Upper Dolpo Trek
Overview
Dolpo to Mustang Unveiled: Trekking Nepal’s Hidden Highlands
Beyond these well-known highlights, the journey leads to less-traveled corners that capture the essence of Dolpo’s timeless landscapes. We witness the convergence of mountain rivers, where yak caravans follow age-old trading routes, and visit Charka, a quiet hamlet along the path toward Mustang, where daily life continues largely as it has for generations. Every step of the journey reveals the harmony between people, animals, and nature, framed by dramatic mountains and vast, open valleys.
The route is marked by numerous high passes, each offering breathtaking panoramas and a sense of adventure as we navigate remote valleys en route to Jomsom. This trek is more than a physical journey—it is a journey of discovery, one that evokes the spirit of legendary works such as Peter Matthiessen’s The Snow Leopard or Éric Valli’s Himalaya, the Childhood of a Leader. Each village, river, and ridge invites reflection on the resilience and simplicity of life in the high Himalayas, leaving a lasting impression of wonder and serenity.
This Trek is ideal for travelers seeking to step off the beaten path, to experience remote landscapes steeped in culture and myth, and to walk in the footsteps of explorers and storytellers who have long been captivated by Dolpo’s ethereal beauty.
Itinerary
Expand All- Airport pickup &Transfer to hotel
- Final altitude: approximately 1,350 m
- Meals: Dinner
- Accommodation: one night in the hotel
- Travel: Private vehicle, plane (approx. 1 hour flight, 45 minutes transfer),
- Altitude: Approximately 280 m.
- Accommodation : overnight in a lodge or simple hotel.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 7 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +620 m / -520 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 2500 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +750 m / -290 m.
- Final Altitude: Approximately 2940 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 5 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +800 m / -200 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 3610 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- 2 hours of walking
- Meals: breakfast – lunch – dinner
- Accommodation: one night in a tent
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +600 m / -500 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 3750 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 7 hours of walking.
- Elevation Change: +1150 m / -200 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4650 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 7 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +750 m / -1050 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4350 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +1100 m / -950 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4350 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +900 m / -1300 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4000 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a lodge / tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +1000 m / -1000 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4350 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 7 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +400 m / -1200 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4200 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 7 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +350 m / -800 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 3680 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +700 m / -350 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4000 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 5 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +950 m / -180 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4700 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +350 m / -1090 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4100 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking/: Approximately 5 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +800 m / -100 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4800 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 5 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +700 m / -720 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4800 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 5 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +400 m / -850 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4330 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 7 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +750 m / -200 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4870 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 7 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss +780 m / -1340 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 4320 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +900 m / -900 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 3760 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a tent.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Walking: Approximately 6 hours of walking.
- Elevation gain/loss: +160 m / -1530 m.
- Altitude: Approximately 2840 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a lodge.
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included.
- Drive: Approximately 8 hours of drive.
- Altitude: Approximately 850 m.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a Hotel.
- Meals: Breakfast and lunch included.
- Travel: Plane (approx. 1 hour flight each segment) and private vehicle transfers.
- Accommodation: Overnight in a hotel.
- Meals: Breakfast is included; lunch and dinner are not included.
- Meals: Breakfast Included
- Meals: Breakfast Included
Note:
If you have a private group and prefer a personalized experience, we can organize a custom trip tailored to your requirements and group size, running it any day you choose.
Plan a Private TripIncluded & Excluded
Included Points
Excluded Points
Trip Information
Upper Dolpo Trek Details
Your Nepalese team may consist of several people, each with different responsibilities. They are:
- The Guide Leader (Sirdar) is responsible for and the leader of the whole team and is treated with respect by all. Often, he has earned his position by starting as a porter and rising through the ranks.
- The Assistant Guide: is actively helping clients under the leader’s direction and set camp.
- The Cook is responsible for all meals and is on a trek that doesn’t use lodges.
- The kitchen boy is an assistant to the cook. ( camping trek )
- The Porter is the load carrier for the trekking group. As Nepal is a mountain country with few roads, porters are employed to carry loads. Compliance with regulations and common courtesy dictates the maximum weight carried and the minimum wage paid. Porters are provided with gear based on the routes they follow and with insurance for alpine trek.
For Lodge (tea house) Accommodations Trek:15 kg maximum;
- Tent Camping Trek: 22 kg maximum; Expeditions/summit ascents: 20 kg maximum. The porters are given a premium wage for carrying loads over 30 kg. Additionally, the Alpinist Club ensures that insurance is provided for the guide and porters. They are also equipped with specific gear for crossing high-altitude passes.
Accommodations in Kathmandu
- Hotel Ramoda: Located in the heart of Thamel, this hotel is ideal for walking the bustling streets of Kathmandu. The spacious rooms all have a bathroom, air conditioning, and Wi-Fi. A fully equipped and active dining room is available for all meals, and the breakfast buffet offers a wide choice of foods. The hotel offers currency exchange, laundry services, and luggage storage.
- Sampada Garden: Located just 20 minutes on foot from Thamel and Durbar Square, this hotel is convenient for exploring Kathmandu. The rooms have all the necessary comforts for your stay: air conditioning, a bathroom, and Wi-Fi. Breakfasts are served as a generous buffet. The hotel provides currency exchange, laundry services, and luggage storage.
Accommodation and Meals during the Upper Dolpo Trek
- Lodge Accommodation: During the Trek, you will stay in comfortable mountain lodges, sharing twin-bed rooms in some villages. All meals are freshly prepared by the lodge’s cooks and served in the communal dining room.
- Camping Accommodation: On camping sections of the trek, accommodation is provided in two-person tents. Breakfasts and evening meals are prepared by our kitchen team or local lodge cooks and enjoyed in the mess tent. Lunch is served along the trail as hot or cold picnic-style meals, depending on the day’s walking distance and availability of water.
Here is a typical one-day menu:
- Breakfast: eggs, toast or chapati, or Tibetan bread or pancakes, butter/jam, tea or coffee
- Lunch: a main course, tea or coffee
- Dinner: soup, main course, fruit (fresh or canned), tea or coffee. During the trek, tea or coffee is served with meals. Two cups per person are included. Apart from these included menus, other drinks and foodstuffs will be at your expense.
- Water: Bring water-purification tablets (Hydroclovazone, Micropur, or similar) as advised by your guide. Purified water is sometimes available for refills. Mineral water can be bought in cities (not included), but we don’t recommend it due to its environmental impact
Physical level in Upper Dolpo Trek
This program is designed for those who exercise regularly, especially in endurance activities. You only need to carry a daypack with essentials. The trek lasts 28days, with daily hikes of 6 to 7 hours and altitude changes between 4000 m and 5000 m. The Pass (5,150 m) often has snow later in the season.
Preparation for the Trek
Preparing for the trek requires several months of preparation with 4 to 6-hour walks every weekend for stamina and participating in a sport that requires short periods of high exertion.
Medical check-up
Being in good health is essential to fully enjoying your Alpinist Club trip. If your last medical visit was more than four years ago, please get another general physical exam and tell your doctor the nature of your trip (climate, altitude, difficulty, etc.). The altitude also has the effect of reviving dental problems or other chronic pain, so getting a dental checkup is also prudent. If you are undertaking a high-altitude expedition, we advise you to consult a mountain medicine specialist.
Acute Mountain Sickness
This trip takes place at high altitudes, so some people may experience altitude-related discomforts like headaches, loss of appetite, and swelling of limbs. Most of these symptoms usually go away within a few days, but sometimes they can develop into a serious illness: pulmonary or cerebral edema. There are no preventive drugs for AMS. Diamox diuretic is often effective for symptomatic relief, but you should first check with your doctor to verify that it is not contraindicated for you. Think about it before you go.
Safety During The Trek
Safety has always been our top priority at Alpinist. Our team of expert guides is dedicated to leading a fun and successful climb while ensuring safety remains uncompromised. We plan carefully, considering daily weather forecasts and paying diligent attention as we venture into high altitudes. Throughout the journey, we carry comprehensive medical kits, rescue equipment, and reliable radio and satellite communication gear.
Group size for the Upper Dolpo Trek
The group size is 2 to 10 participants to ensure a more personal experience, respect local communities, and keep the trip flexible. In special cases, the group size may be slightly increased if a last-minute participant wishes to join with friends or family. In this case, all services and trip conditions remain the same.
Camping Equipment Upper Dolpo Trek
All logistical equipment is provided, including individual tents at the base camp with mattresses, mess tent, shower tents, and toilet tents, as well as all collective and individual cooking equipment. At altitude, tents, stoves with gas cartridges, ropes, and anchors.
Personal Equipment for the trekking
Personal equipment is not provided, but a complete list will be shared later. We will refine the list with you during the preparation days and up until departure based on your questions.
High-altitude sleeping bags and quality down jackets are costly items you may not use often. We offer these specific items for rent during the expedition. You must return the equipment clean and in good condition, with a deposit required.
Security And Communication
We have at least one Iridium satellite phone for logistics, weather updates, and security. Participants may use it under certain conditions—please contact us for private use. All camps are connected by radio, with access for the expedition leader, participants, and high-altitude Sherpas. A hyperbaric chamber will be available at base camp, and a lighter essential pharmacy will be stocked at higher camps.
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