Dolpo Travel Report September 2014 by Maerkisches Landbrot Team Berlin

Sept 4th Kathmandu –

Juphal to Dunai 3 hrs. down 235 m/ 2475 to 2140

Arrive 600 m non paved landing strip / no landing possible in case of rain. Max passenger cap of plane 15-18 persons. Dornier 228 or twin otter planes.

Horseman tashi picked us up with 5 horses / 2 tourists / 1 tibetan guide / 4 riding horses / 1 pack horse. We walked to Dunai within 3 hours. Beautiful landscape. Fresh apple/ amaranth / rice fields / buckwheat fields / potatoes / walnut trees / and all other vegetables.

Halfway down at the river we reached Kalagauda checkpost. There is a jeep road between Juphal and Dunai / price 350 rps. One bridge defect / you have to change the cars. Dusty road / not nice walking. In the capital Dunai we stayed in Hotel Blue Sheep. They provide camping spaces / food / lodging / breakfast / cold beer. In Dunai you can buy all food and gascartuches you need for your trek.

Sept 5th

Dunai / chepka appr 6 hrs uphill 600 m

After 1 hour we reach Sallighat / checkpost. After two more hours uphill we reach Raktang for lunch. Good food and camping / hotel.

After 3 more hours strenuous uphill along the river Sallighat we reach Chaka at the river Phoksudo Khola / beautiful blue waters.

Many big trees on the way. Camping is very nice / grass / toilette / cold shower. Also hotel / not so good / room 2 bds 500 rps. Food available. Owner of Tibetan Nomad Origin. Also Chepka is ethnical border between Dolpo Tibetan speaking and Nepalese people.

Sept 6th

Chaka to Chinaware amchi hospital Jahrana hotel we reached after appr 9 hrs walking and riding 2720m to 3134 m uphill 400m

Nobody at home / good tent place. Wonderful trek along the wild and incredible blue river. After 3 hrs lunch in Rechi. Good food / camping / lodging in hotel Paahunaghar. Sehr nette Leute und guter service. Room 2-3 bds 500 rps, dhal bhat 200 rps / big camping ground / porter service / yakhorses service possible.

Phone Mrs. Kumara Gurung 9638703154. Sept 7th

Chinaware to phoksondo/ Ringmo tso Appr 3 hrs 3134m to 3630 up 500 mtrs.

Very steep ascend. Nice waterfall 160 m Khola. We did homestay camping alternative other side of the bridge. Behind the army post and the check post. You should not swim in the holy lake. Mobile charging possible. Bonpo monastery at the lake side you should visit / nice location / you even might find a stretch to lie down at the lakeshore to cool off / wind from the cold water.

Sept 8th

Ringmo Tso to low camp (this is where the path turns sharp right upward in a steep gorge to pass camp just before Kang La). Appr 8,5 hrs 3651m to 3750m 100 m uphill in addition.

Up and down along the lake another 500 m uphill / strenuous! After appr 3,5 hrs lunch at Phoksundo Lake camp / food tent. Here we met the first yak caravan transporting wood for a new monastery in . At low camp no food / no lodging.

Sept 9th

Low camp to pass camp 3750 to 4717 up 1000 m.

Strenuous uphill / nice walk / along river / waterfall at high camp. Break after 3 hrs / always cross river. In pass camp no wood.

Good tent places. Big waterfall close to campsite. No food / no lodging / not too cold. Fast change of weather pattern / all 15 minutes different views. Weather changes all 15 minutes.

Sept 10th

Pass camp via pass to Shey Gompa

Up 4717m to pass Nagdalo La 5350 down 4343 m 600 m up 1000 m down 2,5 hrs up 3 hrs down. Up first part very steep / rest more flat but also strenuous. Down fast and easy to ride on horse.

Meeting yak caravans & mammals. We arrived last day of three day ceremony pilgrimage around crystal mountain / appr 8 hours Khora. On top of this beautiful crystal mountain the legends says there is a lake of milk. Also sacred clear mountain crystals can be found on the backside / high up of mountain and off the beaten tracks. Not too many people were to be found / may be 100 persons only. On the third day they did traditional dancing and singing / women and and men in turn. Food tents are available / no lodging. We bought dried yak cheese, fresh yak cheese and fresh yak butter. We ate buckwheat and millet mesh with chili yoghurt / fresh potato soup as in other places before also. We enjoyed very good chang / local barley beer and local barley schnaps / spirit.

Sept 11th Watched 4 yak caravans / one per family / 50 yaks altogether. Being loaded with wood from Phoksundo for new monastery in Saldang / absolute highlight. For lunch we ate home made noodle soup / spaetzle with fresh yak cheese. Three hours excursion to Tsakang Gompa / retreat for monks / we met one monk / Karma Tsundu Singe. It is really a wonderful walk with beautiful sightings.

He is connected to Khoryug monasteries in Kathmandu under his holiness Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje. He told us in winter it is dangerous because of many snow leopards as they come down from the mountains to hunt for the many gemsen. During the ruling times of Maoists in this region they shot these gemsen and he had requested to stop it and they obeyed to this basic Buddhist cultural heritage. So this is why you find in this area still plenty of wildlife. In Shey Gompa as in all other places on the lower and upper Dolpo circuit we were very distracted by the amount of plastic garbage in the streams and rivers. The local people and the pilgrims seem to think it is best to throw their garbage into rivers and they seem to have no conscious awareness about its impact. Most of the garbage is brought by their pilgrims and also by tourists. The garbage brought into Dolpo has two main origins: one is via Dunai, the other comes from China through the caravan route. This made us make a first commitment of a starting seed donation of 2.000 euro for the year of 2015 for "Garbage Management under the Guidance of Khoryug Monastery of Pullahari / Kathmandu". We are in the initial stage of forming a Dolpo Network for:

1. Garbage management

2. Sustainable high end eco tourism

3. Improvement of integrated health management / amchi and conventional

4. Promotion of highest quality of regional products and food stuff to generate regional income.

Sept 12th

Shey Gompa 4.343 m to Namgung 4360 m. 2hrs uphill ride, walk 1 hr to pass Sela La 5095. Downhill also walk appr 2 hrs. Food and tent place available

In Mamgung private house. Two old men cooked for us rice, potato and spinach. Poor people / primitive / poor conditions. In winter also danger from snow leopard and wolves. Sometimes many at a time / they sometimes come into the stables and kill house animals. Their cows / goats / sheep. Also many wildlife such as blue sheep and gemsen coming down in winter.

Sept 13th

Namgung 4.360 m – Saldang 3770 m 2,5 hrs / riding 1,5 hrs.

Rain, food and accommodation at Amchi Dondrup / this is where Eric Valli stayed four years and Amchi Dondrup also was in his film a main figure. We supplied with food stuff such as muesli, honey, biscuits, black tea and sugar. We visited Saldang school. Solar and wind energy with support of wwf and of German NGO "Freunde Nepal e.V." Visited Pema Dolma, a nurse in health post Saldang. Building funded by Nepalese gvt / nothing in except 1 table. She has no funding for her salary yet and working as volunteer.

Sept 14th

Saldang 3770m – Chagaon / Tsa 3840 m

3,5 hrs horse riding. Nice route, beautiful views, along river side. First we visited amchi clinic (Yuthok Norling Dolpo hospital in Saldang) together with Amchi Dhondup. He has two amchi health workers as students. They treat with traditional amchi herbs and minerals but also have western medicine. They collect and buy herbs and prepare medicines themselves. They treat patients on a voluntarily payment basis as it is custom in all amchi clinics.

They also buy and sell herbs and minerals in exchange with ktm traditional medicine amchi institutions such as Himalayan Amchi Assoc. Nepal of Dr. Namgyal Rinpoche. We were very impressed about these activities and clinic. After one hour walking the rest of the way was on horseback. On the way we visited Shree Sahid Dharma Bhakta primary school supported by 'Schulverein Lo-Manthang' www.lo-manthang.ch and also by 'Bhawi Nepal'.

Four people from Jampaling work as teacher in that school. Padma Wangyal was warmhearted welcomed and invited. We stayed at Urgyen Dorjee guesthouse. 981682560. He is general secretary of Dolpo Association. He is also founder of Dolpo brilliant mind committee. Meaning he is caring about garbage and waste management and collecting tins and selling it

To china / burning plastic waste and promoting all tourist waste that is brought into the country to be taken out again. He offered pancakes from local wheat and buckwheat in combination with local honey / yummy! Good and ambitious hoste expanding his guesthouse. Nice stay.

Sept 15th

Chagaon 3850 m – nomad high camp app 4700 m 10 hrs riding.

Easy trip up the Nagaon Khola river. We missed the crossing to the south Darsumana Dobhan and instead turned left at a nomad gathering in Singthupra Dobhan. In addition we followed a short further up to the east and ended at a high nomad camp. It was located very nice, had a fire place, wood and yak dung for a nice fire. At night it was very cold with freezing temperature well below zero and ice all over our tents. We had big discussions about our location.

Sept 16th

Walking and riding about 8,5 hours. We followed our horsemans advice to go west and after 3 hours of crossing the hills we finally found the route to Lanmuse La pass. Estimated well over 5000 m. Easy and smooth ascend and also descend. Then again we went wrong and not according our horemans Tashi advice and finally ended at a high camp just below Numala La central. It was a nice yak pasture but very icy. Cold. Sept 17th

Numala La central 5100 to Tarap 3944 appr 8 hrs, not so easy appr 3 hrs up and rest downhill. Riding 1,5 hrs Tokyo to Dho Tarap. Strenuous until Tokyo. Lunch in tent in Tokyo.

Nice landscape and many barley fields ready to be harvested. In Dho Tarap we stayed in hotel / camping caravan. Room 3 bds 2000 rps. Nice and profound host Lama Jyampa. 9806325559. He is president of local committee Phoksundo National Park.

Sept 18th

Rest day Dho Tarap we visted Ribu Bhumpa Gonpa Monastery. Dho Tarap is the cross point of two old caravan routes. South to north from India / Dunai grain land to Tibet and east to west from Mustang / Jomsom to Mugu / Phoksundo. Sitting there at the crossroads we saw lots and lots of grass loaden yak caravans moving uphill and returning for the next loads.

At Dho Tarap we met a big group of 12 American tourists with large numbers of mules, kulis for luggages and foodstuff for whole route.

Sept 19th

Dho Tarap 3944 to Narwapani 3475. Appr 8 hrs. First 2 hours riding. Lunch in tent in Toltol. Many food tents seen on the way. Steep river valley. Lots of up and downs. Grand sights. Steep and narrow path. Narwapani camp ground / food tent.

Sept 20th

Narwapani 3475 to Lingdo 2931 / 10 hrs all walking / steep and strenuous path down the river. Lunch in Lana. Good and fast 'road' between Laisicap and Lingdo. Stayed overnight after Lingdo in Lawan on a potato field private people.

Only camping / no food.

Sept 21st

Lawan 2931 – Dunai 2140 – Juphal 2475. 9 hrs all riding / lunch in Dunai. Money change possible. Nice stroll down the river . Sleep and eat / chicken in homestay of our horseman Tashi.

Sept 22nd

Flight cancelled due to technical problems. Stayed in Mount Putha Kirana Pasal guesthouse. 9851006101. Owner Mr. Tarak Bdr. Shahi. Nice 2 bedroom indoor hot shower and toilette for 600 rps!!! Mr. Tarak is also member of this. During whole trekking route we made connections and contact people who are interesting for making a difference or a change in Dolpo by working together and forming networking system. Aim objectives is not warming delicate eco-system and promote eco- friendly tourism and regional products and foodstuffs so that there is no need to bring every thing from Kathmandu, Pokhara or Jomsum or from Dunai to Dolpo which warms local economy and income generation for local foodstuffs.

Project Coordinator:

Padma Wangyal – Khoryug Jampaling phone 980 65 24 150 mail [email protected]

Lead by:

Khenpo Chokey / Pullahari Khorjug monastery – Kathmandu ph 980 200 99 64 / mail [email protected]

Karma Tsundu Singe – Tsakang Gompa, Shey

Team and Network:

Tarak bdr. Shahi, proprietor mount Putha Kirana Pasal Guesthouse, Juphal / ph 985 100 61 01 / mail [email protected]

Tsakang Gompa Shey / see above

Urgjen Dorjee, guesthouse Chaogaon / Tsa

Secr. Dolpo Association, founder Dolpo brilliant mind committee ph 9841 68 25 60 / mail ?

Jyampa Lama, proprietor caravan guesthouse Dho Tarap President Phoksumdo National Parc local committee ph ktm 980 63 25 559 / Dolpo 963 811 66 24 / mail [email protected]

Santosh Ranjitkar, proprietor travel agency fantastic Nepal Ktm. Ph 980 103 24 54 / mail [email protected]

Information Network:

Pascal Schuenemann, Germany – Munich [email protected]

Valentin Schalk, Austria – Oesterreichische Alpenschutzverband [email protected]

Mrs. Kumara Gurung, Hotel Paahunaghar, Ryachi, Dolpo. mob 96 387 031 54

Pema Dolma, Health Worker Saldang mob 980 83 15 245 / [email protected] / [email protected]

Binod Shai, Nepal – NGO ph 9849 044 636 / mail [email protected] / www.snowyak.org Tensing Norbu, American Himalayan Foundation (ahf), USA, San Francisco, Vice President ph +01 00 141 52 88 72 45 / [email protected]

Tenzing Norbu Lama, Tibetan Artist from Dolpo [email protected]

Tsewang Bista, Proprietor Mustang Adventure Trek pvt. Mob 985 1124234 / [email protected]

Dolpo Tulku Rinpoche or Yichung Tulku [email protected]

Lama Nyma, Lama in Saldang and Lama Shakya, Lama in Saldang Mobil eMail Padma find out??

Dr. Namgyal Rinpoche, Dolpo Amchi Clinic, Boudha KTM ph 984 92 88 075 / mail [email protected] daughter: [email protected]

Rabindra Puri, Construction Model House Bhaktapur ph 985 10 22 894 / [email protected] / www.rabindra.com.np

Ulrich & Lucie Schmidt, Stuttgart, German tourists we met in Dolpo. [email protected]

Tim Coldewey, Deutscher Alpenverein, Exp. in Nepal [email protected]

Sponsorship & Project Initiative by:

Joachim Weckmann, owner Maerkisches Landbrot GmbH,Berlin, Germany ph +49 172 391 26 32 / [email protected] / www.landbrot.de

Padma Wangyal will provide some more information about Dolpo and especially on snowleopard, gamzen and juniper trees in Dolpo and "Dolpo Phumsumdo National Park".

Dear associates and friends, as you might already know, this year in september my dear friend Padma Wangyal and my nephew Pascal Schuenemann travelled together with me the upper Dolpo circuit.

We were stunned by the beauty of nature and the friendly people of Dolpo. Besides the touristic aspects one purpose of this journey was the reflection of tibetan culture and the situation of the people. Also it was an important issue to learn about todays social and economic situation and development. As a five year old boy Padma Wangyal and his family had to flee from Tibet through Dolpo to India. He lived for more than a year with his uncle Tulku Tseyang at Shey Gompa. Walking upstream beautiful Phoksundo river and all the further route towards Shey Gompa and to Dho Tarap – all within Phoksundo National Park – we were upset by the plastic garbage and tins that were thrown into the rivers or unconsciously left on the ground at campsites, villages and trails. It is brought in by local people and from travelling tourist groups.

This is why we started a garbage management system under the leadership of Khoryug Monastery Pullahari and Shey Gompa to promote "HighEnd Eco-tourism". This includes to develop an obligatory code of conduct for all tourists and tourist agencies who operate in Dolpo.

Idea for a general code of conduct for all partners:

Take out all the garbage that you brought in to Dolpo.

Buy as much local products and local foodstuff as possible.

Promote local food tradition. There is also local drinks like chang beer and local raki/ schnaps destilled from barley.

Promote high value organic and local foodstuff grown in Dolpo only.

Pay fair prices to support income for local people.

Create a logo on the base of the means of a charta to be used by members and as quality guarantee for tourists.

Create awareness toward poor condition of conventional health sector. Offer donations if possibilities and may be even make it an obligatory contribution percentage from total travel expenses.

Khorjug means 'environment' in tibetan language. Also in the sense of developing a sustainable environment according to the 108 solutions by hh 17th Gyalwang Karmapa.

Social issues have to be addressed and developed by the other partners and friends of our network. Also it is necessary to connect with regional partners in Mustang and Mugu so that international experience and exchange will speed up change.

Our visions and dreams determine the present! So lets go for it!

The time is right to create a win:win situation for all partners in this boat.

Truly yours

Padma Wangyal

Joachim Weckmann.