Nepal 2014 - Dhorpatan and Lower Dolpa

The Dolpo region is a remote district in Nepal and is situated in the Trans Himalayan region of mid-western Nepal. It was opened to trekking in 1989 however the inner Dolpo was not opened until 1992. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park, home to the most beautiful sacred, Phoksundo Lake, at 3610m. The sparsely populated agro-pastoral population of less than 20,000, is only connected to the rest of Nepal via trails or the Juphal airport. The Dolpopa are generally adherents of Bon Po religion whose origins predate Buddhism but whose modern form is officially accepted as the fifth school of Tibetan Buddhism. Lying in the rain shadow area of the Himalayas, the landscape resembles that of the Tibetan Plateau being generally dry and trails frequently reaching elevations over 5,000m.