A family load pack horses as smoke rises from nearby houses in the village of Dho Tarap
The region of Dolpa in Nepal is the largest and most sparsely populated district of Nepal covering an area of approximately 8,000 sq. kilometers it contains Phoksundo Lake, which is the deepest lake in and the Religious centre of Shey Gompa which is one of the most important religious sites in Nepal. Dolpa is one of the few Nepali districts that is behind the main Himalayan mountains resulting in a landscape of bare looking hills with little vegetation similar to the high plateau of Tibet. Few people live or travel in this remote area, and as a result, the people of Dolpa have an isolated culture centered on the Tibetan way of life, in an area where many of the Khampas of eastern Tibet settled following the Chinese invasion of Tibet. In Dolpo life still revolves around horses, mules, yaks farming and trade with Tibet and this is an area where people still wear traditional clothing and jewelry. Because of periodic political instability caused first by banditry by the Khampas in the 1960’s and 1970’s and subsequent Maoist activity, especially in the main settlements of the region, much of Dolpa remains a restricted area and this has helped preserve the unique culture of a region which is very different to anywhere else in Nepal. This Photograph shows a family prepare ponies for a journey in the village of Tokyu in Dolpo
Size: 3706px × 2484px
Location: dolpo nepal
Photo credit: © ANDREW WRIGHTING / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: agriculture, animal, barren, buddhist, buildings, dho, dolpa, dolpo, early, farming, field, fields, flags, fuel, hillside, himalayan, horses, houses, load, misty, morning, mountainside, nepal, nepali, pack, path, people, ponies, prayer, shadow, slope, smoke, tarap, transport, valley, village, wall, wood
