Dolpo is an amazing piece of heaven on earth, which caters tremendously beautiful landscapes. Landscapes in Dolpo are diverse. The lush vegetation of Shey Phoksundo National Park, which is the home to incredibly beautiful Phoksundo Lake, also houses scores of species of floras and faunas, which include elusive snow leopard to high value crop yarsagumba. The section in Upper Dolpo however, has different geography. Barren and widespread highland deserts at the foothill of Himalayan peaks are awesome sights.

Just as beautiful and untouched are the landscapes, the culture and lifestyle in Dolpo are equally fascinating and nomadic. In today’s post, we have included the most beautiful three villages of Dolpo, where culture is extremely worthwhile observing.

Dho

Dho has tea houses, shops with minimal supplies and lodges. The people closely resemble the Khampas of Tibet, the men with a ponytail and red tassel coiled around their head. The women sport musk deer teeth necklaces. Dho Tarap has a maze of mud-brick Tibetan houses which was featured in Eric Valli’s famous movie ‘Caravan’, the village where Karma and his band of young Dolpo-pa, and Thinley and his older group of Dolpo-pa, set off with their salt to trade for barley over the high passes. Trekkers can enjoy a nature tour and a cultural program consisting of traditional Tibetan dances and songs presented by the villagers in Dho.Here we have few major sites that are worthwhile exploring around Dho Tarap, Including Ribo Bumpa Monastery & Drakmar Dewa Monastery, the vicinity around Dho Tarap has many other important monasteries which include Mekhyim Monastery, Dhoro Monastery and a Bon Gompa of Shipichowk among others.

Shey

Today we will explore Shey village, which is the home to famous Shey Gompa. The village is a living museum of nomadic lifestyle and the monastery is highly revered. Shey Gompa said to be about 800 years old monastery, with murals inside and an ancient scroll describing the mythology behind the Crystal Mountain. The monastery is locally known as Shelri Sumdho Gompa. Shey Festival, the summer festival observed by the people of Dolpo with huge enthusiasm is hosted at Shey Gompa. Peter Mattheissen wrote quite a lot about his stay in Shey in ‘The Snow Leopard’, and it was shown in Eric Valli’s movie ‘Caravan’ as Thinley’s son’s gompa.

Ringmo

The village, which is included in most of our treks in Dolpo, Ringmo is the most popular and frequented Bon village in Dolpo. Lying atop a spur adjacent to Phoksundo Lake, Ringmo is the incredible blend of natural outlook and cultural richness. The area around Ringmo Village and the magnificent Phoksundo Lake along with the Bon culture makes this place a great landmark to explore during treks in Dolpo. In Ringmo we can explore around the Village to sight incredible Bon culture and head to Tshowa (the lake-shore Bon Monastery). The Bon Gompa nestling a ridge top above Phoksundo Lake was built about 900 years ago. Exploring this culturally rich Bon Monastery is fascinating experience.