Traverse of Dolpo (July 2012): 1. Nepalgunj
to Matachaur
Nepalgunj is the ′hub′ for flying to many remote
towns and villages in western Nepal. It is located in southern Nepal, on its
border with India. Like most towns in the lowlands of Nepal, it is not
especially attractive: it is hot, humid, and infected with mosquitoes. The
early flight from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj on July 6
was on time. However, the weather turned bad in late morning and stayed bad for
several days. All local flights were canceled. After waiting for several days
in a guesthouse besides Nepalgunj′s airport, Dawa and I decided to charter a locally available
helicopter with local travelers. We flew to Jumla on
July 9 in the afternoon.
The helicopter (an Alouette) on the
tarmac of Nepalgunj′s airport.
As we took off
from Nepalgunj we got nice views of the Terai plain of southern Nepal.
Views during the flight.
Approaching Jumla: the airstrip is visible at the center of the photo
beyond the town.
Urthu, the first village encountered after leaving Jumla.
During that first day of trek, the weather had been quite sunny.
Street scenes in Urthu.
A village
further along the way, with its numerous ladders to move among houses.
Bridges in
this part of Nepal are built with unusually large logs.
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Matachaur, where we spent our first night, is the last
village in its valley. It is a densely built village surrounded by corn fields.
It is mostly populated by Hindu people,
On the next day, we followed the Chaudhabis Khola (picture below) with the goal to reach the village of
Dolphu several days further to the North. However,
the weather turned very bad again, with heavy rains. Our progress along the
river was quite slow. In the afternoon it became clear that, by following this
path, we would not have enough time to reach Jomson
within the time I had allocated for this trip. So, I decided to turn back,
return to Matachaur, and, instead, follow the shorter
itinerary shown on the maps of the Dolpo 2012 homepage. For the next 4 days, I took very
few photos due to frequent rains and poor visibility (and also disappointment).
It is only when we got close to Phoksundo Lake that
we encountered some good weather again.
Other
sections:
―
Section 2: Matachaur to Tibetan camp above Maduwa
―
Section 3: Crossing
Bagala La and Numala La
―
Section 4: Dho Tarap Valley
―
Section 5: Maran to Charkkha Bhot
―
Section 6: Chharka Bhot to Jomson