Most of Dolpo is protected by Shey Phoksumdo National Park.
It is bounded in the east and south by Dhaulagiri and Churen Himal ranges and in the west by the Jumla district.
Dolpo has been bypassed by development and until recently by tourism.
Although a few anthropologists and geographers had explored the region, the entire district was closed to foreigners until 1989, when the southern parts of Dolpo were opened to organized trekking groups.
Dolpo remains culturally and economically firmly tied to Tibet, where the people of this desolate area are cut off from their southern neighbors by snow-covered passes for much of the year.
This is one of the most fascinating and difficult country to travel.
First we fly to Juphal and, trekking north, we enter Phoksundo National Park following the route made famous by Peter Matthiessen in his book “The Snow Leopard”.
The trek crosses the Kang La, (5279m / 17320ft), and passes the mystical Crystal Mountain to reach the remote eleventh century monastery of Shey Gompa.
En route we visit the most isolated villages of Upper Dolpo, some of which still practise ancient pre-Buddhist Bon Po religions and the villagers wear traditional Tibetan-style clothes.
