Journey to Dolpa

The drive to Nepalgunj, Narnia style.

I am now in Juphal, Dolpa. Dolpa is one of Nepal’s lesser known but absolutely beautiful trekking areas. It is mountainous, on the northern border of Nepal towards the west and includes the Shey-Phokshundo National Park. There is a lake here that I hope (but doubt) I will get to see which lacks any form of life, so the water is absolutely blue and beautiful, surrounded by mountains. We are in the city of Juphal, just a three hour walk from the district capital of Dunai, which we plan to check out at some point.
While Dolpa is beautiful, our journey here was less so. After a 14 hour bus from Kathmandu, we ended up being stuck in Nepalgunj (the armpit of Nepal) for three days (three more than we planned) due to difficulties in flight schedules and weather. Nepalgunj is only 6 km from India, but we couldn’t swing over to the other side of the border because you have to have an Indian visa before you get there, which I was lacking. We spent our days reading, taking a few walks, and trying to avoid the heat by using the “air conditioner” in our room (which also had a television with English channels… it was a nice luxury, but I was more excited to see Aljazeerah for the first time in my life).

Our Twin Otter Airplane... after it had the seats loaded in...

We finally made it out of Nepalgunj on the first of September and arrived in Juphal Aiport around 730 in the morning. Juphal and lower Dolpa are absolutely beautiful. We have high mountains on every side (we’re at about 7000 feet above sea level, nothing compared to high peaks, but it did give me a headache on the first day), very green and with a forest above a certain level, plus the river in a valley it’s carved for itself. Our accommodations are nice too, a nice little cedar room with shelves (!), a kitchen (where hopefully we will learn to cook dal bhaat so I can bring it back to all you lovely folks), toilets and a shower (which I think I will avoid using at all costs… the water is soooo cold and comes out in a trickle so it will take a while to wash).

The Juphal Airstrip.

Our first view of Dolpa.

The man in charge is named Tarak, and he’s very nice and helpful. He also organizes treks; we went on a walk our first day and saw a house where he gardens, the home where he was born in Juphal, and also his wife’s family’s home. His wife’s name is Gunga, and her family is absolutely lovely--they treated us to apples, cucumbers, and fermented buffalo curd (it was, um… tangy). Also, marijuana grows along the roadside here (lots of marijuana)…… fill in your own comment.

This photo looks photoshopped. It isn't.

We visited the school our first day as well. The kids are in different classes: Nursery, LKG, UKG, and Class I. Sarah, Sam, and I are excited to split up the English classes, and hopefully teach some math and science classes as well. Tonight is a festival in a nearby village--check out the next post!