Upper Dolpo to Mustang Trek - 27 Days

A representative of Himalayan trekkers will receive you and transfer you to the hotel. In the evening we will arrange your meeting with your trekking guide so that you can have your queries solved if you have any.

Half-day sightseeing in Kathmandu valley and prepare for the trek for rest of the day. Kathmandu is also renowned as a city of Temples and you can see the numerous temples and Palaces here. Also, there are some hill stations nearby Kathmandu valley which have the awe-inspiring view of the Himalayan Range; we will discuss some of the options upon your arrival in Kathmandu.

From Kathmandu, we fly to Nepalgunj, a town in the western Terai that is very close to the Indian border and the Bardia National Park. It is a major transport hub for western, mid-western and far-western regions of Nepal. Overnight stay at Nepalgunj.

Today we take a flight to Juphal which takes just 35 minutes to reach. Our trek starts from Juphal.T he trail descends and winds through the small villages. We trek along the river and pass Roop Ghar which has a water mill and finally reach the Dunai (2150m). This village has a school, a police check post, and some government offices. We will stay overnight at the Guest House in Dunai.

From Dunai we trek to Chhepka, which has few houses and a lodge. It will take us almost 6 hours to reach Chhepka and we will spend the night at the local lodge.

Today we follow a trail that goes up and down along the forested riverbed. There are several streams on the way that offers a chance to cool off. The trail continues along the valley floor to the confluence of the Phoksundo and Pungmo Khola (rivers). We cross to the western side of the Phoksundo Khola and reach Sumduwa. Sumduwa is a major trail junction. As its name suggests ‘Sum’ in Tibetan means three and ‘Duwa’ means trail. It is also the Shey Phoksundo National Park’s headquarters. Traveling for nearly 6 hours we will reach our destination for the night.

We will join the direct trail to Lake Phoksumdo today which would take us nearly 5-6 hours of walking. We will traverse through forests that have huge cedar trees and reach Palam (3710m), a winter settlement used by the people of the Ringmo village. The entry point for the Shey Phoksundo National Park is at the south end of the village. The route then descends on switchbacks through open country to an elevation of 3300 meters and then starts up another set of a dusty roller coaster walk to a ridge at 3780 meter that leads to the highest waterfall in Nepal (200 meters high). Our route then continues on to Ringmo village, a picturesque settlement of flat-roofed stone houses with lots of Mani walls. Just after Ringmo we cross a bridge and follow the trail to Phoksumdo Lake, where we camp at the national park camping grounds on the western side of the lake.

We take a halt at the Lake Phoksundo campsite to get acclimatized to the area and the prevailing weather conditions. Taking advantage of this fact, we can explore the area around the magnificent Phoksundo Lake. The lake is famous for its magnificent turquoise color and spectacular scenery. Ringmo village, which looks like a typical Tibetan village, is scenically nestled in the area. Many beautiful glaciers can be found near and above the lake area. There are many monasteries (Gompas) and Bon-Po religious sites at the park and we can spend some of our time visiting these. The most famous, Shey Gompa was established in the 11th Century. Thashung Gompa located near Phoksundo Lake was built about 900 years ago. We also explore the natural scenery and enjoy our nature tour.

From Phoksundo we trek for five to six hours till we reach Sallagari, our campsite for the night.

From Sallaghari we trek to Kangla base camp or furthermore Nangdola High Camp (5,350m) traversing through Mandala camp. Owing to Bon Po influence some people called the surrounding place is also renowned as Mandala Camp, we will walk through this camp to our destination.

Today we walk for five to six hours to the fabled Shey Gompa and the nearby 'Crystal Mountain'. It is considered to be the most sacred peak in Dolpo which Dolpo pilgrims circumambulate each summer before the harvest. We are now entering the actual Dolpo region, and to enter into this mystical land we have to cross the Kangla Pass also popular as the Nangdola. We trek along the precipitous and narrow trail to the western side of the lake, otherwise known as the 'Devil's Trail'. Cresting a 4000-meter ridge, we are treated to the magnificent view of Sonam Kang. We can also see the peaks Shey Shikkar and Kang Chunne, both just over 6000 meters. The trail then descends steeply down to the valley floor and along the river. A red chorten marks the entrance to Shey, where we camp for the night.

We are at the core part of the Inner Dolpo region, Shey Gompa is one of the Mystic lands of the Inner Dolpo region. We need to explore this day as we can see the 11th-13th-century ochre Shey Gompa which is a stunning Monastery, with colorful Tibetan Murals and antique statues inside which the gatekeeper, a monk from Sikkim will open for us. The 400 years old Kagyugpa Gompas was magical to have been made by a Tibetan Lama Buddhist arriving on the back of a legendary snow-lion. The Murals are not old enough; however, there is a precious scroll that illustrates the legendary behind holy Crystal Mountain and Shey Gompa, comprising where to find the whitewater lake in the core of the Crystal Mountain Kora which gives the pilgrims to see the Mt. Kailash in the far. We can see another Gompa at the lefty of the Shey Gompa but into the cliff. Adventure Mission Nepal hope that you might remember the prayer room inside from the movie “Himalaya”. Make a Kora of the Gompa and its surroundings with the holy Tsakhang Gompa to the west of Shey which is balanced at the red cliff, is the smaller but most important. Tsakhang Gompa which literally means Red Gompa after the name of the cliffs is one of the Kagyupa Sect known for its teachers Tilopa, Marpa and Milarepa. The incarnation of the first Tsakhang Lama, the 17th “Trulku” of this line is a young Lama from Phijor and now is studying in Kathmandu. The Gompa is stunning and filled with the colorful Buddhist flag with Paintings and Thankas. Relax and rest by observing the magnificent Himalayan Range with natural beauty.

'I flew through the sky on a snow lion

And there, among the clouds, I performed miracles.

But not even the greatest of celestial feats

Can equal once round on foot this Crystal Mountain'?

- Drotob Senge Yeshe (The Lama)

We walk for about 6 hours to reach the Namgong Gompa from Shey Gompa that is said to be about 800 years old. It has some ancient beautiful murals inside and a scroll that describes the mythology behind the Crystal Mountain, locally called Riu Dhukta, and the Gompa. Peter Matthiessen wrote quite a lot about his stay at Shey in his book 'The Snow Leopard', and it was also shown in Eric Valli’s movie ‘Caravan' as Thinley's son's Gompa. After crossing the Ge La (Se La) Pass west of Shey, we are treated to a magnificent view of Mustang to the East, Tibet to the North and Kanjiroba, Kagmara and Riu Dhukta, or the Crystal Mountain, to the West. We spend our night at Namgong (4,400m) , a local nomadic herding settlement.

For six hours we walk from Namgong Gompa to Yanger Gompa, which lies on the old trade route to Tibet. We follow the Namga Khola past more summer herding spots, to the large village of Saldang. We'll get a chance to visit some local houses, drink some salt butter tea or chang (Tibetan barley beer) and sample the local fare. This is the short but stunning day on the high trail leading to Saldang, with a large bird of prey and sometimes we can see the migrating Demoiselle Cranes above us and crossing many sodas and villagers on the way. After few hours of walking, we crest ridge topped with prayer flags and below of us, we can see the Saldang with dun Colored Mountain to the north bordering on Tibet. Also, you can see the trail to the Pamzang valley from the ridge and can pick out much of our trail after leaving Saldang. After crossing and walking several climbs and descends we reach Caravan Thinley’s typically Tibetan style house at the north end of the village where we will stop for some butter tea and a cup of Tibetan Barley Beer or popular as “Chang”. If time and physical conditions permit us then we will head 1 hour north along the Nagon Khola, to reach Yanger Gompa, where we set up camp for the night.

After a long walk of 6 hours, we will reach Khoma that bears a striking resemblance to a typical Tibetan village with the stunning beauty of villagers, Purely Tibetan lifestyle and hospitality make this place best trekking in the entire Himalaya. We walk passing the Saldang Gompa along the trail of Dho to the Nagon Khola through Sugugaon which is a stunning whitewashed village and past long Mani walls with painted Chorten and ancient Gompas at the cliffs. At Chagaon, we cross the Nagon Khola on a small bridge and walk straight up the dusty ridge on the steep, rocky trail for an hour. Descending to a dry, black riverbed we again ascend to a grassy plateau where we will stop for a much-needed lunch break after a long walk. After lunch, we walk 15 minutes to the Khoma La (4565m), from where we descend slowly to reach the stunning village of Khoma Gaon where we camp in the middle of the town at the grassy land.

As we trek from Khoma village, if we are lucky enough we may be able to see some endangered animals like a snow leopard or Blue Sheep. On the way, we pass small villages that look right out of the picture postcards. We stop at Simen village for lunch. After lunch, we will explore Simen Gompa which is in the middle of town and we can stop for a while to see this picturesque Gompa and see the culture and traditions of the local people, where villagers will be threshing their barley. We walk further passing the Mani walls with old chortens and descend to the river. We follow this trail for about an hour to reach our campsite for the day. The place is called Mendo, a seasonal doksa with a Mani wall and stone fields. This is a beautiful but cold place as it loses the sun very early and does not get until late morning.

Today we will head south along the Panjyan (Panzang) Khola passing the two trails leading north to the border of Tibet on our left, we will see more Mani walls and further along Pu Gompa on the other side of the river. We can see the Namgyal Chorten soaring up at the hill across the river. We will walk to the seasonal village and then to the small hamlet of Phalwa, where another route headed off to the north heading to the Tibetan border, shows the importance of the trade with Tibet is still to the Dolpo-Pa. After that, we will cross the intersecting stream and ascend to an impressive group of large chortens and Mani walls with colorful Tibetan flags and continue another hour to the Thinje. It is a large and renowned village where many villagers acting in the movie “Himalaya”. Tenjin Norbu, the well known “Ngagpa”, painter of Dolpo also comes from this village. Similarly, in the old times, his ancestors also monk painters traveled to Lo Manthang in Mustang to pay their tribute in Murals, Mani walls, and Thankas.

Now are truly off the map as Thinle lead us along the local trading trail heading to Rapka doksa. On the way, we will pass villagers from Chharka heading to or from Tibet, or carry supplies that they put away with their Yak Caravans. The trail is easy at first following the Panzang River before it turns south and staying on the left-hand side. While walking us reach the junction where Panzang Khola becomes Sulun Khola and continue become narrow from here. Now the trail ascends and descends often and we lose the natural scene from here as we need to pass windy canyons but after a couple of hours the valley widens and we ascend and descend to the wide plateau of Rapka. We can find the two campsites at Rapka, we will select the perfect one with an expansive view. In Rapka, we will explore 2 monasteries of Tibetan style named Bon Po Monastery and Sharchhen Gompa. This is also the route of Great Himalayan Trail (GHT) from Mustang to Dolpo Sect.

Today we need to walk a long day so we need to start early in the morning. We start descending for an hour to the wide, icy but shallow river to get to the access valley for the Chharka La (Mola Bhanjyang). The Lakkyan Khola turns to the flood-plain like Myantoku Khola, a smaller river which we have to ford several times. We need to ascend a while on the right side of the river, descend down and then at the chortens starts ascending again. There are two summits at the pass which will make you confuse so don’t pick the first one. We have another hour to reach Chharka La (5030m). At the pass, an easy ascend and look at your right you can see the massive mouth-watering view of Mt. Dhaulagiri, which will follow us for a few more days. Similarly, still, we have another couple of hours of walking sometimes upwards and sometimes downwards to reach Chharka. On the way, we can see the villagers working in the field with the magnificent view of the scenery. Once we reach the line of chortens along the trail we are close to our camp. From here Chharka Gompa is just below us to the right and Chharka village is below straight ahead. We pass the village school on the left as we descend, pass through the large Kane that marks the starting of the main village and then windy way through this old village to reach our campsite just above the Chharka Khola.

From Chharka we climb down to a river and follow the right fork southward, climbing in and out of the side valleys on a rough trail. The valley narrows here and we then step on to a big meadow and walk to our campsite at Yak Kharka.

We begin the day by starting our climb to a yak pasture at Molum Sumdo (4860m) and further on to a crest at 5130m. We then traverse across meadows and then make a long, steep final climb to Ghok Pass at 5460m. We will come down the switchbacks to reach our campsite by a stream at 5100m.

We climb to a lower Sangda La at 4990m and then descend through loose shale towards the village of Sangda (4190m). We will come down to the Chalung Khola, crossing it at 3750m, and then climb steeply up the opposite bank. A long high traverse leads to a cairn at 4090 meters after which we come to a set of steep switchbacks that descend to a stream at 3580m. We climb up to the compact settlement of Sangda where we will settle for the night. Sangda is a remote village of Gurung Tibetans originally from Mustang. This is blue sheep territory, so be ready with your binoculars!

We start climbing the hill behind Sangda and spend most of the day making a high traverse, crossing nine ridges to a final crest at 4280m. We then come down into the Kali Gandaki Valley, walking under high cliffs and descending to the large village of Phalek. We can see the stunning view of Kagbeni, Jharkot, Muktinath, Thorung Peak, the Thorung La, Niligiri, Dhaulagiri and the Kali Gandaki. Phalek is an attractive Mustangi village which holds a yearly archery festival as most of the Mustangi and Managi villages do.

From Phalek we climb to a ridge that is at an altitude of 3360m and make a final descent on a challenging trail consisting of loose rocks to reach Jomsom located at 2670 meters above sea level.

Since Jomsom lies in the mountainous region so there is always an early flight to Pokhara as in the morning the days are clear and also the flight duration is about 20 minutes. Similarly, Pokhara is also known as “city of Lake” and is one of the most popular places for foreigners after Kathmandu. There are lots of interesting things to see in Pokhara. So when you are in Pokhara don’t miss to visit the popular landmarks of Pokhara.

You can visit a good spa and massage center to get relief from pain.

Today either you can fly to Kathmandu which will be 30 minutes worthy flight where you can see the changing natural vegetation with Himalayan Range or you can drive from Pokhara. The drive will be scenic and you will get the opportunity to experience the highway of Nepal.

In the evening, joining a team of Himalayan trekkers for farewell dinner with cultural show. Overnight at hotel

You can depart from Kathmandu to your home country or extend the trip and head for another trip within or outside Nepal.

Have a safe journey and please do visit Nepal again on your next holiday!