Mustang Discovery

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 eating.

Accommodation: Hotel Karuna, Pokhara
Included Meals: Breakfast

DAY 3

Fly to Jomsom. Drive to Chele.

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. You can upgrade the vehicle to a Toyota Land Cruiser, which would come up from Pokhara. So, you could even drive up from Pokhara in the Land Cruiser, just like our Mustang In Style does. From Jomsom, your journey into Upper Mustang begins by following the road that skirts the Kali Gandaki Valley River. The first village you reach is Kagbeni, which lies at an altitude of around 2900m. Here you can stop and explore Kagbeni on foot with your guide at a leisurely pace so that you can begin to acclimatise to the abrupt change in altitude. Depending on what time your flight arrived at Jomsom, you may take lunch at Kagbeni or further along the road on today’s journey. At the edge of Kagbeni, the police will check your Upper Mustang permit, and then you enter the restricted area of Upper Mustang proper. All told, from Jomsom, the drive today to Chele (3050m) takes around 2–3 hours, so there’s ample opportunity to take it easy, soak up the increasing wild landscapes, and stop at points of interest along the way.

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

DAY 4

Acclimatise and explore Chele & Ghyakar

As you’re now just above 3000 m, it’s essential that you give yourself every opportunity to acclimatise. Today, you’ll first explore Chele on foot. It’s a small village, so it won’t take too long. Then you can either walk or be driven to an isolated village known as Ghyakar (3560m). With the coming of the road to Lo Manthang missing out on Ghyakar altogether, the changes that the road connection brings haven’t really happened at Ghyakar. So, there remains a distinctly mediaeval Tibetan feel to it. Ghyakar is a very small settlement of farmers and sheep herders. As it’s got that “off the beaten track” feel to it, it’s a good place to gain a sense of “the Mustang that was”. Indeed, polyandry was a practise here until recent times. Maybe it still is. As well as being an interesting place to explore, there are great views of the Annapurna range and Tilicho Peak too. Keep an eye out for the wild blue sheep that frequent the area. The blue sheep is a favourite prey of the very rare and seldom seen snow leopard. The walking time to Ghyakar is around an hour each way. Driving is considerably less.

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

DAY 5

High passes to Charang

Today’s journey into the wild, arid, and weirdly eroded landscapes of Mustang includes many opportunities to stop and explore along the way. From Chele, the road now climbs away from the valley floor, first to the Taklam La (3624m) and then higher to the Dajori La (3735m). This is a spectacular viewpoint, particularly if you look back towards whence you came with the peaks of the Annapurna range and Dhaulagiri on display, reaffirming the sensation that you really are in the high lands that lie beyond the “Himalayan wall”. As you descend towards Samar, the familiar colours associated with the Mustang landscape have a noticeable addition: green! This is due to the number of poplar trees that thrive here, adding all-year-round colour to this otherwise barren and hostile landscape. There are still several passes to cross on this incredible journey, including the Bhena La (3860m), the Syangboche La (3850 m), and the Nyi La (4010 m), amongst others. Reaching the ruins of the old settlement of Ghemi, you can stop to view the longest Mani wall in Upper Mustang too. If time allows, then a short 20-minute detour to Dhakmar is highly recommended by our specialist Mustang guides. It’s a very picturesque detour amongst fields of farmed buckwheat (a Mustang staple) along with beautiful scenery too, particularly the red-coloured cliffs. From Dhakmar, a further 40 minutes of driving bring you to Charang, where you’ll spend the night in Mustang’s second-largest village. But, with just 130 or so homes and around 700 inhabitants, that’s hardly large. In Charang, 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 too. 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”. Altitude: 3560m; Driving time: approx. 4 hrs.

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

DAY 6

Ghar Gompa to Lo Manthang

Away from the main route to Lo Manthang and up a side valley from Charang, you’ll head up a jeep track to the tiny settlement of Lo Gekar and perhaps feel like you’ve really travelled back in time to the “Mustang that was”. It takes around 45 minutes of driving to reach Lo Gekar (also known as Saukre). A little further, and you reach the ancient, remote monastery of Ghar Gompa, which lies at an altitude of 3950m. Dating back some 1200 years, Lo Gekar 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. Back down to Charang, it’s only a shortish drive today to reach the fabled walled “city” of Lo Manthang (3810m). It is somewhat small for a city. It is a large village really of less than 200 homes and around 875 people. Ideal for exploring on foot and so you’ll be able to do just that and see the various monasteries of Lo Manthang and former Royal Palace.

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

DAY 7

Caves & Villages of the Lo Manthang Valley

As this is an example itinerary for what is intended to be a custom tour of Upper Mustang, this is consequently a suggestion as to what you could do to explore the area around Lo Manthang. Of course, you can always add more days in Lo Manthang and other places too. Possibilities include day hikes (which can still incorporate the caves), a journey up to where Mustang meets Tibet at the Kora La, or sometimes being able to visit a nomadic tribe (more on this below). So, our suggestion for today for illustrative purposes is to take the short drive out of Lo Manthang to visit the famous Chossar cave system, which is about 15 kilometres north of Lo Manthang. Given the proximity of Chossar, there is no reason why you can’t explore the “city” a little bit more too in the morning, or when you return. The sky caves at Chossar 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 rarely visited small settlements of Niphu and Dhuk and ultimately back to Lo Manthang. Near Niphu, there’s a monastery to visit, and from the ancient settlement of Dhuk, there are fantastic views back across Mustang to the Annapurna’s.

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 has made the long and arduous, perilous journey on remote trails across high Himalayan passes all the way from Dolpo. If their journey was a commercial trek, it would certainly be described as “off grid” and attract a strenuous grade 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 8

Over the “windy pass” to Ghiling

Leaving Lo Manthang, there’s only one way ultimately back to Jomsom. Lo Manthang to Jomsom in a day would be a really long drive. So, today, in order to allow you to have time to keep exploring the wonders of Mustang in an unhurried manner, you’ll overnight in a different village, Ghiling. This attractive but quite small village with typical Mustang-style homes still retains a sense of seclusion, and most of the people here are Gurungs. There are colourful chortens and stupas, as well as a small monastery astride a hill above the village, to explore. Altitude: 3570m; Driving time: approx. 3 hrs.

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

DAY 9

To Jomsom

As it’s only around 3 hours by road to Jomsom, once again there’s no hurry, so you can stop “as you wish” along the way to revisit things you passed on your way to Lo Manthang, or anything that catches your eye from the perspective of travelling in the opposite direction.

So, whilst this example itinerary indicates that tonight is in spent Jomsom as this would be your own custom, private adventure you don’t have to stay in Jomsom unless you really want to. It is simply the nearest place to the airport for tomorrows flight. In fact walking distance. There are good views of the mountains from Jomsom. Nothing else and Jomsom itself is not so nice in our opinion. Particular when considering where you’ve just been. Rather Jomsom is more of a transport hub. A lot of domestic tourists stay in Jomsom (on their way up to/down from Muktinath) nowadays and much prefer to get hammered on cheap booze and play very loud “boom, boom” music than enjoy the Himalaya. This perhaps not the most pleasant of places to spend your final evening in the Himalaya.

However, if you’d like to experience somewhere new and rather different too, then we know a rather secret place that’s very much a “hideaway” sort of place. In fact it’s a working farm, an apple farm to be precise. The farm is about 30 minutes by vehicle from Jomsom and is tucked away on the opposite side of the main valley to Jomsom in a more secluded side valley that most tourists probably won’t know exists. On the valley floor beneath soaring, forested hills is Chimley Orchard Farm. Here in this hidden valley the peace and quiet is deafening. There’s a small mountain lake at Dhumba a short walk away. The accommodation here, which consists of just four en-suite rooms must not be thought of in terms of a hotel or guest house even. The farm owners built these cosy, creature comfort rooms with commercial visitors to the farm and friends and family in mind to use every now and again. So, it’s unlikely you’d find Chimley Orchard Farm in any tourist accommodation directories. Chances are if you chose to stay at Chimley you’d be the only people staying here. Of course you’re not entirely alone. Your guide will be with you and the farm arranges for a person to prepare meals for guests too. Of course being tucked away in a peaceful, “secret” Himalayan Valley on an Apple Farm isn’t everyone’s ideal. But, there’s no denying that for those who prefer somewhere secluded and dare we say it, “romantic”, then this is a very appealing and rather unique option.

Altitude 2800m, Driving time approx. 4 hrs.

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

DAY 10

Fly to Pokhara

Time for the early morning 18-minute flight back down to Pokhara. From Pokhara Airport, you’ll receive a private transfer to your hotel. The remainder of the day is at your leisure to enjoy the atmosphere of Pokhara’s many lakeside bars, cafes, and restaurants, or even take a rowing boat out on the lake.

IMPORTANT- You may wish to consider adding some extra nights in Pokhara as 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 11

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 your hotel in Thamel. 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 12

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