Shey Phoksundo: a journey to Nepal's turquoise lake

Prologue

Far in the west of Nepal, behind the Dhaulagiri range, lies Dolpa: a high, dry land of juniper, prayer flags and old trade routes into Tibet. Few roads reach it. Most people arrive the way we did, on a small plane that drops onto a hillside airstrip, and then walk.

This is the story of that walk, to Phoksundo Lake.

[Add a photo of the airstrip or the first view of the valley]

Chapter one: Juphal to Dunai

The trek begins at Juphal, a village clinging to the slope above the Thuli Bheri river. From here the trail drops through terraced fields and walnut trees to Dunai, the district headquarters of Dolpa, a bazaar town of stone houses and supply shops at the edge of the wild.

[Your notes: how the first day felt, who you met]

Chapter two: into the Suli Gad gorge

Beyond Dunai the trail turns north and follows the Suli Gad, a river the colour of glacier milk. The gorge narrows, the forest thickens with pine and birch, and suspension bridges carry the path from bank to bank. Somewhere along here the trail enters Shey Phoksundo National Park, the largest national park in Nepal, home to blue sheep, Himalayan musk deer and the elusive snow leopard.

Villages become smaller and farther apart: Kageni, Chhepka, Rechi. Tea houses offer dal bhat, butter tea and a warm fire.

[Add photos from the gorge and the tea houses]

The higher we climbed, the quieter the world became.

Chapter three: the climb to the lake

The final stretch climbs steeply over a ridge. Then, without warning, the trees open and Nepal's highest waterfall comes into view, pouring down from the lake above. One last climb, and there it is: Phoksundo Lake, a sheet of impossible turquoise held between bare mountains at more than 3,600 metres.

It is the deepest lake in Nepal, and there are no fish in it. Locals say its colour changes with the light, from emerald to sapphire to slate.

[Add your best photo of the lake]

Chapter four: Ringmo and the Bon monastery

On the lake's southern shore sits Ringmo, a village of flat-roofed stone houses, stacked firewood and grazing yaks. A short walk along the shore brings you to Tshowa, a monastery of the Bon faith, the old religion of the Himalaya that came before Buddhism reached Tibet. Here prayer wheels turn anticlockwise and chortens stand watch over the water.

Dolpa has drawn travellers for decades. It is the land of Peter Matthiessen's book The Snow Leopard and Eric Valli's film Himalaya, and it still feels like a place where time moves at walking pace.

[Your notes: a moment in Ringmo you want to remember]

Epilogue

Walking back down the Suli Gad, the lake already felt like a dream. But the people, the silence and that colour stay with you long after the trail ends.

[Add a closing photo, or paste your YouTube vlog link on its own line to show the video here]