Dolpo

Dolpo

Dolpo (Standard Tibetan: དོལ་པོ ) is a high-altitude culturally Tibetan region in the upper part of the Dolpa District of western Nepal, bordered in the north by the. Part of the region lies in Shey Phoksundo National Park. The sparse, agro-pastoral population, known as Dolpo in standard Tibetan and Dhol-wa in the local dialect, is connected to the rest of Nepal via Jufal airport, which can be reached in three days by horse. There are no precise population numbers for the region, with estimates including less than 5,000 and 18,000

The Dolpo are generally adherents of Bon, a religion whose origins predate Buddhism but whose modern form is officially accepted as a fifth school of Tibetan Buddhism. The remote region has preserved its Tibetan culture in relatively pure form, making it attractive to Westerners. Dolpa was the location for the 1999 Oscar-nominated film Himalaya and more recently for the German documentary Dolpo Tulku.

In spite of the near inaccessibility of the region and tourism restrictions for the more remote parts, Dolpa is a popular destination for trekking tourism.

Dolpo is geologically part of the sedimentary Tibetan-Tethys zone. It is surrounded by Himalayan mountain chains including the Dhaulagiri (8,172 metres (26,811 ft)). These cloud barriers cause a semi-arid climate, with reported annual precipitations of less than 500 millimetres (20 in).

The region is historically divided into four valleys: Tsharka ("good growing-place"), Tarap ("auspicious excellent"), Panzang ("abode of monks"), and Nangkhong ("innermost place"). They constitute four of the seven village development committees (VDCs) that were created in 1975. The valleys south of the watershed drain into the Bheri River. The VDCs in this area are (roughly from east to west):

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