Overview
Nepal once is not is not enough because you can see the changes of NAtural beauty of country, culture, and religion. Here in upper mustang you will experience the way of true life of mountain people who were not much in touch with the rest of Nepal for hundreds of years, and even until recent times had an officially recognized king. To trek in upper mustang is a rare privilege .Mustang is not particularly difficult .The settlement are scattered and there is little sign of cultivation between villages. In Mustang, little grows without irrigation thus, the region resembles a desert albeit mountainous, nuclear settlements in fertile area.
After arrived in Kathmandu, we will pick up you up from the international airport and transfer you to the hotel. If time permits, we will discuss about trip and collect your document including original password to receiving of Upper Mustang Permits.
To reach the Upper Mustang, you are required to travel Pokhara ddepending on your budget and the comfort you need, you can choose different options. While the tourist bus to Pokhara is the budget options takes 6-7 hour, you can also take a 30-minute flight to Pokhara if you decide to get the convenient options. The road is completely a busy highway Pokhara is a natural city of Nepal. Beautiful lakes and laps of Annapurna range can be seen from your hotel. You will have an evening walk around Pokhara’s lakeside. Stay overnight at a hotel.
There is no direct flight from Kathmandu to Jomsom so you are required to travel to pokhara and the following day fly again to jomsom which is the district headquarter of Mustang and you would want to start Upper Mustang trek. 20minutes breathtaking flight to the windy valley of jomsom is unbelievable. After morning tea walk to kagbeni about 4-5 hour and spend over night here. The rough road begins after Beni. While riding, you can see the bank of Kali Gandaki River and huge waterfalls. You will reach Tatopani and further drive to Kalopani. Kalopani is the viewpoint of Dhaulagiri, Tukuche peak, and glaciers. Stay overnight at a guest house.
The actual upper Mustang hike starts towards the bank of the river of Kaligandaki. Today you will pass by villages Tangbe and Chusang. Made with mud and white painted narrow alleys, you will pass through apple garden and colourful buckwheat field. Chele is a small beautiful settlement from you can overlook the valley with its picturesque setting.
Today’s walk is more into undulating trails with couple of steep climb and descents syangboche. Despite of 6 hours walk the tremendous canyons with its unusual colour that opens out is extraordinary. In this bizarre the farming fields with rich red buckwheat and brilliant green and the south view offering you a panorama of Nilgiri, Annapurna, Tilicho Peak, and YakawaKang adds up to its magnificence. It is one of the loveliest and enchanting places throughout the world, lies at the lap of Khumbila and on the top of Namche Bazaar.
Day 6 of Upper Mustang trek starts after breakfast at Syangboche and heading towards Ghami village. Syangboche to Ghami trekdistance 9.3 kilometers / 5.7 miles. As soon as leave this village trekkers cross Syangboche la 3850 meters, Nyi la 4020 meters & Ghemi la 3765 meters above sea level to reach Ghami in Mustang. It takes 5 to 6 hours to cross Syangboche to Ghami distancebecause on up and down trail to cross three different passes.
This day is the continuation of gaining high altitude through constant changing up and down. We have one other high passes to conquer ahead of us call Yamda La pass at 3,850m. We will pass by several villages which brings a tone of Tibetian lifestyle. After the two high passes, this region gives more Tibetian vibes, while below Syngbouche it is more of a Gurung and Thakali culture influence from lower Mustang and Manang area (District next to Mustang)
Upper Mustang is also known as the grand canyon of trans-Himalaya. Today is the day you will realise why they call Upper Mustang as a Grand Canyon. The trail goes through the deep red rock canyon gives the look of Arizona in the United States. From Charang, you will hike descend to the base of Kaligandaki river and cross another side of the river before you ascend again to another high pass of 3950m (Lola-La Pass). It allows you to enjoy the dynamic view of Lo-Mangtang valley and several other red rock mountains with towering snow cap Tilicho peak right above you.
Since Lo-Manthang and it’s surrounding is a major attraction, We design two buffer days in order to give you more time to explore in the secret land. Today we will let you experience the pony ride to the border of Tibet China and later in the evening hike to Tingkhar. It is located north-west of Lo-Mangtang offers overlooking views of the valley and ancient Gomba from the top.
This day we will make decent down to Dhakmar, via Ghar Gomba. Ghar Gomba is the main attraction today. Among the locals this Gomba is famous, and it believes anything you wish will be fulfiled. After a quick Gomba sightseeing, we will continue our journey towards Dhakmar and spend our night.
From today the trail connects to the same path as we hiked up. For 14 days itinerary, you can’t extend via Yara Gomba due to the short time. If you wish to make an alternative circuit route, you may need to add two extra days. The journey in midday might be harassing due to the strong wind against us. However, the panoramic view of Nilgiri, Dhaulagiri is still worth on the south side.
It is basically the same way back. You will be able to enjoy the view we missed on the way up. We will continue our journey to Chuksang. Due to the strong wind after midday, we usually start our trip early so skip the wind and later in the evening we will have time for a village sightseeing.
The trekking unveils Nepal’s spectacular diversity of landscape, culture and ecology. The region of Jomsom Muktinath was part of Mustang Kingdom for long time in the history. Hence it possesses ruins of ancient forts, caves and monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism as well a pre-Buddhist Bon religion. The area gets very little rain making it the best palce to trek in Nepal during monsoon rain.
Walking through the river valley, today we will exit the restricted area. We spend an exact ten days in a forbidden area. Leaving behind all the memories of Upper Mustang we are ready to set off for Pokhara. It is our last night in the Mustang area. This is the last camp before we leave this region. You may want to enjoy the last toss of local Marpha alchole cider or apple brandy from the area with your guide support crew.
We take an early morning flight from Jomsom to Pokhara – a fantastic way to round off the trek, flying right along the Kali Gandaki Gorge between the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges. Catch further flights to Kathmandu. Over night stay at Hotel.
Today we take back the scenic drive back to Kathmandu which takes around 6 hrs. There is an option to have flight to Kathmandu from Pokhara
