The first time you see Phoksundo Lake, it does not look real. You come over a ridge after a long climb, and below you is a sheet of water so blue that it looks dyed, held in a basin of bare rock and pale cliffs with snow peaks behind. On the near shore is a cluster of flat-roofed stone houses and a row of white chortens. That is Ringmo, and for most people it is the reason they came to Dolpo.
Dolpo has a reputation for being remote, expensive and hard to reach, and Upper Dolpo, with its high passes and month-long expeditions, deserves it. But the trek to Phoksundo Lake in Lower Dolpo is a different proposition. It takes under two weeks, uses teahouses and homestays for most nights, and stays below 3,700 m. This guide explains how it works.
Quick answer: the Shey Phoksundo Lake trek takes about 12 days from Kathmandu. You fly via Nepalgunj to Juphal (2,475 m) in Dolpa district, then walk up the Thuli Bheri and Suligad valleys via Dunai and Chhepka to Ringmo village on the shore of Phoksundo Lake (3,611 m), Nepal's deepest lake. It is moderate. You need a national park permit and a Lower Dolpo special permit, which means trekking with a registered agency. Best months are May–June and September–November.
Phoksundo Lake at a glance
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Shey Phoksundo National Park, Dolpa district, Karnali Province |
| Lake altitude | 3,611 m |
| Depth | About 145 m, the deepest lake in Nepal |
| Area | About 4.9 km² |
| Trek duration | About 12 days from Kathmandu |
| Highest sleeping point | Ringmo, about 3,640 m |
| Airstrip | Juphal, via Nepalgunj |
| Grade | Moderate |
| Best time | May–June, September–November |
Where is Dolpo?
Dolpo (also written Dolpa) is Nepal's largest district by area and one of its least populated. It lies in the north-west, behind the Dhaulagiri and Kanjiroba ranges, which block most of the monsoon rain. The southern part, Lower Dolpo, has forests of pine, juniper and birch, and villages of Hindu Chhetri farmers lower down and Tibetan Buddhist and Bön communities higher up. Upper Dolpo, to the north, is high, dry and Tibetan in every way: barley fields, yak caravans, ancient gompas and passes over 5,000 m.
Dolpo became famous outside Nepal thanks to two things. One was Peter Matthiessen's book The Snow Leopard, about his 1973 journey to Shey Gompa with the biologist George Schaller. The other was Eric Valli's 1999 film Himalaya (released in some countries as Caravan), about a salt caravan in Dolpo, which was nominated for an Academy Award. Both are worth reading or watching before you go.
Shey Phoksundo National Park
The lake sits inside Shey Phoksundo National Park, which was established in 1984 and is Nepal's largest national park, covering about 3,555 km². It protects a huge range of habitat, from forest at around 2,000 m to the high Tibetan plateau. The park is one of the strongholds of the snow leopard, and is also home to blue sheep, Himalayan tahr, musk deer, goral, wolves and Himalayan black bears, along with lammergeiers and Himalayan griffon vultures overhead. You will almost certainly see blue sheep on the slopes above the lake. Snow leopards are a different matter, and most people who live here have only seen one a few times.
The route
| Day | Stage | Altitude | Walking |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrive in Kathmandu | 1,400 m | – |
| 2 | Fly to Nepalgunj | 150 m | – |
| 3 | Fly to Juphal, trek to Dunai | 2,140 m | 3 hours |
| 4 | Trek to Chhepka | 2,720 m | 6–7 hours |
| 5 | Trek to Rechi (Amchi Hospital area) | 2,940 m | 5–6 hours |
| 6 | Trek to Ringmo and Phoksundo Lake | 3,640 m | 4–5 hours |
| 7 | Explore the lake, Tshowa Gompa and the western shore | 3,640 m | 3–5 hours |
| 8 | Trek back to Chhepka | 2,720 m | 6–7 hours |
| 9 | Trek to Juphal | 2,475 m | 6–7 hours |
| 10 | Fly to Nepalgunj and Kathmandu | 1,400 m | – |
| 11 | Spare day for flights | 1,400 m | – |
| 12 | Departure | – | – |
Getting in: Nepalgunj and Juphal
Getting to Dolpo is half the adventure. You fly from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, a hot, flat border town in the western Terai, and spend the night there. Early the next morning a small plane takes you north over the hills to Juphal, a short airstrip cut into a hillside above the Thuli Bheri river. Flights only operate in the morning, before the wind picks up, and they are cancelled often enough that a spare day in the itinerary is essential, not a luxury.
From Juphal it is a pleasant downhill walk of about three hours to Dunai, the district headquarters, with government offices, a few shops and a police check post where your permits are checked.
Up the Suligad valley
From Dunai you head west along the Thuli Bheri and then turn north into the Suligad valley, where you enter the national park. The trail follows the river through a narrow, wooded gorge, crossing it several times on wooden and suspension bridges. Walnut trees, wild cannabis and fields of buckwheat give way to pine forest as you climb. Chhepka is a small village with a couple of simple lodges, and it is where most groups spend the first night in the valley.
The next day continues through forest to the area around Rechi, where there is a small hospital run by amchi, practitioners of traditional Tibetan medicine. Depending on the season and the lodges open, groups sleep at Rechi or a little further on at Jharana Hotel. From here the trail climbs out of the forest into drier, more open country.
The climb to Ringmo
The last day up is the most dramatic. You climb steadily on a dusty trail to a ridge at around 3,800 m, and below you on the right is the Phoksundo waterfall, which pours out of the lake's natural dam and drops down the cliffs. It is often described as the tallest waterfall in Nepal. Then you come over the ridge and see the lake for the first time. The trail drops through birch forest to Ringmo, at the southern end of the lake.
Ringmo is a Bön village of stone houses with flat roofs stacked with firewood, a few lodges and homestays, a school and a row of chortens leading to the shore. Life here is shaped by the seasons. In summer there are fields of barley, potatoes and buckwheat; in winter many families move to lower villages, and the lake shore is almost empty.
A day by the lake
Take the rest day. Walk around the southern shore to Tshowa Gompa, a Bön monastery perched above the water, which is believed to be several hundred years old. Climb the slopes above Ringmo for a view down the whole lake. Or follow the narrow, exposed trail along the western shore for a few kilometres. This is the route that leads on to Kang La and Shey Gompa in Upper Dolpo, and the one that appears in the famous scene in Himalaya, where a yak caravan crosses a ledge above the water. Don't swim. The lake is sacred to local people, and it is also extremely cold.
Bön culture in Dolpo
Many people in Dolpo, including in Ringmo, follow Bön, a religion that predates Buddhism in Tibet and has since absorbed many Buddhist practices. To a visitor a Bön gompa looks very much like a Buddhist one, with prayer flags, butter lamps, painted walls and statues, but there are some differences you will notice. Bön followers turn prayer wheels and walk around chortens anticlockwise, the opposite way to Buddhists, and the Bön swastika points to the left. When you are in Ringmo, follow the local direction around the chortens and mani walls, and ask your guide before photographing people or the inside of a gompa.
How difficult is the trek?
The Phoksundo Lake trek is moderate. Days are five to seven hours, the trail is generally good but rough in places, and the highest you sleep is about 3,640 m, low enough that serious altitude sickness is unlikely if you ascend sensibly. The hard parts are logistical rather than physical. Flights are unpredictable, lodges are simple, there are long stretches with nowhere to buy food or water, and in Dunai and the lower valley the afternoons can be hot and dusty.
If you have done a trek like Langtang Valley or Poon Hill, you will manage this one. The bigger question is whether you are comfortable with very basic accommodation and with plans that may change because of the weather.
Permits
For Phoksundo Lake you need:
- Shey Phoksundo National Park entry permit.
- Lower Dolpo special (restricted area) permit, charged per person per week. It can only be issued through a registered trekking agency, with a licensed guide.
Going further into Upper Dolpo requires a separate, much more expensive permit. We take care of all the paperwork. Our permits guide covers restricted areas in more detail.
Accommodation and food
Expect simple lodges and homestays. Rooms are basic: a wooden bed, a mattress and blankets, sometimes a shared room. Toilets are usually outside. Hot showers exist in a few places but are not something to count on. Menus are short: dal bhat, Tibetan bread, potatoes, noodles, eggs, tsampa (roasted barley flour) and butter tea. Bring snacks from Kathmandu, especially for the long days. In the shoulder seasons some lodges are closed, and we may use tents for a night or two.
Best time to go
| Season | Months | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | March–May | Cold in March, warming in May; some lodges in Ringmo still closed early in the season |
| Early summer and monsoon | June–August | Dolpo is in a rain shadow, so trekking is possible, but Juphal flights are often delayed by cloud |
| Autumn | September–November | Best overall: clear skies, harvest in the villages, golden birch and larch by the lake |
| Winter | December–February | Very cold; many Ringmo families move lower; snow on high trails |
Our favourite time is late September to October. The rain has gone, the trees around the lake turn gold and the light on the water is extraordinary.
Cost
Phoksundo costs more than a trek of similar length in the Annapurna or Langtang regions. The reasons are the two flights each way (Kathmandu–Nepalgunj–Juphal), the special permit, and the cost of supplies carried into a remote district. Our Shey Phoksundo Lake Trek package includes all domestic flights, permits, a licensed guide, porters, accommodation and meals on the trek, plus a night in Nepalgunj. Prices fall per person for larger groups.
Extending the trip
Phoksundo is the gateway to some of the greatest treks in Nepal, if you have the time and budget:
- Dho Tarap loop: continue over the Numa La and Baga La passes (both above 5,000 m) between Ringmo and Dho Tarap, a beautiful Lower Dolpo circuit of around 18–20 days.
- Upper Dolpo and Shey Gompa: follow the western lake shore and cross the Kang La to Shey, the "Crystal Mountain" monastery of The Snow Leopard. Upper Dolpo requires its own permit and a full camping crew.
- Rara Lake: from Nepalgunj you can also fly to Jumla or Talcha to visit Nepal's largest lake. See our Rara Lake guide.
Practical tips
- Bring all the cash you need from Kathmandu. There is no reliable ATM beyond Nepalgunj.
- Pack light. The Juphal flight usually allows about 15 kg in total, including hand luggage.
- Carry a power bank and solar charger. Electricity in the valley is mostly solar and limited.
- Mobile signal reaches Dunai and parts of the valley, but not reliably at Ringmo. Our SIM card guide explains which network works best in remote areas.
- Bring sun protection. The air is dry and the sun is strong.
- Take your rubbish out with you. Dolpo has no waste system for trekkers' plastic.
Is the Phoksundo Lake trek worth it?
Very much so, if you want somewhere few travellers reach. There are much easier ways to see big mountains in Nepal. What you get in Dolpo is a different landscape, dry, vast and close to Tibet, and a lake that genuinely looks unlike anything else in the Himalaya. Add Bön villages, a national park with snow leopards and the sense of being genuinely far from anywhere, and it is a trek that stays with you. Contact us and we'll help you choose the best dates and itinerary.