Khaptad Meadows Trek

Dhangadhi to Silgadhi in Doti

We meet at Dhangadhi Airport, or your hotel if you flew in the day before, and drive north out of the Terai. The road climbs through sal forest into the hills of Doti and follows the Seti river valley. Silgadhi, the district headquarters, stands on a ridge at about 1,310 m above the river town of Dipayal. In the late afternoon we walk to the temple of Shaileshwari, the town's goddess, whose shrine draws crowds during Dashain. Night in a simple hotel in the bazaar.

Jeep to the Jhigrana gate

A rough jeep road climbs from Silgadhi to Jhigrana, at about 2,300 m, where the national park's entry post stands. We pay park fees, set up camp and take the afternoon slowly, walking up the trail for an hour and back down to help with the altitude gain. Jhigrana is a small settlement of Chhetri and Dalit families with fields of wheat and millet. In the evening, your cook prepares the first camp meal and the crew briefs you on the long climb ahead.

The long climb to Khaptad

The hardest day of the trek. The trail climbs steadily through chir pine, then oak and rhododendron, which turns red and pink in March and April. There are few houses, so we carry water and lunch. Near the top the forest thins and you come out onto the first of the patans, wide meadows where herders from the villages below bring cattle in summer. We camp near the park headquarters at about 3,000 m. Expect a cold night even in spring.

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Khaptad Baba's ashram and Tribeni

A gentle day across the meadows to the ashram where Khaptad Baba, a hermit also known as Swami Sachchidananda, lived and taught for about fifty years until his death in 1996. His simple hut and garden are kept by caretakers, and visitors still come to sit in silence. Below it lies Tribeni, where three streams meet, with small temples to Shiva and other deities. Pilgrims bathe here during the Ganga Dashahara fair in early summer. Return across the patans for the evening light.

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Khaptad Daha and Sahasra Linga

We walk north across the plateau to Khaptad Daha, a small lake held sacred by people of the surrounding districts, and then climb to Sahasra Linga, a shrine on the highest part of the plateau at about 3,300 m. On a clear morning the view north runs to the Saipal Himal and other snow ranges of Bajhang and Humla. The forests here hold Himalayan monal and koklass pheasants, and the park has recorded nearly 290 bird species. Back to camp by mid-afternoon.

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Down to Jhigrana

A last walk across the meadows at dawn, when frost lies on the grass and the cattle bells carry a long way, then the descent through the forest to Jhigrana. Going down is quicker but hard on the knees, so we use poles and take breaks. In the afternoon there is time to visit a family in the village, where the crew may buy fresh milk and greens for our last camp dinner. Herders here sing deuda songs, the call-and-answer verses of the far west.

The story of Khaptad National Park →

Jeep back to Silgadhi

A short morning jeep ride back to Silgadhi gives you a free afternoon in the bazaar. Walk down toward Dipayal on the Seti river, the old administrative centre of the far west, or sit at a tea shop on the main street and watch the hill traffic. Doti was once the seat of its own kingdom, ruled by the Raika kings until the unification of Nepal, and the local language, Doteli, is still spoken all around you.

Drive back to Dhangadhi

We drive back down the Seti valley and out onto the plain at Dhangadhi, arriving by mid-afternoon. If the schedule allows, you can take an evening flight to Kathmandu, about an hour and a quarter. Otherwise we book a hotel in Dhangadhi and you fly the next morning, or continue west to Shuklaphanta National Park for swamp deer and grassland birds, about an hour and a half away by road.