Khaptad National Park: Rolling Meadows in the Far West

Nepal's far west is another country as far as tourism is concerned. Few foreign visitors travel beyond Bardia, and fewer still climb into the middle hills where four districts meet on a plateau at around 3,000 metres. Khaptad National Park protects that plateau: a gently rolling upland of open meadows ringed by forest, with a spiritual reputation that draws Nepali pilgrims from far away.

The landscape

Khaptad is unlike the steep, terraced hills that surround it. The top is broad and undulating, covered with some twenty grassy clearings separated by stands of fir, oak, hemlock and rhododendron. In spring and summer the meadows fill with wildflowers, and the park is known for an exceptional variety of medicinal herbs. In winter it lies under snow.

From the northern edge, the peaks of Api and Saipal, the highest mountains of far-western Nepal, are visible on clear days. Wildlife includes barking deer, wild boar, Himalayan black bear, leopard and a long list of birds, including several pheasants.

Khaptad Baba

The plateau owes much of its fame to a hermit known as Khaptad Baba, a learned ascetic who settled here in the 1940s and lived in a simple retreat for about half a century, meditating, writing on philosophy and health, and receiving the occasional visitor, including members of the royal family. He died in the 1990s. His small ashram, near the park headquarters, is kept as a place of pilgrimage, and the national park was created largely at his urging.

Places to visit on the plateau

• The ashram, a modest hermitage in the trees.

• Tribeni, a confluence of three streams with a Shiva shrine, where pilgrims bathe during an annual festival held around the full moon of late May or June.

• Khaptad Daha, a small, shallow lake set in a meadow.

• Sahashra Linga, a high point with a sacred site and views.

• The meadows themselves, across which you can walk for hours on level ground.

Two or three days on top allow all of these to be seen on foot at an easy pace.

Getting there

This is the difficult part.

1. Fly from Kathmandu to Dhangadhi, in the far-western plains, about an hour and a quarter.

2. Drive to Silgadhi, the headquarters of Doti district, a winding mountain journey of eight to ten hours. Break it overnight if possible.

3. Continue by jeep to the roadhead at the park entrance near Jhigrana.

4. Walk up to the plateau. The ascent takes one long day or two shorter ones through forest, gaining well over a thousand metres.

Other approaches come in from the districts of Bajhang, Bajura and Achham, each with its own roadhead. Allow at least seven or eight days in total from Kathmandu and back.

Where to stay

Facilities are minimal. Near the park headquarters there are a few basic lodges and a guest house with simple rooms and meals of rice and lentils. In peak pilgrimage periods these fill, and many visitors camp. Bring a warm sleeping bag, snacks and any comforts you need. Along the approach trail, small tea houses provide food and shelter.

When to go

• March to May: rhododendrons, then flowers in the meadows. The most popular season.

• Late May or June: the pilgrimage fair at Tribeni.

• September to November: clear skies and the best mountain views.

• December to February: deep snow; only for the well equipped.

• July and August: lush and flowery, with heavy rain, leeches and poor roads.

Practicalities

• Foreign visitors pay a national park entry fee, and trekking in protected areas is expected to be done with a licensed guide. Because so few foreigners come, arrange the trip through an agency that has actually operated in the far west.

• Carry cash for everything beyond Dhangadhi.

• Mobile coverage is patchy on the plateau.

• Medical facilities are distant. Take a first-aid kit and insurance that covers evacuation.

What makes it worthwhile

Khaptad offers no famous summit and no teahouse comforts. Its attraction is space and stillness: wide green clearings with grazing horses, forest that few people enter, and a sense of calm that visitors often connect with the hermit who chose it.

It also offers contact with a region whose culture, dialect and architecture differ noticeably from central Nepal, and where hospitality to a rare outsider is warm and unstudied. The far west is among the poorest parts of the country, and the little that visitors spend there counts.

For travellers who have seen the Annapurna and Everest regions and are asking what else Nepal holds, a walk across the meadows of Khaptad is a strong answer, provided you are willing to spend three days getting to the start.