2012 A Short Walk in a Big Park, Dolpo, Nepal

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A Short Walk in a Big Park Dolpo 2012

The Shey Festival?

Once every 12 years:

Might not be able to get to the next one:

Do it now! And that was really the driving spirit that took us to Dolpo in September 2012. 

Getting to any of the high airstrips in Nepal is always a game of chance especially with the changing weather patterns found in the mountains, but, if you want to go during the monsoon time then the stakes are raised against you not getting in at all. In our case we had a losing hand, the weather was bad and the time buffer we had allowed ourselves was getting tighter as every day went by, and I have to be honest, I struggle to keep occupied in Nepalgung!

 

We had waited three days and although our hopes were high each morning after a few hours of sitting around the airport drinking tea and sharing stories with other travellers by mid day and with no sign of a weather improvement in Juphal we returned in a dejected mood to the hotel.  The waiting game was wearing a bit thin and by now we had used all our spare time, the only other course of action, to charter a helicopter. An expensive option, but when we compared that cost to what we had already spent on the flight from Kathmandu, all the permits not to mention the expense incurred in getting our two boys into Juphal ahead of us to get the mules and local supplies organised it was really a no-brainer. The only question was who was going to call the helicopter company, Sarita because she was Nepalese and would negotiate a better price, but would probably have to wait as there were many Nepalese people trying to get to the Festival, or me a ‘foreigner’ who knew the pilots, could probably get a quicker flight but would not get the good price. As we had a client with us who had flown out from the UK we had to charter and I was the one to make the call. And sure enough within a few hours a helicopter appeared having been diverted from the Far West of Nepal on its journey back to Kathmandu. Next stop Dunai.

That night we spent camping in the local camp-site along with a group of Russian trekkers who knowing of the problem for the fixed winged planes getting into Juphal chartered a helicopter all the way from Kathmandu. They were strutting their stuff feeling pleased with themselves for avoiding the delays in Nepalgung. However, we had the last laugh as their equipment had been dispatched a few days before they left the capital only to get caught up in the mayhem of the Nepalgung cargo office. We set off on trek leaving them with only their Vodka bottles for company!

 

As could be expected at this time of year Nepal is prone to heavy rain but inner Dolpo is in the rain shadow area of the Annapurna Himal and Dhaulagiri so despite the very damp beginnings we hoped for better weather as the trek progressed. And the Festival was fixed! The Thull Bheri River, the main drainage course out of Dolpo and its tributary the Suli Khola, alongside which we were going to be trekking for the first few days were in flood. Sadly we learned later on in the trek that a group following in behind us miss judged a river crossing and two mules got washed away, one survived but unfortunately the second one, carrying the leader’s equipment and the total trek budget, did not.

After a few humid days trekking we finally climbed out of the valley and up towards Phoksundo, the lake made famous in the Oscar nominated film by Eric Vali ‘Himalaya’ (or ‘Caravan’ – complete film available on Youtube). The lake is as beautifully stunning, more so in fact than as seen in the film. We spent the early evening visiting the old Bon Monastery and sitting in the watery sunset simply admiring the view and watching the yaks follow the narrow path that cuts across an impressive cliff and the trail we would be following in the morning.

The narrow, steep  and in places exposed path cuts up through a weakness in the cliff and as we crossed it we all played the film scene over in our minds trying to recall exactly where it was that the yak fell into the lake. Soon we were across the ledges and gullies and descending back down to lake level only to have to climb again through the dense forest to cross over the lower end of the ridge that tales down from Kanjirowa Himal. Several hours later we had regained the valley floor and were making steady progress only to be stopped in our tracks on the bank of the Phoksundo Khola, minus its bridge. This was going to be the first of many river crossings, or at least river paddles. The river was wide, not so deep but it was simply liquid ice! Once across the river we located a suitable dry and flat spot for our small collection of tents, our fourth camp after leaving Dunai. 

Up until now our journey had been made in the company of many local people all making their way to Shey for the festival but just beyond the camp site the trail splits. The first re-entrant leading north east contains the Tuk Kyaksa Khola and is a shorter route to Shey but under the prevailing conditions the route would be torturous involving some difficult boulder scrambling and flooded river crossings, not too good for mules, especially ours, the majority of whom had little respect for their handler and often did their own thing. We opted for the slightly longer route which was relatively straight forward. By now we were above the timber line and the views were opening out, or they would have been if the clouds had parted. The temperatures were dropping at night and we were under a bit of pressure as one of the mules had shed its load of kerosene, the boys managed to collect the broken plastic container but not the contents, we were rationed unless a supply could be found amongst our fellow travellers, who by now had all departed up the Tuk Kyaksa Khola. The camp sites were situated in more environmentally impressive and remote landscapes, Dolpo is a real jewel in Nepal’s crown and one not often visited by outsiders. To help off-set our loss of fuel we would spend time at the end of each day scavenging for anything that we could burn and ultimately cook on.

The descent down into the main valley towards the Sephu Khola and Shey Monastery is just amazing, bleak, barren but ruggedly beautiful with the rock scenery hemming the valley in. However, once at the confluence of the two rivers the magnitude of the Festival came into view. There were hundreds of Tibetans and Nepalese all camping in their traditional yak wool tents, everyone looked magnificently turned out in all their finery, their costumes, jewellery and head dresses. We camped well before reaching the masses but within easy reach of the Monastery in anticipation of all the festival attractions and the main event, that of the arrival of the Rimpoche. Foreigners only made up a very small percentage of the visitors, we spent four days at the Festival enjoying the archery contest, horse races, folk and cultural displays as well as the Bon culture but unfortunately many of the pilgrims and monks we met in Nepalgung failed to reach Shey. One of the major events whilst at Shey for any Buddhist and Bon practitioner is to do a kora of Crystal Mountain, one kora is 

equivalent to doing the kora of Kailash in Tibet.

Finally the time had come for us to leave the gathering along with many other pilgrims who were scattering to all eight points of the compass. For us we headed up the Sephu Khola towards the Seta Bhannjyang a 5000m pass eventually crossing into the main Saldang valley. We were now about half way through our trek.

The next four days we spent wandering through a complete wilderness of bleak hills, valleys and crossing plateaus with only each other and the wild life to keep us company. Many of the villages looked deserted until you noticed all the new prayer flags, the communities were all, of course, at Shey. 

Eventually we crossed the Jyanta Bhanjyang our third 5000m pass and descended down towards Modo and later Dho Tarap. A broad valley with the communities spread each side of the main trail, the houses were so far apart across the path that there were alternative trails down the length of the valley. All four legged traffic had to take a by-pass route round the outside of the houses so as not to carve up the ground with potential horse races, heavy footed mules and herds of sheep and yaks. The old and auspicious Bon Monastery at Dho Tarap is well worth a visit. Another night and another camp. The last three days had been hard or so we thought crossing and re-crossing the ridges. However, we were soon put in our place when we realised that all the children who took key roles in the Festival came from the Crystal Mountain School and had completed the same journey in only two days!

The next three days were spent descending the Tarap Khola valley, a narrow valley occupied by the fast flowing river of the same name, camping places are far and few between and if the river is high then the options are reduced still further. Finally we emerged into the main Thull Bheri River for our last few days trekking before colliding with the chaos of developing Nepal.

This is a great 21 day trek, the scenery is not so ‘mountainous’ but consideration must be given to the fact that the majority of the time is spent around 4000m with several 5000m passes to cross. The trek is very isolated and the trails are not always easy to find. Shops to restock at.. what shops? So everything has to be taken in from the well supplied centre of Dunai.

If you haven’t been to Dolpo, and you want a trek that is well off the beaten track then this is the one for you! 

Thanks Sarita, Julia, Danesh and the mules.. without you four legged stubborn guys we would never have got round!