DOLPO
I was fortunate to lead a group to this area in 1996. No other trekkers, no tea houses or campsite, just a few Tibetans with horses. This is very different from the Khumbu (or Everest area) of Nepal. It was exciting to be somewhere totally new, for me, but also daunting to know how alone we were here. No back up at all. I only give a small description of the area, for the trip itself was terrifying on some days, we were plagued by snow, and storms and were lucky to make it to Phoksumdo Lake without mishap.
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| Lake Phoksundo |
First opened to visitors in 1988, Dolpo has existed quite independently from the rest of Nepal, isolated and trapped in a time warp. Being close to the Tibetan Border their way of life shares much with the Tibetan people. The nomadic people of Tibet, the Kampas, with their high cheekbones, used to live here much of the time when the Dalai Lama was resisting invasion of Tibet in the early 1950s. Some of these men visited us in our tents when they were bringing their horses and cattle down from the high ground after some snow fell. They are fierce, proud men, who have still not been tamed by the Chinese.
These flat roofed houses with the firewood piled on the roof, and the inner courtyard with its ladder and steps hewn out of the wood, usually have a set of yak horns above the door. To dispel evil spirits? There
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| Dolpo house |
being no trees or bushes nearby the family will have walked many hours to collect firewood. They also burn the stalks of the barley, harvested earlier in the year, and dry out the yak dung as cakes in the sun, or slapped against the walls of the house to dry, as these burn well. Nothing is wasted.
The family live in a room off he courtyard where the woman of the house has a small fire in the middle of the floor. The smoke drifts up through cracks in the roof. When we visited, the old lady was cooking potatoes, which have become a staple food in Nepal now, and she handed us one and mashed one up for the baby. Each potato is a valuable treasure as crops here at 17,000ft have a very short growing season, with snow lying well into June. The ground is also poor and stony, and is rock hard for months. In Zanskar I learnt that the local people will take some soil indoors during the winter to keep it unfrozen, and then lay this soil on top of the snow. This soil is then sown with seed as the snow below it melts and simultaneously waters the seeds.
We visited the village of Dho Tarap, which sits in a wide valley and has been a trading crossroads for centuries. Yak wander around and these girls were curious and came close, giggling, and I noticed one using
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| Girls in Dho Tarap |
twigs to comb her hair. Just beyond Dho Tarap we came across about forty little children dressed in their chubas or coats, who were attending the Crystal Mountain School, where there is a dormitory for 25 children and 12 teachers. Their motto here is
"The aim of education is not knowledge but action"....
Our journey took us over two high passes to Ringmo and the wonderful azure blue of Lake Phoksundo. Here there is also a monastery, occupied by six monks. From this lake one can walk north to Shey Gompa, made famous by Pieter Matthieson in his book The Snow Leopard.
All around this area is simplicity and happiness and one is filled with a sense of peace and contentment. It is at times like this one must reflect on the pace of life we have inflicted on ourselves in our modern fast world. I hoped to try and put this little corner of Dolpo into a small box in my heart, to which I can return and from which I may draw strength and tranquillity in the future.
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| Phoksundo Gompa |
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