Mustang Explorer

DAY 1

Arrive Kathmandu

Arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, you'll be met and receive a private transfer for the short distance into central Kathmandu and to your hotel in the heart of the lively Thamel district. You'll be given a briefing on your forthcoming adventure, and in the evening you can take dinner at your leisure in one of the many cafes and restaurants in Kathmandu.

PLEASE NOTE: A special permit is required to enter Upper Mustang. In order for us to obtain permits for you, we have to present hard copies of your passport (scans are not accepted) by 1000 hrs. to the permit issuing office. The permit office is open Sunday-Thursday, Friday Mornings, and all day Saturday. The permit office is also closed on Nepali Public holidays. Please anticipate that you may require extra days in Kathmandu as a result in order that we can obtain your permit, unless you arrive this day on an early morning flight.

Accommodation: KGH Hotel - Kathmandu
Included Meals: None

DAY 2

Fly to Pokhara

A private transfer back to the airport for the 25-minute flight to Pokhara. You're met on arrival and transferred to your hotel. The day is yours to enjoy the sub-tropical climate of Pokhara and the more laid back atmosphere (compared to frenetic Kathmandu), thus affording you the opportunity to relax a little before starting your trek. There are many lakeside cafes and bars to chill out in, and lots of choices for dining.

Accommodation: Hotel Karuna, Pokhara
Included Meals: Breakfast

DAY 3

Fly to Jomsom, drive to Chukksang

In the morning, accompanied by your guide, a private transfer takes you to Pokhara airport for the 18-minute flight between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna to Jomsom (2736m). Here, your locally chartered Indian-made jeep and driver will be waiting for you. From Jomsom, your journey into Upper Mustang begins by following the road that skirts the Kali Gandaki Valley River. Reaching Kagbeni, the police check post here will check your Upper Mustang permits, and then you enter the restricted area of Mustang proper. Today you’ll travel as far as the typically Mustang village of Chukksang. Altitude: approx. 3020 m; driving time: approx. 3 hrs.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House, Chukksang
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 4

Acclimatisation day hike options at Chukksang

As you’re now just above 3000 m, it’s essential that you give yourself every opportunity to acclimatise. To achieve this, it’s a good idea to do some physical activity, but most definitely not overdo it, as this would be counterproductive to the acclimatisation process. Consequently, there are a couple of options to consider, but they will also depend on how you’re feeling at this altitude and in consultation with your guide.

For those that are feeling strong and have no noticeable ill effects of the altitude, there’s a stiff hike up to the dramatic Siyarko Danda ridge line. Leaving Chukksang, you head up a side valley to the tiny settlement of Tetang on a jeep track, then cross the Narsing Khola River. The trail up to the lengthy ridge line is quite steep, and there’s about 1000m of ascent all told from Chukksang itself, as the ridge itself is circa 4000m. But the extensive panoramic views up here are nothing short of spectacular. As well as much of Upper Mustang and the main valley, there are terrific views of the Nilgiri and Annapurna ranges on display. Heading back down the same trail you ascended, you can take a detour to visit a small Himalayan salt mine. This is a round-trip trek of around 5 hours in total.

A less challenging option would be to head across the Kali Gandaki River bed to the opposite side and follow a trail up to a rarely visited monastery at Gumbakang. This is a round-trip trek of around 4 hours in total.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House, Chukksang
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 5

Trek to Chungsi Caves and Syangboche

After breakfast, you’ll travel in your 4WD vehicle on the road for about an hour to Samar. Nowadays, most visitors to Upper Mustang simply carry on their journey by road to Lo Manthang. So, the walking trail you’re following from Samar is very, very rarely used and should feel quite remote. Heading first to Chungsi Caves, which are reached in around 3 hours of walking, you may indeed be the only tourists here! Then again, these remote caves are very occasionally habituated by the most dedicated monks, who have come here to meditate for lengthy periods in splendid peace and isolation. There’s also a small salt mine near the caves that you can visit. Sometimes the local people bring their livestock (yaks, sheep, and goats) here and use the mine as a “salt lick”. The trail continues, and there’s a sense of wilderness interspersed with the presence of juniper trees. Keep a sharp eye out for wild Blue Sheep that are known to inhabit these parts. The Blue Sheep is the preferred prey of the very rare and elusive Snow Leopard. From the caves it’s around 1.5hrs walking to reach the village of Syangboche where your jeep will be waiting to take you to Ghiling (40mins drive) along the road. Overnight altitude is around 3500m.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House, Ghiling
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 6

Trek to Ghar Gompa via the Mui La

Another atmospheric day hike on a rarely used trail! Once again, informed use of your Jeep is utilised to make this walk practical and enjoyable. So, first, a scenic drive of around 1.5 hours to the village of Dhakmar (3820m). Here you follow a walking trail that climbs steadily out of the village, contouring the arid hills, to reach Mui La (4170m). The trail descends gradually to reach Ghar Gompa (3950m). Dating back some 1200 years, Ghar Gompa is one of the oldest and most important monasteries in Mustang. The interior of the monastery greets the visitor with tiles of Buddha Sakyamuni and Bodhisattvas. The Gonkhang is situated before the main room, and the different protectors are covered with sheets and shown only once a year during a special festival. Dozens of butter lamps illuminate the main room, making the many statues even more beautiful. The main statue is Padmasambhava, and to each side are his two Yoginis, Yeshe Tshogyal and Mandarava. A statue of a Green Tara may also be found in a smaller room. Leaving the monastery, you initially descend on a jeep track, but only as far as the settlement of Lo Gekar, from where you can follow a walking trail all the way down to Charang. Here in Mustang’s second-largest village (population circa 700!) you can visit the old, former Royal Palace. Once the home of the Raja of Mustang, the ruin of the former palace is strategically located astride a hill. It’s a steep, short hike up to the palace, and although it is now dilapidated, there are great views from here, and the small chapel and armoury (now a museum) are open to the public. On display are the blackened, macabre hands that are said to belong to the Master Builder of the palace. As a mark of respect, they were cut off after his death and placed there in his honour. Another story says that they were cut off while he was still alive, so he would never build another. There’s also a Gompa in Charang you can visit if you wish. The “local monastery” is around 500 years old. The inner walls of the main temple are painted with murals depicting the deities of the Medicine Buddha mandala. The Ani Gompa to the rear looks like it’s falling over a cliff and is in fact a “nunnery”. Walking time totals around 4 hours. Overnight altitude: 3560m.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House - Charang (Tsarang)
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 7

Trek to Lo Manthang via the Chogo La.

To start with, you’re heading back up on foot towards Lo Gekar, but only as far as Marang, which is reached via a jeep track in around an hour. But, from here, it’s a walking trail, and again, you may not encounter any other tourists as you head up through a remote, arid valley to reach the Chogo La (4280m). Reaching this pass, which affords wonderful panoramic scenery, takes around 2 hours from Marang. As well as inspiring views of the Lo Manthang Valley below, there are extensive vistas to a series of very remote 6000+ m peaks of both the Mustang Himal and the Chungen Changma Himal that form the border with Tibet to the far north-west. The descent to Lo Manthang from the pass is straightforward and takes around 1.5 hours to reach the fabled “walled city”. Total walking time: approx. 4.5 hours. Overnight altitude: 3810m.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House - Lo Manthang
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 8

Lo Manthang Valley and Chossar Caves

Today is an opportunity for on-foot exploration and to visit seldom-visited settlements in the Lo Manthang along the way. Leaving Lo Manthang, you’ll be walking along a track that is mostly used by farm vehicles (and there aren’t many of those in Mustang), passing through Namgyal and Thinggar. At the former, there’s the Gelup Sect Monastery of Victory, which is well worth a visit. Heading further, you reach Nyamdo, which is about 3–4 hours walking time from Lo Manthang. After exploring Nyamdo, a further 40 minutes of walking bring you to the famous Chossar Caves. These sky caves are also known as the Shija Jhong Cave, the cave system here is actually man-made and is believed to date back to 800 B.C. or perhaps even earlier than that. The cave system is a five-storey structure perched on the edge of a precipice. There are over 35 “rooms” and multiple ladders lead to higher levels, which makes exploring the caves rather “interesting”. Leaving Chossar, a rarely used jeep track takes you through the settlements of Niphu and Dhuk and ultimately back to Lo Manthang, which is about 3 hours walking time from Chossar. Being a much longer day of walking (circa 7+ hours), we should stress that you can elect to drive from Chossar along the road to Lo Manthang instead, effectively reducing the walking to just under 5 hours. Your guide would need to know in advance so that they can arrange transport from Chossar back to Lo Manthang, for which an additional payment locally would be required.

NOTE - At certain times of the year (approximately May–September), there is the possibility of visiting and meeting a nomadic tribe of herders. Usually these nomads make their settlement about an hour's drive from Lo Manthang. Of course being nomadic (and indeed one of the few remaining nomadic tribes left in the world) they are not always here in Mustang, as during the summer period the tribe have made the long and arduous, perilous journey on remote trails across high Himalayan passes all the way to Dolpo. If their journey was a commercial trek it would certainly be described as “off grid” and attract a strenuous grading for the most experienced trekkers only. Their nomadic lifestyle is not set by watches, clocks or calendars, so their presence in the Lo Manthang area should never be assumed and ascertaining if they are actually there is far from straightforward in advance. Some years the tribe hasn’t arrived in Mustang until July and some years they have left earlier than usual. As such it is best left to your guide to find out once you’ve reached Lo Manthang if they are in the valley. However, if your guide is aware that the nomads are in the vicinity and you’d like to take the opportunity to visit them and find out more about their increasingly rare way of life you can substitute this day of the “example only” itinerary to accommodate such a visit.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House - Lo Manthang
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 9

Over the Dhi La to Surkhang

Leaving Lo Manthang, your final day of trekking takes you into eastern Mustang. The trail to Dhi is a walking trail that rises around 300m from Lo Manthang to the Dhi La (3950m) and was once the ancient caravan route used by traders. Once again, it’s a lesser-trodden trail nowadays, and the descent from the Dhi La down to the valley floor is quite steep and dusty. Reaching Dhi after around 4 hours of walking, you’ll hop into your jeep and head deeper into a side valley that will ultimately lead to the very, very remote and isolated lake of Damodar Kunda. That would be quite the multi-day adventure, camping wild along the way in an uninhabited, inhospitable mountainscape. However, you’re travelling as far up as the still-remote Luri Gompa, which takes around 30-45 minutes of driving. All the same, this ancient Gompa is quite isolated, and it is believed that the few local inhabitants of this valley are rather unique in so much as they are the direct descendants of the people who originally lived in the sky caves many, many centuries ago. After visiting the gompa, you’ll drive to the attractive village of Ghami (3520m), which is around 2 hours drive.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House- Ghami
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner 

DAY 10

Drive to Jomsom

It’s all driving today so you can reach Jomsom for tomorrow’s early morning flight back to Pokhara. There’s only one road, so it’s the same way back from whence you originally came when you landed at Jomsom. If you don’t fancy staying in Jomsom, which, to be honest, isn’t much of a place (especially after the places you’ve seen) and is also becoming quite noisy, there’s some very peaceful accommodation in a secluded Himalayan valley about 30 minutes drive from Jomsom on the opposite side of the river that’s actually a working apple farm. With just four rooms it’s an atmospheric place to end your time in Mustang.See Chimley Orchard Farm for more.

NOTE-Please inform us at the time of enquiry as to whether you’d prefer to stay at the apple farm.

Accommodation: Mustang Family Guest House - Jomsom
Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY 11

Fly to Pokhara

After the short but dramatic early morning flight back to Pokhara, you’ll receive a private transfer to your hotel, with the remainder of the day at leisure to relax in the warmth of the sub-tropical climate of Pokhara.

IMPORTANT- You may wish to consider adding some extra nights in Pokhara as a contingency for this trip, whether it be for any delays or cancellations that can and do occur for internal flights, or any difficulties that may arise on the trip, which are always possible on this very adventurous journey.

Accommodation:  Hotel Karuna - Pokhara
Included Meals: Breakfast

DAY 12

Fly to Kathmandu

A short private transfer to Pokhara Airport for the 25-minute flight back to Kathmandu. A private transfer will take you from the airport back to the KGH Hotel. The remainder of the day is at your leisure, so there’s still time for some exploration of Kathmandu and last-minute souvenir hunting.

Accommodation: KGH Hotel – Kathmandu
Included Meals: Breakfast

DAY 13

Depart Nepal

A private transfer will take you to the airport for your return international flight.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Of course there's no reason to depart today, your Nepal holiday can be readily tailor-made