GHT Upper Dolpo Traverse

You will be met by a representative of World Expeditions and transferred to the Radisson hotel. Remainder of the afternoon at leisure. A pre-trek briefing will be given around 4.30-5pm where arrangements will be made for the distribution of your kit bag, sleeping bag and down/fibrefill jacket. This evening we will head out for dinner, this is a great opportunity to get acquainted with your fellow group members.Overnight: Radisson Hotel

Today you have a full day to explore Kathmandu’s bustling streets and significant landmarks. You may wish to start by exploring the city’s two most important World Heritage Listed spiritual sites: Pashupatinath, Nepal’s most sacred Hindu temple and an important cremation site; and Boudhanath, the largest Buddhist stupa in Nepal and the most sacred Tibetan Buddhist shrine outside of Tibet. Alternatively you could wander through the markets and shops of the busy Thamel precinct or explore some more of the city’s significant sites such as Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple) or the World Heritage Listed plazas of Patan, Bhaktapur or Durbar Square.

This morning we take a flight west to Pokhara, Nepal's second largest town. On arrival we are greeted with sights of the entire Annapurna Range.Overnight: hotel

This morning we take a spectacular mountain flight to Jomsom where we will meet our trekking crew.

A half day walk brings us to Muktinath, an impressive village that is our gateway to Mustang. To pass beyond this point you need a special Mustang permit. We will meet the Full GHT group today. To help with acclimatisation we will have a rest day at Muktinath.

Entering the main Kali Gandaki valley we take a short cut that avoids the road to Kagbeni. Kagbeni once marked the Nepal / Tibet border and it is the official entry to the Mustang region. Within the village is the old Gompa, and at the northern edge of the village lies the remains of the old fort. We then proceed to Kharka and into the Dolpo region. From Kagbeni we head south through the village and cross a suspension bridge to a series of steep switch backs that lead to a grassy plateau. From here we follow the main trail leading to a Kharka. Dolpo People - “West of the upper Kali Gandaki, at around 4000 metres, lies the remote area of Dolpo. Surrounded by mountains over 6000m, this landscape can only be successfully inhabited by tough, hardy people. The people of Dolpo do not have a tribal name, like Sherpas, or a district name, like Lopa. There are 25 or 30 villages spread over an area of about 1300 square kilometres. The Dolpo people are very hospitable and kind, and grow most of the crops they need, as well as keeping yaks, sheep and goats for meat, wool and milk products, or to be sold or traded. Their houses are built of rough stone and all huddled together, as though trying to gain warmth and comfort from each other. This often makes the villages look like forts. Their traditional ‘fancy’ dress for women includes a striking headdress made of two rectangular brass plates with edges that turn up over the top and back of the head. These headdresses are adorned with coral and turquoise and often represent the wealth of the family. They marry by choice or arrangement, and follow Buddhism and Bon. The 1998 movie ‘Caravan’ (also called ‘Himalaya’) was shot here and told the tale of the now defunct salt caravans. You can still find locals in villages such as Saldang who appeared in the film.” - from the guide book “Nepal Trekking & The Great Himalaya Trail” by Robin Boustead.

Today is a challenging day and we must cross two passes on our way to Santa. We set out early and climb a hillside where the gradient increases as we enter a gully and pass by some caves before reaching a watercourse. We meet the main trail once again from Phalyak and make our first pass crossing at 4306m. Continuing west we contour through basins before crossig the Bhima Lojun La (4460m). Traversing for 1 -2 hours we reach a spur where we descend into a large ravine and cross a scree slope to Santa.

We follow the trail through two gullies before reaching a series of switchbacks to Jhansye (4195m). The trail now levels out as we cross a hillside and then make a descent to Kyalunpa Khola where we cross a wooden bridge and head west to a narrow gully. Our campsite set in juniper trees is gained by climbing up a steep gully.

In the coming days we make two challenging pass crossings above 5000 metres. From the top of the Jungben La we gain magnificent views to the south of Hidden Valley and Dhaulagiri can be seen. The following day we cross the Niwas La and make an easy descent to Nulungsumda Kharka where we camp at the confluence of the Malun and Thasan Kholas. The trek to Chharka Bhot is a relatively easy day.

Heading west from Chharka Bhot we descend to the Chharka Tulsi Khola. Whilst travelling alongside the river we are forced to make a few crossings back and forth. We then make a short climb before descending to a minor tributary and crossing on stepping stones. Another climb of 45 minutes brings us to Chap Chu and our camp for the night. Our trekking day to Maran sees us crossing the Chan La (5378m), it is an easy gradient to the pass and we are now fit and acclimatised. From the top the views are stunning and we get a sense of the scale of the dramatic mountain scenery around us. From the pass we descend a series of switch backs to the valley before ascending to a ridge that sits above the Sheru Khola to our south. Once we reach a chorten we head down to the Tarpi Khola valley and on to Maran. An hour from Maran is the large trading village of Dho Tarap. Above the village is the Ribum Gompa nunnery and Regu Chorten, and time permitting we will make a visit. Today’s trek is relatively easy going to our campsite at Tungyalaphu at 4450m.

We travel over the Jyanta La to a flat grassy campsite at Darsumanadobhan. The following day will find us descending to Saldang, the administrative capital of Upper Dolpo. The following day we walk to Shey Gompa via Namgung. The Shey is one of the most sacred sites in Dolpo. If we have time we may also visit the hermitage of Tsaking perched high on Crystal Mountain about an hour further north.

The next few days are spent on the trail to Phoksundo Lake. Leaving Shey Gompa we cross the Nagdala Pass (also known as the Kang La) and overnight at our high camp. The following day we walk to Phoksundo Khola Camp through beautiful juniper and silver birch forest. The trek to Ringmo is a stunning day and we enter pine forest before arriving at Ringmo. Phoksundo Lake is a few minutes beyond Ringmo and is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places in the Himalaya.

Early in the morning, we bid farewell to the Full GHT group. As we head down south we make our way to Dunai, the administrative & trading centre of Dolpo. The landscape through which we are now travelling consists predominantly of forests, grassy meadows and plateaus. Before reaching Chhekpa we pass by the Tapriza Secondary School. The school was established by a Swiss anthology student, Marietta Kind. Visits to the school are most welcome.

Today is our final day of trekking and we pass through terraced fields on our way. Finally we reach the confluence of the Suli Khola and head down stream to cross the Thulo Beri Khola on a suspension bridge and arrive into Sulighat. From here we'll drive to Juphal in preparation for our flight tomorrow. Our accommodation tonight is in a basic hotel.

After breakfast we will return to Kathmandu. From Juphal we take a short 40 minute flight to Nepalgunj, connecting with a flight to Kathmandu of approximately 1.5 hours. On arrival transfer to the Radisson Hotel.

After breakfast the day is free for you to do some final exploration of Kathmandu. In the event of weather delays to flights, this day will be used as a contingency day.

After breakfast arrangements cease unless further ones have been made. Those people departing by aircraft will be transferred to the airport and assisted with check-in procedures.