Dolpo is a remote, high altitude region of mid-western Nepal. People of Tibetan origin are thought to have settled here over two thousand years ago and since that time Dolpo and its people, the Dolpo-pa have remained quite isolated from the rest of the world. According to legend, Dolpo is a ‘beyul’ or hidden land, and was designated by Guru Rimpoche as a land where peace, prosperity and spiritual progress would develop. More recently, in 1990, Dolpo was opened to foreign visitors and has been beautifully captured in Eric Valli’s movie ‘Himalaya’. The heart of Dolpo is undoubtedly the settlement of Shey and its monastery, or Gompa, situated on the fabled Crystal Mountain, made famous in Peter Matthiessen’s book ‘The Snow Leopard’.

Flying out of Kathmandu we will take two days to reach Juphal, the start point of our trek, and from here, head north past the azure blue Phoksundo Lake before reaching the magical Shey Gompa and crystal mountain. From Shey, we take a clockwise, circular route through stunning high altitude valleys to the Tibetan Buddhist settlement of Dho Tarap. From Dho we take very remote, ancient pathways to our finishing point of Jomsom, and our return flight to Kathmandu. En-route we will cross several 5000m passes and take many narrow and challenging trails. Definitely the ‘trek less taken’ and done in an exploratory style with no fixed itinerary.