Mustang – Journey to Lo Manthang
Camping trek to the exotic cultural enclave of Lo Manthang
Opened
to outsiders only as late as 1991, travel to Mustang is still restricted
by hefty permit fees, but the forbidden “Kingdom within a kingdom”
of Lo Manthang must nevertheless rate as one of the world’s most
exotic cultural destinations. This trans-Himalayan enclave of Nepal bordering
Tibet to the North of the Annapurna Himal is among the most isolated and
best-preserved cultural jewels of the Himalaya. After the Chinese occupation
of Tibet, Mustang, along with Dolpo,
has become one of the few remaining pockets where the Tibetan Buddhist
tradition continues to flourish since bygone days.
Starting from the rustic lake-valley of Pokhara, we take a captivating mountain flight up the Kali Gandaki gorge – the world’s deepest, running between the 26,000’ / 8,000m ranges of Annapurna & Dhaulagiri – to Jomsom, on the Annapurna circuit trail. The transformation from the sub-tropical foothills around Pokhara to the arid semi-desert bio tope of the trans-Himalaya is dramatic. At Kagbeni we leave the main trail to head North across the upper reaches of the Thak Khola canyon towards the vast Tibetan plateau. We arrive at the fabled walled capital of Lo Manthang in four days, trekking through some almost literally "out-of-this-world" landscape. Our next three days are spent exploring nearby monasteries and settlements.
One of the classic cultural treks of the world, the journey to Mustang is a worthy contender as a substitute for the rigorous Dolpo treks, and (like the Dolpo treks) is best experienced in the summer. A fascinating spell in a timeless, magical land not to be missed by anyone with an interest in ancient living Tibetan Buddhist religious culture.
Trip
Itinerary
Day 1 Arrive Kathmandu.
Day 2 Morning drive Kathmandu – Pokhara. Afternoon
at leisure.
Day 3 Early morning flight Pokhara - Jomsom (8,924' /
2,720m); trek to Kagbeni (9,515' / 2,900m).
Days 4-7 Upper Mustang: Trek to Lo-Manthang (12,238'
/ 3,730m) , camping en route at Chele (9,941' / 3,030m), Geling
(11,287' / 3,440m), and Tsarang (11,450' / 3,490m).
Days 8-10 Upper Mustang: Exploration around Lo-Manthang
Days 11-13 Upper Mustang: return to Kagbeni via Ghami
(3,460m/11,352ft) and Samer (12,140' / 3,700m).
Day 14 Thini.
Day 15 Early morning flight Jomsom - Pokhara. Rest of
day at leisure.
Day 16 At leisure in Pokhara.
Day 17 Drive to Kathmandu.
Day 18 Depart for onward destination.
Options & Extensions
Hotel
Selection
Flight
Pokhara - Kathmandu
Mountain
Flight to Everest
Trisuli High Water rafting
(2 days, KTM - KTM)
Royal Chitwan National
Park safari tour (3 days, KTM / PKR - KTM)
Lhasa Overland fly-in
drive-out Tibet tour (8 days, KTM - KTM)
trip overview
18 days in Nepal
trek highlights
group size
trip cost
dates 2007
dates 2008
