Valley start to open up near Lower Sangda and the region also has a huge number of Blue sheep.

An easy ascent in the morning soon turns into a gradual drop and turns steeper with the day. This final descent also provides a view of Kali Gandaki Valley as the day ends at Dhagarjun.

The downhill continues as the trek enters Kali Gandaki Valley and drops all the way down to the Kaligandaki river. The trek now continues on the dusty secondary roads following the river south towards Jomsom airstrips. Jomsom is a town located at an altitude of about 8,830 ft, the administrative headquarters of the Mustang District in Nepal. It spreads over both banks of the Kali Gandaki River.

Today you will have a morning flight from Jomsom to Pokhara and then to Kathmandu in the same day. During the flight, you will have almost the best mountain flight to experience the complete Annapurna massive including the tallest Mountain Manaslu including the holy Mountain Fishtail. On your arrival in Kathmandu, our guide or one of our representative will pick you up and takes you to the hotel. And our trip ends. Wish you a wonderful journey.