Day 16 was a rest day in Dho Tarap. Dho is an interesting junction between upper and lower Dolpo. Although it is an unrestricted area on the main lower Dolpo circuit, it is high and dry, much more like the Upper Dolpo regions we have visited. Historically, the Tarap valley is considered one of the four valleys of Upper Dolpo.

We moved that morning to the new guest house in the center of town. It did not have a private bedroom, but rather just four beds along the walls in one corner of the store and cooking area. Even so, Marcia and I agreed that it looked cozy and better than another night in the tent. The store was well stocked with goods mostly from China, still closer by yak caravan than the population centers of Nepal. Kinna looked at options for replacing his boots, and our mule men checked out the stock of stirrups and bells. To be a good mule bell, it needed to ring clearly when a finger is run lightly around its rim.

After lunch, we took baths in the very cold and drafty washroom, then relaxed. In the mid-afternoon I went out by myself to visit the local Bön monastery on the hill above town, which was unfortunately closed. But while I was up on the hill, I saw several more large birds soaring in the stiff wind: a golden eagle and a light-colored vulture.

The biggest crisis of the trip arose when we learned that several groups trying to get to Jomsom had turned backed due to heavy snow on the last double pass we would need to cross. Kinna seems determined to find a way through since he wants the experience and is even less fond than we are of flying back through Juphal and Nepalgunj. He spoke with a local horseman who has a yak man in Charka, the only town between here and Jomsom. If the yak man feels his yaks can get through, we will go over the passes to Chharka and change from mules to yaks there. But if even the yaks cannot get through, we may have no choice but to cancel the rest of the trip. By the evening, Kinna was softening us up for that possibility, but we agreed to wait until the morning to talk with the yak man and decide.