Nepal is a walker’s paradise. Rugged and rocky mountains and green hills have prevented roads from being constructed in most of the rural Nepal, making it an ideal country for trekkers around the world. On top of that, an excellent blend of nature and culture has made this country a wonderland for those adventure lovers seeking absolute adventure amid natural settings. No wonder why thousands of adventure enthusiasts throng to this tiny but beautiful landmark every year. Given an appropriate environment, every piece of land lying in Nepal territory can become an ultimate tourist destination for the solemn beauty they behold in themselves. Like such, West Nepal has its own charm still waiting to be unfolded amidst those adventure seekers across the world. Owing to very little knowledge dissemination and promotional activities, these destinations are however lagging behind, in terms of tourism development.

In fact, these destinations have started showing its true potential to the international tourists who have by chance landed there for any good reasons.

In the context when Annapurna round is virtually at stake, these destinations can be an alternative to it, if a clear and planned itinerary could be developed. Some enthusiastic tourism entrepreneurs have come ahead for the first time and have developed some itineraries in order to promote tourism in these remote but potential virgin destinations where they aim to reduce poverty by instigating tourism in them.

One of such is Lucky Chettri of Three Sisters Trekking and Managing Director of Empowering Women Nepal (EWN). She opines, “We are working hard as much as we can to inject tourism in remote west Nepal such as Dolpa, Jumla, Humla via Pokhara. We also demand at least one flight to Simikot from Pokhara. We are closely working with the DDC’s and VDC’s of these destinations but our role would be to mentor them and train them on tourism Kits and tools. They have already understood the importance of tourism and are excited about the coming days.”

The proposed trekking trail goes from Pokhara to Beni - Darbang by 4 wheeler and next day trek will begin towards west for first 5 days to Dhorpatan. Likewise, it takes a total of 12/13 days to Dolpa from Pokhara. Enroute the highest pass is 3700 meter high and falls on 7th day trek.

The other best part of this trekking is the options where tourists can choose to continue or fly out or to explore Shey Phuksundo Lake for another 4 more days. Therefore it will be around 16 / 17 days trek including Shey Phuksundo Lake. Again, trekkers can continue their trek towards Jumla for 5 days trek with a high pass of 4200 meter Jharu kharka. And again trekkers can choose to get out from there to Nepalgunj or Surkhet.

 Or they can even continue towards Rara Lake for 4 more days through Dafe and Ghuchi lake which is 3900 meter high.

Trekkers can also decide to get out or continue towards Humla for another 11 days to Simkot with a high pass of Chankheli Pass which can make it to 36 day long trek. However there are lots of choices for the trekkers to shorten the trek, same as Annapurna round. To start trek one can choose either from Pokhara, Dolpa, Jumla, Mugu or Humla (Simkot). There is another possibility to start trek from Jumla to Rara - Humla and even can trek towards Dolpa or to Pokhara.

Rara Lake

Rara Lake is in the remote wilderness of west Nepal located in Mugu district, offering a superb experience of nature and unusual glimpses of a culture and scenery quite different from that found elsewhere in Nepal. Nepal’s largest lake (5km long and 2km wide) lies in the Rara Lake National Park at an altitude of 3062 meters. This beautiful high altitude lake is surrounded by alpine meadows full of flowers and forests of pine, juniper and spruce. In the background you can view the magnificent snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas and their reflection in the lake. The region is made up of long ridges covered with temperate forests and alpine pastures enclosing high valleys. Summer rainfall is low, but winter snow can be heavy and persistent. Since the region is fairly high and free from monsoon thunder storms, the summer season is ideal for trekking. In the autumn season, trekking is rewarded with a profusion of alpine flowers.

 Dolpa

Dolpa is located in the central west of Nepal behind the Dhaulagiri massif, towards the Tibetan Plateau. Cut off by a series of very high passes, Dolpo remains a truly isolated corner of Nepal, offering visitors a wonderful chance to experience a landscape and culture far different from those seen in other parts of the country. The people’s religion is a mixture of Tibetan Bhuddhism and the ancient, pre Buddhist, Bon religion, a largely animistic faith. Strangely, their language is based on the Tibetan dialect spoken in Kham, a province of old Tibet located many hundreds of kilometers to the east. The focal point of the area is Shey Phoksumdo National Park. It is the habitat of various rare and endangered plant and wildlife species, many of which can be seen nowhere else in the country. Animal species of particular interest in the park are populations of snow leopard, grey wolf and blue sheep.

 Humla

Humla is the highest, most remote and most northerly region of Nepal. Lying on the border with Tibet, the region’s main town of Simikot is only reachable on foot or by plane in the absence of paved roads. Life for the Humli people is challenging, the agricultural season in these high mountain valleys being short and the winters long and severe, with most of the population living by subsistence farming amid the region’s difficult, though extraordinarily beautiful and dramatic terrain. This mountain landscape of high peaks, cut through by green valleys, turbulent rivers and forests of rhododendrons teeming with wildlife, and featuring Hindu and Buddhist temples, shrines and religious sacred places, make trekking in the region an extremely rewarding and rejuvenating experience.