Nepal is very rich in water resources; it is a known fact. There are hundreds of rivers, big and small streams, glaciers, lakes, and ponds in Nepal and most of them formed by the water streaming from the Himalayas. Along with the fact that sources of water are vital to us, they also hold religious importance in Nepali community.  In Nepal, our religious belief is beyond the periphery of temples; we worship lakes, river, trees, and stones.

Shey Phuksundo Lake and its location

Shey Phuksundo Lake is located in the Dolpa district of Nepal. The lake is within the area of Shey Phuksundo National Park. It is an alpine freshwater oligotrophic lake and is situated in the elevation of 3,611.5 meters/11,849 feet above the sea level. Shey Phuksundo Lake is of 494 hectors with a water volume of 409,000,000 m3 and a discharge of 3.715 m3/s. There was a survey conducted in 2004 by the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology which measured the maximum depth of the lake at 145 meters/476 feet. The lake also has been designated as a Ramsar site in the year 2007.

You can encounter a traditional Tibetan village named Ringmo at the southern end of the lake, which sits on the 30,000 to 40,000-year-old landslide dam that formed the lake. There is a 167 meters/548 feet waterfall past the dam.

Shey Phuksundo Lake

Religious importance of Shey Phuksundo lake

The region of Shey Phuksundo lake mainly comprises the Buddhist religion, mostly Tibetan Buddhist. In the upper Dolpa, there is traditional Tibetan culture, and in the lower Dolpa, there is the prevalence of Buddhism as well as Bon, which also includes the Ringmo village. On the southern side of the lake there are more than 20 stupas, and on the eastern side, there is one gompa where prayers and worship are carried out on an annual basis. The most famous monument is Shey Gompa, which was built in the 11th century. Another gompa named Thashung Gompa was built about 900 years ago with the belief that it will protect the wildlife.

The settlement on Shey Phuksundo National Park is the highest settlement on the earth. These people have been living in a very traditional way and almost away from the modern means. Their culture is no wonder very core traditional and even the foods; they grow it by themselves. They depend on the foods like potatoes, barley, beans, buckwheat, mustard and they also keep livestock for food and for wool. They still do bartering with the Tibetans for salt and wool. Although the people of this region are Nepali, their lifestyle is Tibetan. While most of them are Buddhist, some practice Bon religion as well. As the most people are Buddhists, there are many communal gompas.

When to visit Shey Phuksundo Lake?

Spring (March, April, and May)

Spring is the best season for any trekking destinations including Shey Phuksundo. In spring the climate is clear giving you the best view of mountains, the forests are green and delightful making your trekking more alluring and fun to go.

Summer (June, July, and August)

Summer season starts with the very hot days and then soon, monsoon takes over with heavy rainfall. The rain makes the paths very muddy, slippery and unfavorable to go for.

Autumn (September, October, and November)

Autumn will be the best to go to Shey Phusundo trek, as the monsoon takes its leave clearing the sky and giving you the best view in route. The climate is moderate as well, not too hot and not too cold.

Winter (December, January, and February)

In the higher altitude region, winter is characterized by heavy snowfall, and the climate gets extremely cold. It won’t be best to go for trekking in the higher altitude region as the threat of snow-storm and avalanche always remains.

Shey Phuksundo National Park

Shey Phuksundo Lake is within the protected area of Shey Phuksundo National Park which is the largest and the only trans-Himalayan national park of Nepal. The park is located in Dolpa and Mugu district of Nepal with a total area of 3,555 km2.

Shey Phuksundo National Park is very rich in flora and fauna and gives you the most spectacular view as well. Most of the park is located in the northern side of the Himalayan crest. Its elevation ranges from 2,130 meters in the southeast near Ankhe to 6,883 meters at the peak of Kannjiroba Himal, which is at the southern edge of the Tibetan plateau. Along with the perfect location, surrounded by the mountains and hills, the park is rich with some vegetation as well. There are 286 species which has ethnobotanical importance. Only five percent of the park is forested which comprise rhododendron, Salix, juniper, caragana shrubs, blue pine, bamboo, silver fir, hemlock, spruce and other.

Shey Phuksundo National Park

In the wildlife section, there are some of the endangered species in the park which includes snow leopard, musk deer, blue sheep, and grey wolf. Other wildlife which can be found in the park is Himalayan tahr, jackal, leopard, yellow-throated marten, and Himalayan black bear. This park is also inhabited by 19 species of butterfly, which include the highest flying butterfly in the world as well. Also, there are over 200 spaces of birds and six species of reptiles.

Trekking to Shey Phuksundo Lake

Before starting off the trekking to Shey Phuksundo Lake, you need to take two domestic flight first, one from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj and next from Nepalgunj to Juphal. Also, remember you need a permit to trek as Juphal falls in the Dolpo region. You need Special Permit for Dolpo, as well as Shey Phuksundo National Park permit and Trekkers Information Management System (TIMS) from Department of Immigration, Kathmandu.

You start the trek from Juphal. You will overcome several ascends and descends before reaching Dunai from Juphal. From Dunai, you will move further and walk the suspension bridge, walk past the villages and several gompas and monasteries. You will also walk past the delightful forest of oak, maple, pines, and rhododendron. Then you will reach a village named Chepka.

Moving forward you will head towards Sunduwa. From this point, the trail gets a bit of challenging. Passing the forest with giant trees, several up and down, deep and narrow gorges, you will reach Sunduwa.  Ringmo is next after Sunduwa. Ringmo is a traditional village. Ringmo is a very thinly populated area with most of them with Tibetan ethnicity.

Then ultimately, comes Shey Phoksundo Lake. The splendid turquoise color of this lake will take your breath away. To add the more excitement in your awe, you will also see the glorious and roaring waterfall, which is the tallest waterfall in Nepal.