Dolpo

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Dolpo is a very remote and high-altitude region in northwestern Nepal , bordering Tibet and where there are no roads. The region forms the northern part of the Dolpa district .

Phoksundo Lake in Dolpo

geography

The area is located in the Himalayas , the settlements are located at an altitude of 2,300 to over 4,300 meters and are among the highest, permanently inhabited in the world. Dolpo is bounded in all four directions by mountain ranges over 6,000 meters high. In the south it meets the Dhaulagiri chain .

Due to the altitude, the region can be divided into the Lower Dolpo in the south and the Upper Dolpo in the north, which can only be reached via passes . The Lower Dolpo has a landing site for small fan guns with Juphal and the administrative headquarters with Dunai . There are small shops, electricity, cellular networks, televisions.

Yak - caravan at Saldang in the Upper Dolpo

In the isolated Upper Dolpo (also called Inner Dolpo ) on the other side of the main Himalayan chain, the purely Tibetan inhabitants, the Dolpo-Pa , are spread over only a few settlement areas. Their number is given as 7000. From Dunai, the Upper Dolpo can only be reached on foot in four to five days' marches over 5,000 meter high passes. This area is largely part of the Shey Phoksundo National Park , which takes its name from Lake Phoksundo , which was dammed up by a landslide and is at least 145 meters deep.

Dolpo is a very arid area that is hardly affected by the summer monsoons . Therefore there is a long dry period from September to May. The vegetation ranges from light forests to alpine meadows to desert-like steppes in the high areas. The settlements are often located on rivers that serve to irrigate the terraced fields. Most of the crops are barley, as well as some buckwheat and vegetables. However, only about 10% of the inhabitants in Upper Dolpo harvest enough to be able to live on it for a whole year. Cattle breeding (yaks, sheep, goats, horses), bartering and the Yartsa Gunbu harvest ( Ophiocordyceps sinensis ) play a major role as an additional source of income.

history

Due to its geographical location, Dolpo belonged to western Tibetan royal and princely houses until the 18th century. Therefore the area is strongly Tibetan and shaped by Buddhism and the Bon religion . In the 16th century Dolpo became a province of the Kingdom of Lo (now known as Mustang ) and remained there until it came to Nepal in 1769 through the annexation of the Gurkha kings. The Inner Dolpo was a restricted area until 1993 and has only been open to foreigners since then.

Representations in the film

  • The life of Dolpo-Pa describes Éric Vallis 1999 film Himalaya - The Childhood of a Caravan Leader .
  • The 2010 documentary film Dolpo Tulku tells the story of Sherap Sangpo, who at the age of ten - after meeting the Dalai Lama - decided to become a monk. Sherap Sangpo was recognized as the reincarnation of a high-ranking lama , the Dolpo Tulku , and was sent to the Namdroling Monastery in Bylakuppe (South India) for 16 years for training . The documentary accompanied him on his return to Dolpo.
  • Over the highest passes in the world. With a yak caravan through Dolpo. (Alternative title: In the mountains of the Himalaya - Yak! ) Documentary, Germany, 2009, 44:10 min., Script and director: Jan Kerckhoff, production: Bayerischer Rundfunk , first broadcast: February 4, 2009 on BR , summary by arte .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Devendra Bhattarai: Phoksundo trail (photos, report, blog). December 6, 2006, accessed January 9, 2010 .
  2. ↑ a b See Jochen Bockemühl (see web links)
  3. ↑ website for the film: dolpotulku.de .