Welcome to Nepal! We will receive you the airport and transport you to hotel.

An Apex the Asia Holidays representative will organize a small pre-trip meeting at the hotel lobby before commencing the day trip. Please bring a copy of your passport, travel insurance document and three passport-size photos.

Then we head off for sightseeing of the Kathmandu Valley. You will visit three main places: Pashupatinath, Bouddhanath and Bhaktapur Durbar Square. The Pashupatinath Temple is one of the most revered temples for Hindus. Every year thousands of pilgrims visit the temple from different countries. Bouddhanath is located in the outskirts of Kathmandu city and is a holy Buddhist monument. Meeting monks, learning about Buddhism and stupa dome is the main attractions of Bouddhanath. Finally, Bhaktapur Durbar Square large premises of ancient house and temples is a settlement of local ethnicity called Newars. Fifty-five-window Palace, golden temple, pottery house are definitely worth a visit in the tour.

After the tour, we head back to Thamel, where our guide will help you with checking gears required for the trek. There are plenty of trekking shops in Thamel, so you can rent or purchase if you’ve missed anything to bring.

Today you will fly to Nepalgunj, southwest from Nepal. It is a one-hour flight. Nepalgunj is very close to the Nepal-India border, which is only 3kms away from here.

The flight to Juphal takes about 35 minutes and we walk by the Bheri River to reach a large town called Dunai.

After breakfast, the trail heads off to Ankhe. Cross a suspension bridge and take the western path to Suli Gad. Continuing the trail with the roaring sound Thuli Bheri and Sulighad River, you pass through an area, which is dense with marijuana plants but also has crops for the villagers and animals including millet, pumpkin, potatoes, sweet corn and chilies. You continue to track the river and eventually reach the settlement of Anke, which is also the entrance to Phoksundo National Park. You pass through three villages, which have a strange name connection: Parela, meaning eyelash, Rahagaon meaning eyebrow, and Ankhe meaning eye.

The trail to Renje is up and down and crossing the bridges. Once you cross the bridge then steeply ascent through the narrow path, squeezing between cliffs, and again descend and ascend takes you campsite that is on side of Sulighad River.

The trail is fairly easy on the first part, i.e. till Sumdo, then we head to about 3475m to reach a viewpoint from where you can see the highest waterfall of Nepal that is 300m and also you can see the first view of Phoksundo Lake. From the crest, you will descend to Phosksundo Khola and Ringmo village – houses, chortens, and mani walls are made out of mud plastering. From the town, you will make the short walk to shores of Phoksundo Lake for the campsite.

We walk along the shore of Phoksundo Lake and start a steep climb up, to 4040m and nosedive valley to the floodplain of Phosksundo Khola and trek to the campsite alongside the river. We camp out near the forest to avoid strong winds dominant in the valley.

Today we cross a few streams without bridges, so it is advisable to wear sandal or suitable knee-deep footwear. North heading trail becomes narrower with impressive vertical cliffs on either side. The trail brings you to a sheep meadow where the trail swings up a steep gorge. The continued climb up the trail brings to top from where you can see the Kang La Pass. Your camp today will be just before the pass in a place that Peter Matthiessen christened Snowfields Camp.

The trail today is quite hard, it takes about 3hrs to reach the top of Kang La Pass, the view from the pass makes the walk worth it. After the pass the descending trail brings you to the valley floor, no more than 45 minutes, you make a long twisting trek along the banks of the river, crossing it once. A red chorten signals your arrival at Shey Gompa where a picturesque wooden log bridge leads up to the Shey Gompa.

Shey Gompa is the first Kagyupa monastery, which was built in the 11th century by Lama Ten-sazin-Ra-Pa. The monastery belongs to Chaiba community the followers of Padmasambhava and Kagyu. Shey means crystal – this monastery is also known as the Crystal Mountain. Shey is famous for ancient Buddhist cultures that was brought by Druthu Yeshe from Tibet many years ago. The strange Crystal Mountain is situated in the west from the Shey Gompa. The cliffs laced with quartz and entrenched with a rich variety of fossils is quite attractive.

The trail begins to twist over the rock and coarse eroded soil finally it brings to a flat spot, weather permitting it would be better placed for lunch. The trail ascends towards Saldang-La Pass from where you can enjoy views of the dry landscape of Mustang and distance snow peak of Tibet. The descending track from the pass is quite long and hard, but finally we’re welcomed by the sight of grazing yaks and sheep at a pasture. Tents here are the signal we’re approaching Namduna Gaun. The monastery of the village is Namgung, which is the Karma-Pa clique made out of red stone structure.

The trail begins along exhilarating cross along the grimy barren mountains. The view down towards the valley is perfect – neatly terraced fields showing the bright patches of green and ripening crops. First, you walk up to Nam Khong Nala, the biggest village of inner Dolpo area with the same altitude of Ringmo, it is totally different. Ringmo, a Himalayan village is situated below the tree line while Saldang belongs to the arid zone of the trans-Himalayan Tibetan plateau.

From Saldang village way down to river passing through the stupas, heaps of Mani stones, terraced field, chortens via Namdo village. Namdo monastery is located near the riverbed. The village stretches for 5km with sixty houses and near-about four hundred habitants.You camp near the small settlement of Sibu, right on the river bank.

The start of the trail is fairly easy and after about 2hrs it we cross stream after which the path spirals up, taking us to a pleasant meadow.

From the campsite, its takes about 2.5hrs to get Jeng-La Pass, from where you can see views of Dhaulagiri Himalaya massif range. The rough track descends to Tarap Chu, the valley contains the ten villages with cultivated lands, Gompas and Chortens. You stop for the night at Tokyu Monastery.

The trail for today is broad and well-traveled. Along the trail, you will cross many Mani walls and Chortens. The French School is just outside the village where you will stay for the night. Magars are the main ethnic group of the village and in few numbers, Tibetan also reside here. A hike to Buddhist Gompa is very worthwhile, a resident of Lama who is very happy to show his Monastery.

The trail follows the Tarap Khola through the narrow gorges; along the trail, you may see blue sheep, marmots, yaks etc. The trails are improving, the rocks are being blasted and you will cross a steel suspension bridge during the day that has been built to facilitate movement of people and animals. You reach your overnight camp on a grassy band by the river.

The path follows the gorge of Tarap River through the narrow trail. Some parts of the path include stone steps. A thrilling day in deep and tremendous gorge, the campsite is a pleasant meadow in the shade of a stand of trees.

Undulating trail brings you to a fertile valley of the Barbung Chu through the numerous crop field including the millet field, sweet corn, barley, green beans, chilies, and marijuana. The night halt for today is Tarakot, high above the river; it is also an old fortress.

Continuing on descending trail is fairly easy, the track runs by the Bheri River and reaches Dunai. Now the mystical land of Dolpo circuit trek is over.

Today we go back to Juphal, where we landed on the first day of the trek. The final hour of the climb is steep up, if you remember the first day.

We fly early morning from Juphal to Nepalgunj, and then take a connecting flight from Nepalgunj to Kathmandu. Both the flights are scenic: while flight from Juphal gives you good close up views of giant peaks, including Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, flight from Nepalgunj gives you a panorama of the Himalayas afar and the rugged midhills of Nepal.

Today is a leisure day, and you have the option of doing extra activities if you feel it. You can get more information in our Activities Page. And in the evening you will be served a farewell dinner in typical Nepali Restaurant with Nepali folk music and dance. It is also the time of reviewing the trip with your guide.

Finally, the entire trip is over.