Dolpa is a most remote and least developed district in Nepal. Although a few anthropologists and geographers had explored the region, the entire district was closed to trekers until 1989 when the southern part of Dolpo was opened to organised trekking groups, Shey is still closed to foreigners. One story cites the reason for closure as the large-scale theft of  statues from monasteries several years ago. It is possible to visit Tibetan-style “inner Dolpo” villages Tarap and at Phoksundo Lake, but most of the southern part of Dolpo is a region of Hindu influence.

The best known of the many isolated high Himalayan valleys across northern Nepal, Dolpo preserves one of the last remnants of traditional Tibetan Culture. Surrounded by high mountains including the Dhaulagiri massif to the southeast and cut off by high passes closed by snow half the year, Dolpo is close to Tibet, where people emigrated from perhaps 1,000 years ago.

Dolpo remains a truly isolated corner of Nepal. Time has stood still here for centuries as the inhabitants of Tibetan stock continue to live, cultivate and trade the way they have done since time immemorial. The finally preserved Eco–system encompasses a wild and wonderful variety of plants and wildlife, including the blue sheep and leopard. A trek through Dolpo is an experience not easily forgotten.