During 1990 the fabled but closed Tibetan enclave of Dolpo opened to tourism and I was not going to miss an opportunity. Under the pretext of “following up” on a training course (forests guards and National Park guards) I planned to be one of the first foreigners to visit Dolpo legally.
One of the highest inhabited realms on the planet, Dolpo is also still a stronghold of the pre-Buddhist, shamanistic Bon-po religion as well as Tibetan Buddhism. It is a tough, mountainous region of fortified villages, ‘dzongs’, turquoise lakes, sacred mountains and high passes, susceptible to heavy snows which isolate it from the rest of Nepal for much of the year.
Dolpo was made famous by Peter Matthiessen’s journey, recounted in his book “The Snow Leopard” and more recently by the movie ‘Himalaya’ shot by Eric Valli.
Mauri Pass (4326m)
Mauri pass is a major vantage point for viewing peaks to the South and East
Standing at the “gateway” of Dolpo
and it is a “gateway” to Dolpo. Mauri means honey
Kaigaon
Kaigaon is situated on a cross roads, westerly to Jumla, north-easterly to Ringmo, south-easterly to Dunai and southerly to Nepalgunj. It has been used as a “base camp” for a number of expeditions in the past. John Tyson used Kaigaon as a base camp for his mapping expedition. His porters took 22 days to walk from Nepalgunj (reported in Himalayan Journal 23 1961)
Hurikot (2650m)
The villagers in Hurikot tried to persuade me not to try and go over Kagmara Pass but go around the long way. I had to remind them that many of them were called Bahadur which means brave. With Gods help and the “Bahadur spirit” we planned to cross the pass.
Toijem (2920m)
We reported to the army cam situated at Toijem. They not only sent a radio message to the Park Headquarters informing them of my arrival but told me I could go to Shey Gompa
Kagmara La (5150m)
We camped at 4400m and got up at first light in order to cross Kagmara La and then spent all day (14 hours) in order to reach Pungmo. Kagmara means dead crow.
Pungmo Village (3200m)
We stayed the night in Pungmo with some villagers because we had packed our tent wet and we were tired. During the evening we were introduced to the Bonpo priest of Ringmo Gonpa who was staying in the same house. The following day we travelled on to the National Park Headquarters. The Park Warden told me I could not visit Shey Gompa irrespective of what the army had told me (Officially tourists were not allowed to visit Shey Gompa until 1992). We travelled on and arrived at Ringmo mid afternoon and camped by the Lake.
Ringmo (3660m)
Ringmo sits on the 30,000-40,000 year old landslide dam that formed Phoksundo Lake (494 ha). South of the dam, the waters of the lake plunge over a 167 meter tall waterfall.
We stayed in Ringmo for a few days and visited the village and the Gompa, where I met again the Bonpo Priest I had met in Pungmo
Ringmo Gompa on the shores of Phoksundo Lake
.We returned to Jumla via Tibrikot and Kaigaon. I stopped off at Naphakhuna and purchased a locally made striped blanket.
Tibrikot Valley
Dolpo was a foretaste, for me of the Tibetan World