Upper Mustang Trek

Your arrival in Kathmandu is the first day of the trip. We will welcome you at the arrival gate of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and transfer you to the trip hotel. You will have free time mostly on your own today. We will surely offer you necessary guidance on wandering around on your arrival time. We will also brief you about the entire adventure trip and answer your questions if you have any. Feel at comfort; relax and try to acclimate in the Nepalese atmosphere. Things may look and feel completely strange to you but that’s the beauty of a new place so find yourself at easy and slowly soak into the local ambience.

Kathmandu has a history of more than 2,000 years. We will take you for a tour of the historical, cultural and spiritual places in Kathmandu that are enlisted in the cultural heritage list. A guided visit to Swoyambhunath, Patan Durbar Square, Pashupatinath and Boudhanath will give you an understanding of the history, culture, spiritual practice and lifestyle of Kathmandu valley. It will be a good starter of the trip. An insightful day of exploring the cultural and historical wonders of Kathmandu will come to end after returning back to the hotel around late afternoon.

We will drive 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu to Pokhara today. The drive starts early morning after breakfast. You will be able to experience the rural surroundings of Nepal as you drive along the highway towards the destination today. Pokhara is the main gateway city to start the trekking adventure in the Annapurna region. We will be in Pokhara after around 6 hours of starting in Kathmandu. Wandering around the peaceful and beautiful atmosphere of Lakeside on the bank of Lake Fewa will be helpful in chasing off the tiredness of the long drive. It’s an easy and free time to roam around the streets.

We set off on the first day of trekking today but only after a scenic flight to Jomsom. We drive to airport for our morning flight to the beautiful headquarters of Mustang, Jomsom. We fly closely past the spectacular Annapurna range and enter the Kali Gandaki valley overlooking Dhaulagiri range in the Himalaya. A memorable twenty minutes of flight lands at Jomsom where we meet our complete trekking crew. We prepare for the walk of the day to Kagbeni, a beautiful village on the bank of Kali Gandaki River. The sandy trail goes along the river bank and gets windy in the afternoon. Despite the windy condition on the trail, the stretch is scenic that we enjoy walking on it.

Our trek continues on the deserted, sandy trail up towards the Upper Mustang. The destination of our walk today is Chaile, a beautiful village in the region. We continue our trek along the Kali Gandaki River and enjoy the charm that the river valley has to offer. After a while our trail ascends to Tangbe, a local village that comes along the trail today. The uniqueness of the village in its formation is so wonderful that we keep admiring its beauty. We walk further towards the destination and eventually reach Chaile after about 6 hours of walk. Chaile is another wonderful village that bears unique cultural riches of the region.

We are going to walk over two passes on our trek today. We cross Taklam La 3,624m and Dorje La 3,735m before reaching the destination today. As the stretch today involves lots of uphill and downhill walking at the high altitude, it’s going to be challenging day for us. But the challenge is well worth it as we can enjoy a spectacular view that is unlike from anywhere. We walk past Samar village and continue the trek to Syangboche village for overnight stay.

The stretch of walk today has another high pass for us to cross. We cross Yamda La at the elevation of 3,850 meters and Nyi La at the elevation of 4,010 meters above sea level on our trek to Ghami today. These two passes bring some spectacular views of the mountains and a uniquely different landscape. We walk up and down the passes and eventually reach Ghami village after about six hours of challenging walk. Ghami village is a village with fascinating culture and surrounding to explore and enjoy.

We are slowly gaining elevation for our overnight places each day although we have walked past high passes on our walk on the previous days. The challenging day involves a walk over another pass called Charang La at the elevation of 3,870 meters above sea level. The ascents and descents on the stretch today bring some majestic views, mani walls and wonderful landscapes to our sight. Beautiful Charang village offers a rich cultural and spiritual immersion that we can explore as soon as we reach there.

We reach Lo Manthang today. Lo Manthang is the destination area of the trip to explore a uniquely beautiful Buddhist culture and lifestyle that is untouched by the modern civilization. The walk today involves challenging trails and high pass walk. Breathtaking views that the stretch brings make us forget about the challenging toughness of the trek. Beautiful mountain sights keep us calm and comfortable even at this high altitude challenging walk. Although the walk is challenging, it is shorter than other days. We reach Lo Manthang in about 4 hours and will have enough time to go for an exploration of the area.

We spend an extra day here at Lo Manthang exploring the wonders this place has to offer to the modern world. The simplicity in life style and devotion in their faith is what people in this walled city have been living for ages. We go to explore beautiful monasteries and other areas in Lo Manthang. A full day is well spent exploring the wonders of Upper Mustang that brought us here. The day is surely full of inspiring experiences.

We set off on our return trip early today and trek to Dhakmar. Dhakmar will be the highest overnight place of the trip. On the trail to the destination today, we can explore an ancient Buddhist monastery and rock paintings. We can make a wish here as people believe that the wish made here comes true. After making our wish at the monastery, we trek further to Dhakmar, our destination of the day.

The walk today starts really early to make it easier for the day as the trail can get as windy as anything in the afternoon. The sooner we start the better for us. Although the walk itself is not that challenging, the atmospheric condition can create a little trouble. Sandy terrain and strong gust of wind doesn’t go well along. Traversing the dry trail down the sandy landscape, we finally reach Geling for our overnight stay.

We start early today and walk to Chhusang. We are covering a huge drop on the elevation so the trail will mostly descend towards the destination. The stretch today brings fabulous views of the snow-capped mountains in addition to the wonderful landscape that the region has. We reach Chhusang after about six hours of trekking.Chhusang is a small village in the region with great cultural wonders.

It’s the final day of walk today. We trek all the way down to Jomsom today and finish the walking part of Upper Mustang trip. The trail descends to Kagbeni and goes along the Kali Gandaki River to Jomsom. We celebrate the end of trekking part; express our hearty thanks to the crew members who made this trip possible by being with us throughout to help.

A short but overwhelming flight to Pokhara across the mountains is due this morning. We board the plane and fly southward from Jomsom passing through several gigantic snow-capped mountains. It’s in incredible mountain flight experience of about 20 minutes. Once in Pokhara, we have leisurely time on our own to go explore the town. We can find massage to relieve the tiredness of trekking or simply walk around the lakeside. There are options of going for some adventure activities like paragliding, zip flying, bungee jumping and ultra-light flight etc.

We will drive back to Kathmandu today. There is an option of flying back with the payment of an extra flight cost.

As the last day on this beautiful adventure trip, we will drive you to the airport for your departure flight as per your flight schedule. If this is not your departure day, the service for this trip ends here. If you have extra days to spend in Nepal and need any other assistance, please do let us know. We will certainly help you in whatever way we can.

The walking adventure to the Upper Mustang goes through the trail that meanders up and down the mountains frequently. Although this is not an extremely difficult trip, you will certainly feel some challenges of walking in the high altitude during the trip. We would rate it as a moderate trip in difficulty level.

Walking hours vary from day to day on this trip. You walk from 4-7 hours every day depending on the distance you cover. You can expect the walking hours to be around 5 hours on average.

Since it is walking adventure trip, you do not need any climbing skills, experience or equipment. However, you will need a high level of determination to traverse the mountain trail in the wilderness for several days. This is just a trekking trip, not a climbing adventure.

The walking route to Upper Mustang is a well-trodden and popular trail. You will find enough teahouses along the trail where you normally spend the overnights. Teahouses along the route are basic lodges with accommodation and dining facilities where the trekkers spend overnight. These teahouses are comfortable but not super luxurious. The overnight places for each day are specified in the itinerary. However, your trip guide can change the overnight places on his/her sole discretion if s/he thinks it necessary for your comfort and better experience.

Dal Bhat is the staple food in the mountains. This combo of rice, lentil soup, vegetables, curry etc. is available everywhere you go. In addition to this Nepali food, you can enjoy momos, noodle soup (Thukpa), chowmein, pizza, sandwitch, bread, soup etc. along the trail. Options of vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods are also available. We highly recommend you to go for vegetarian food during the trek.

When you go for the walking adventure trip, you will pack two different bags – one big backpack that your porter will carry for you and the other, a small daypack for yourself to carry with necessary things that you need for the day. You can refer to our Things to Carry page for a complete guide on what you need to have when you are in the mountains.