Expedition to the Hidden Land of Dolpo, West Nepal (1971)

After three years of conducting anthropological research in Nepal’s middle hills and jungle lowlands, I undertook a trek with three porters in 1971 through West Nepal. The goal was to reach the hidden land of Dolpo isolated to the north of the Himalayas on the border with Tibet. Few Westerners had visited a region, which became renowned some years later when the book “The Snow Leopard” appeared. Dolpo is also reputed to be one of the “hidden lands“ (sort of a mini-Shangri-La) of Tibetan Buddhism. We began the trek from the town of Nepalganj on the Nepal border with India. The film shows us crossing the Karnali River (near its confluence with the Bheri River) and then passing through the districts of Dullu and Jumla, associated with historic Hindu kingdoms of half a millennium ago. Scenes show us entering Inner Dolpo after crossing passes in the early spring before they normally open. This was to avoid meeting Tibetan Khampa guerillas, who used the summer months in Inner Dolpo to stage attacks on the Chinese in Tibet. Unfortunately, this meant we got caught by a storm between passes in the Dhaulagiri range on our way out, with porters suffering varying degrees of snow blindness. We were tied together until we made camp under a cliff, and we made our way out by breaking trail down a side valley. The film concludes with our eventually reaching the town of Pokhara in Central Nepal after more than two months of trekking. NOTE: This video consists of footage I took in 1971 using an old (1937) 16mm camera without sound. (The color film fades in and out because it had been affected by the heat while in storage.) It lacks narration, uses only free online music, and has not been edited to make it shorter and more entertaining. But it is as far as I could get before other work intervened, and improvements will have to wait for the distant future. Suggestions are welcome: jr@ PHOTO ALBUMS (Related) 1. Nepal - Dolpo (1971 & 1993): 2. Nepal - Western Middle Hills (Jumla, Dullu, Surkhet, Jajarkot): 3. Nepal - The Hidden Land of Khembalung (1977 & 1996): 4. Helambu & the Hidden Land of Yolmo: 5. Manaslu & the Hidden Land of Kyimolung: 6. Annapurna Trek 1977 (Tilicho Lake & Muktinath) & Aerials 1979: 7. Langtang & the Hidden Land of Namgu Dagam: PUBLICATIONS (Related) 1. Article (1987) summarizing the importance of sacred mountains in the Himalayas: 2. Article (1991) about the sacred “hidden lands“ of Tibetan-Buddhism: 3. Article about an expedition to Khembalung, one of the “hidden lands“ in eastern Nepal VIDEOS (Related) 1. Expedition to the Hidden Land of Khembalung, Nepal 1977 2. Expedition to the Hidden Land of Khembalung, Nepal 1996 NOTE: PDFs of publications and links to other photo albums and videos relating to Nepal can be found at .