Chris suggested Upper Dolpo, a remote area in north-west Nepal (on the border with Tibet) and Ralph and I latched on to the idea. It appealed because it was not on the main tourist treks, it was a challenging high altitude trek, and we could follow the trail and explore the area around the legendary Shey Gompa about which Peter Matthiesson had written his extraordinary book The Snow Leopard.
We were a little hesitant as the trek required at least 18 days, crossing three 5,000-metre passes and Chris had already experienced some altitude issues on Mount Kenya earlier in the year. Ralph (at age 64) had peaked some years ago and had sciatica. However Mattheisson wrote that since the usurpation of Tibet by the Chinese, the land of Dolpo was said to be the last enclave of pure Tibetan culture left on Earth and that simple fact made us put our concerns aside.
Shortly after Matthiesson was there in 1973, there was a bloody skirmish between Kampas and Nepali troops near the Tibetan border north of Shey, and the Land of Dolpo was closed again to the outside world. Upper Dolpo was only opened for trekking in 1992 and the substantial permit fee of $500 deters many.
I contacted some sherpa acquaintances to organise support for the trek. Due to other commitments the three of us would not meet in Kathmandu until October 29, which is very late in the season, and we were risking snow and the onset of winter. Together with our Sirdar Manji, the four of us flew out to Nepalgunj (almost on the southwestern border with India). I knew it was going to be a great trip when I saw Milan at the hotel at Nepalgunj. Milan was our cook on my climb of Baruntse, two years earlier, and he was the best cook I have had in my many trips to Nepal.
We were delayed at Nepalgunj as strong winds prevented flights landing on the upward-sloping, bumpy grass runway at Juphal, where a steep cliff stops the runway continuing on…
…read the full account in Wild issue 145