Upper Mustang Trekking – 16 Days

We take the tourist bus for kathmandu to Pokhara early in the morning.

20min flight and 4hrs walk respectively: Early morning we are flying North West from Pokhara towards the great portal between the snows covered peaks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. We shall enjoy the wellraised massifs of more than 8000 meters, and the deepest gorge on this planet. And we start our trek from the main gate to Upper Mustang with a beautiful trail from Jomsom towards Kagbeni.

The trail leads up towards the east bank of the Kaligandaki climbing over many ridges as it heads north
and reaches Tangbe village. The town is a labyrinth of narrow alleys amongst white washed houses, fields
of buckwheat, barley, wheat and apple orchards. The Nilgiri peak, dominates the southern skyline of
Kagbeni, all the way by different shapes. There are too many Nepali and Tibetan songs sung portraying
the beauty of Chossang.

Today’s walk is more into undulating trails with couple of steep climb and descents. Despite hours of walk
the tremendous canyons with its unusual color 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 Yakawa Kang adds up to its magnificence.

We keep up our trek, crossing the river to the Kali Gandaki valley and climbs steeply up a rocky gully to
Chaile. From here the culture changes from the Manangi culture to the Tibetan culture of Lo. The climb
continues along steep, treeless, waterless terrain, along the side of the spectacular steep canyon to a pass
and cairn of rock. Then the trail makes a long gradual descent to some Chortens on a ridge, and with a
further descent before coming along a pleasant trail to Samar village. We climb above Samar to a ridge,
then descend into a large gorge, which the trail goes into another valley field, crosses a stream and we to
our destination.

We have interesting red cliffs, blue sheep sightings on our way. We shall be crossing steel bridge of the
Tangmar Chu (river) and arrive to a Mani wall perhaps the longest and most spectacular Mani wall in
Nepal. The huge five-story white Dzong (fortress) and red Gompa are the main attractions to visit and
observe collections of statues and Thangkas as well as huge paintings of seated Buddha’s.Ghar Gompa is
another main attraction for the day. It is the oldest and unique Gompa built during the eighth century. The Gompas, Mani in this area are all found in red and white color. According to the legend, a famous
Rinpoche (Padma sambhava) once came here and fought a big demon which he tore apart and the
remains of the demon spread to every direction. So it’s pretty interesting how there is no any sign of
vegetation or animals and the sight is creepy.

Finally we get to the plateau of Lo Monthang, ‘The Capital city and the Plain of Aspiration’ of Mustang. The fabled walled city of Lo, the kingdom with a single entrance is a welcome sight. The king, “Lo Gyelbu”,
named Jigme Palbar Bista, still resides at his four-storied palace inside the walled city of Lo Manthang.

Lo Manthang the capital city of Mustang contains about 150 houses and has some of the largest and finest
Tibetan Buddhist Gompas in Nepal. The city itself is absolutely fascinating place with four major ancient
Monasteries which are impressive and an enormous 14th century palace imposing 4-storey building in the
center of the city. The main attraction sites in this area are: Nyphu Cave monastery built into the side of a
soaring cliff. 2500 years old Jhong Sky Cave that has more than 44 compartments and gives u the pre
historic settlement of humans. Thinkar summer palace and the extraordinary ancient monasteries inside
the walled city itself which is exceptional.

Further more we are here to get physically acclimatized and have many more to explore from the previous
day around Lo Manthang.

From Lo-Manthang the trail walks straight till Dhi pass 4100 meters and descends down to Dhi village. The trek from Lo Manthang to Muktinath is harder, but more rewarding and interesting than the west side of the valley. Dhi village is one of the best villages of whole Lo-mathang and it seems more prosperous and is settled in a very suitable place. And we reside to Sara.

The trek continues crossing the rivers and through a grassless, treeless bare hill. After the pass the trail
again drops directly to Tangye village at an elevation of 3370m.Tangye is a small village of around 30
houses but most of the houses are attached to each other. On the rooftops one can see piles of dry
woods, which is believed to reflect the prosperity in their society.

The trail walks through a steep ridge of hills providing some fine views of the wind carved hills. Tetang
village is formed between 2 hills, they should have found it a safe place to avoid the strong wind that hits
the entire Kaligandaki valley.

And we slide back and exit from the restricted area of Mustang and stay overnight in Kagbeni.

Again we make a one day trip to Jomsom and overnight stay there.

Early morning we fly back to Jomsom and again to Pokhara. And rest here in Pokhara exploring the city
since we have a whole day left.

We take the tourist bus from Pokhara. And we shall be in Kathmandu for your respective departure
according to your scheduled plan.