Lower Dolpo & Phoksundo Lake Trek

Detail Itinerary

• Day 1:Arrival at Kathmandu and transfer to hotel

  When you arrive at Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu, you will find one of our office representatives, ready to receive you. After an introduction, our representative will take you to your hotel in a private vehicle. If you have plenty of time, you may ask our representative to suggest what you can do for the remaining part of the day. They will be happy to advise you.

• Day 2:Boudhanath, Pashupatinath & Patan visit

  Kathmandu has a quite rich historical, cultural and religious significance. Within this vibrant city, you can see a mix of cultures, religions and lifestyle. We will provide you the time to see the essential destinations within this valley. You will be visiting three UNESCO heritage sites – Boudhanath Stupa, Pashupatinath Temple and Patan Durbar Square. Boudhanath Stupa is one of the massive spherical stupas in Nepal, while Pashupatinath is the oldest Hindu Temple in Kathmandu. Patan Durbar Square is full of Hindu and Buddhist monuments and other Malla Era architectural wonders. The major attractions include Krishna Temple, Golden Temple, Kumbeswor Temple and Mahaboudha Temple.

• Day 3:Fly to Nepalgunj

  We will fly to Nepalgunj from Kathmandu on the third day. Nepalgunj lies in the western part of Nepal, close to the Indian Border.

• Day 4:Fly to Jumla (2,370 m) & trek to Gothi chaur (2,700 m)

  From Nepalgunj, we will be taking a flight to Jumla. After landing in Jumla Airport, we start our trek, the first river we will be crossing will be Tila Khola followed by Chaudabise Khola. We will be climbing gradually upwards through the fertile valley full of rice terraces. Our trail will continue through several villages, through the forests full of maple and walnut trees. On your track, you will also see a meadow, covered in wildflowers in flowering season. After the field ends, you will find yourself climbing up a small pass before descending to a place called Gothi Chaur, which is our destination for this day.

• Day 5:Naphukana (3,080 m)

  This day, we will follow Tila Khola, through agricultural fields to a narrow valley into the forest full of oaks, maples and spruce. As we move ahead, we get to Chotra village with Tibetan mani walls. Soon, another Tibetan style village Naphukana greets us. You can find a large Gompa above Naphukana.

• Day 6:Chaurikot (3,060 m)

  Our trek from Naphukana continues, the dirt trails become steeper, and we pass through a forest and then a pass named Mauri Lagna (3,820). From here, you can see snowy peaks to your north and east. We will descend from the pass and move forward through a steep slope that drops to pine and oak forest. The forest trail will lead us to the Bheri Valley, from where we will head to Chaurikot, our destination for this day.

• Day 7:Bheri riverside (2,610 m)

  This day we will be heading to Balasa village, from our way we can see the Kagmara peak at the horizon. At first, the trail descends through forests full of walnut trees and then passes through Jyakot apple orchards. We will again fall to Rimi Village and then to the Bheri River.

• Day 8:Garpung khola (2,900 m)

  We continue to trek on the west bank of Bheri River, passing Hurikot to the Shey Phoksundo National Park entrance. A little ahead, we will see Garpung and Jagdula rivers join the Bheri River. We follow the Garpung Khola to reach our camping site by the side of Garpung Khola.

• Day 9:Kagmara (3,500 m)

  Our trip will continue along with the banks of Garpung Khola, as we slowly ascend towards the Kagmara La. The trek for this day will be short and is crucial for acclimatisation.

• Day10:Kagmara phedi (4,000 m)

  This day we will be crossing to the eastern side of the Garpung Khola. The valley slowly becomes narrower, and the river itself transforms into a series of waterfalls. We continue our climb until we arrive at a moraine just below the Kagmara La. Our stay will be in a camp among the boulders, from where we can enjoy the surrounding peaks.

• Day11:Pass Kagmara La (5,115 m)

  This day we will be ascending along with Kagmara Glacier to the Kagmara La pass. We will then make a descent of about 900 meters, to reach the Pungmo Khola Valley. On our trail, most probably, we will see some rare blue sheep.

• Day12:Pungmo

  We move ahead from Pungmo Khola Valley, through a trail that passes through the Birch and Juniper forests that changes to blue Pines. From our path, we can see magnificent views of Kanjiroba peaks and our trekking for this day ends when we reach Pungmo village, full of barley fields.

• Day13:Phoksundo Lake

  Our trail will now head downstream to the Phoksundo National Park headquarters at Sumduwa, and from here, we will climb up taking Phoksundo Khola as a guide until we reach Phoksundo Lake. We will be climbing through cedar forests and ascend via open country ridge rewards with great views of the Phoksundo Lake. Near this lake lies a spectacular waterfall, which is also the highest waterfall in Nepal. We will take a path that descends a little and then climb up gently to Ringmo village. We will be crossing a bridge below Ringmo, and continue northwards to the shores of Phoksundo Lake.

• Day14:At Phoksundo Lake

  The fourteenth day is our complete resting day. The venue at Phoksundo Lake is perfect, with its greenish-blue colouring. On its western side lies Kanjiroba. We will also come across a trail with juniper Trees, which leads to an old gompa. There, you can also see Buddhist paintings and statues, and this site is said to hold the evidence of the ancient Bon-Po religion.

• Day15:Baga La phedi (base)

  We will follow our path that we took us to reach Phoksundo until Ringmo. From Ringmo, we trek eastwards through blue pine and juniper forest. We will continue up the valley to the beautiful waterfall until we reach Baga La base.

• Day16:Cross Baga La (5,090 m) & trek to Numa La phedi (4,800 m)

  From the Baga La base, we climb steadily for about 3 hours to reach the Baga La top. We descend slowly at first, then steeply to enter a stream. The path then ascends to the foot of Numa La.

• Day17:Cross Numa La (5,360 m) & trek to Do (4,100 m)

  This day too, our climb continues through an arid area to reach the last of the high passes named the Numa La. From Numa La, weather permitting, we get to see the spectacular views of Dhaulagiri. Next, our path descends through a huge mani wall to the Tarap region. We will be walking past Tarap barley fields to the village of Do.

• Day18 -19:At Do

  We will spend two days at Do. Do is the most extensive settlement in Tarap Region and it has several Gompas. One of them is Ri Bhunpa Gompa above the Do village. You will find Bon-to Gampa at the settlement of Shipchhok. You can get to the high grounds of Do so that you can see great views of this valley and peaks nearby.

• Day20:Lahini (3,560 m)

  This day, we will leave Do and head to Lahini. The trail is almost level, and it follows the river until the river passes to a gorge. We cross the Gorge, which is full of wildflowers and rose shrubs, and cross rivers several times to rich Lahini.

• Day21:Tarakot (2,600 m)

  We will continue this trip but the path is very narrow, steep and dangerous and we must move with caution. To add to the difficulty the bridges, in that region, often get washed out. After some careful trekking, we get to Khanigaon Village. From Khanigaon, our path elevates over the river and then descends towards the Bargbung Khola and then into the Tarakot village.

• Day22:Dunai (2,100 m)

  This day we leave Tarkot in the morning and start trekking towards Dunai. We will move along the Barbung Khola along its South bank towards Lawan Village, and then cross Barbung Khola to get to its north bank. We will continue to walk for several hours until we reach Dunai.

• Day23:Juphal (2,500 m)

  Today’s trek will take us from Dunai to Juphal. We will follow the river trail. First, we elevate through meadows and pass few hotels and homes at Kala gaura (2,090 m) to reach Juphal. The trekking lasts for several hours.

• Day24:Fly Juphal/Nepalgunj/Kathmandu

  This day, we will fly from Juphal to Nepalgunj. We will board a plane once again to fly from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu. You will have rest of the day for yourself.

• Day25:Depart from Kathmandu

  The twenty-fifth day will probably be the final day at Kathmandu. Our office representative will take you to the Tribhuvan Airport and bid you farewell. If you have some more days, you can join other short tours. Our office representative will be happy to arrange your next trips.