About the Dolpa section of the Great Himalaya Trail
© Jamie McGuiness - project-himalaya.com
Legend says Dolpa is a Beyul, one of the “hidden valleys” created by Guru Rinpoche as a refuge for devout Buddhists and those of exceptionally pure mind. It is said that the hidden land of Dolpa, was first settled by Rokpa farmers and Drokpa nomads from Tibet and it is now one of the highest inhabited places on earth, with scattered fortress-like villages and monasteries nestling amongst mountains of stark, ascetic beauty.
Though part of Nepal today, Dolpa remains culturally and economically tied to Tibet, as the people of this desolate area are cut of from their southern neighbours by snow-covered passes for much of the year. Their world is bounded in the east and south by Dhaulagiri and Churen Himal ranges and in the west by the Mugu district. Dolpa has been bypassed by development and was only opened to foreigners in 1989, when southern parts of Dolpa were opened to organised trekking groups.
Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard and David Snellgrove’s Himalayan Pilgrimage have contributed to the mystique and attraction of Dolpa, along with the stunning French/Nepali film Himalaya/Caravan directed by Eric Valli.
Visiting this area is your chance to see the truly spectacular beauty of Phoksumdo Lake. There is no aquatic life in the lake, which helps to make the waters a brilliantly clear turquoise and at 4.8km long, 1.8km wide and said to be 650m deep, this is a truly magnificent spectacle in such an arid landscape. According to legend, Phoksumdo Lake was formed by a spiteful female demon who flooded a village after they revealed her whereabouts to the saint Padmasambhava. It is said you can see the remains of a village below the lake’s surface.
Dolpa is Bon-po country, where people practice a shamanistic religion predating Tibetan Buddhism. You will find that much of Bon-po symbolism is the opposite of Buddhist practice. You should walk to the right of ancient mud chortens (ie keeping them on your left), which are inscribed with swastikas with their arms pointing in the opposite direction to the Buddhist’s. While Buddhists chant “om mani padme hum”, the Bon-pos chant ‘om ma tri mu ye sa le du”, which in Tibetan means “in clarity unite’.
You can trek here in the monsoon, when many areas of Nepal are not so suited for trekking. While people do not usually think of trekking in Nepal in the monsoon months, this arid landscape is not affected, being in the rain-shadow of the main Himalayan Range! After November it is very cold and can be risky as the passes are covered by snow. This area is arid, high altitude desert and you need to be extremely self reliant to trek in this harsh landscape where food shortages are common. The lower trekking areas however are much more hospitable and food and accomodation are available.
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