Lower Dolpo Trek

Over View

Dolpa offers a wonderful chance to experience a landscape and culture far different from seen in other parts of country . it is located in the central west of the country. The focal point of the area is Shey Phokundo National park. This remote and rugged protected area is both scenically and culturally attractive. It is the habitat of various rare and endangered plant and wildlife species many of which can be seen nowhere else in the country. Animal species of particular interest in the national park are populations of snow leopard, grey wolf and blue sheep.
The most obvious group of people seen in the northern parts of the area. Particularly in Dopa, are of Tibetan origin. Similar to Tibetans and Sherpas they rely on eking out a living on the high pastures and supplementing this with trade both to the north and the south. For years, their salt caravans have been a common site along the mountain passes. Their religion is a mixture of Tibetan Bhddhisum and the ancient, pre Buddhist , Bon religion, a largely animistic faith. Strangely, their language is based on the Tibetan dialect spoken in Kham, a province of old Tibet located many hundreds of kilometers to the east.
Lower down the people are a mixture of ethnic groups, such as the Magar, Gurung and hill people of Hindu caste origin. Of particular interest are the Thakuri, the royal family caste. Again they are quite different in culture and language to their cousins further east