17 Days Upper Mustang Trekking

"on an old Trans Himalayan Salt Trade Caravan Route of Nepal to Tibet"
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Good to Know
  • Duration 17 Days
  • Difficulty Level Moderate
  • Max. Altitude 3930m
  • Group Size 2+
  • Trip Starts Kathmandu
  • Trip Ends Kathmandu
  • Group Style Group and Private
  • Activities Trekking, Historical And Cultural Excursion
  • Best Season March to November

Highlights

  • Adventure on ancient Trans-Himalayan Salt Trade and Caravan Trail to Tibet via Mustang
  • Extension of huge South-West Tibetan plateau and world's highest table-land
  • Explore lovely Mustang villages enriched with the old traditional culture of Buddhism
  • Impressive monasteries and trails decorated with impressive prayer walls and bells
  • Walk on high windswept-dry and arid country within beautiful landscapes
  • Grand views of snow-capped peaks of Dhaulagiri-Nilgiri’s and Mustang Himal
  • Trekking into the former walled kingdom of Upper Mustang at Lo-Manthang

Trip Introduction: 17 Days Upper Mustang Trekking

Upper Mustang Trekking is an exotic tour and one of the most mysterious and popular treks in Nepal. It has been described as the desert in the Nepalese Himalayas. ”Mustang’ is a Tibetan-derived word meaning fertile plain’ in Nepali. Geographically, It is located in the north of Annapurna at an average altitude of 4,000m and is culturally part of the Tibetan plateau. The landscape of Mustang is dry, naturally carved sandstone pillars and discontinuous moraine terraces, these all present naturally a colorful variety made up of red, yellow, and brown together. The trekking to Mustang is through an almost treeless landscape and infertile landscape. You experience the strong wind blowing across the area as it is a rain shadow area of Nepal.

The most convenient way to get to the upper Mustang is to fly from Pokhara to Jomsom and start the trek from here. The flight is an attraction in itself, flying through the deepest gorge in the world. The Upper Mustang Trekking is a perfect destination for visiting the oldest Buddhist monasteries and many historical caves and the Himalayas' beauty. This semi-autonomous is a heavily Tibetan-influenced region. This trek brings you into the hidden world of the old Buddhist kingdom of Mustang, also called Lo. The trek to Lo-Manthang (walled capital)is almost through a treeless barren landscape, a steep rocky trail, and downhill, panoramic views of Nilgiri, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, and several other peaks make your trek memorable. Upper Mustang is also known as “the last forbidden” kingdom of Nepal”. The landscape here is extremely beautiful. A lifestyle of people, who have been residing calmly, even in such a harsh environment, has its charm. Lo-manthang, Chooser Cave, and Ghar Gompa is the major attraction of upper mustang trekking. Tiji is the greatest festival in the Mustang region. It will be a unique privilege to witness the same color, costume, dancing, and rituals that were displayed by these people in this place more than 600 years ago.

Before 1991 upper mustang was a restricted area for foreigners to enter. Nepal Department of immigration started a small number of special trekking permits in 1991. Nowadays foreigners are allowed and the upper Mustang has become the best attraction for tourists around the world. You can do a camping trek and a tea house trek. Tea house trek is comparatively least costly, however; nowadays lodge to lodge stay is also available. So get ready to explore this exotic trekking route with Trekking Planner to make it more convenient and memorable.

Important Note

  • This trip departure every day of the year
  • This trip is fully customizable. We can customize the trip as per your need, please contact us
  • This trip is available on both Fixed Departure and Private Group Basis.
  • This trip can be booked privately if you’re traveling solo or privately or with family.
  • Have a big group? We can help as per your needs.
  • We can help you make it fit your budget.
  • we accept instant booking and online payment.
Itinerary
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    Upon arrival at the international airport, you will meet our office representative, transfer to the hotel. After refreshment in the hotel, you will be picked up by our tour guide for couple hrs sightseeing tours to Kathmandu Durbar Square. Back to the hotel and be ready for welcome dinner and briefing in the evening. Stay over night at the hotel in Kathmandu.

      This is time for explore in around the city. Today after breakfast your guide will come to pick you up from your hotel for day sightseeing tours to Swayambhunath Stupa, Patan Durbar square, Pashupatinath temple and Bouddhanath Stupa. Cultural dinner at on of the famous traditional restaurant. Back to hotel and stay overnight.

        Today an early morning your guide will come to pick you up at the hotel and transfer to the tourist bus station for your day drive to the lakeside city of Pikhara through the scenic countryside. On arrival in Pokhara bus station, our hotel representative of Pokhara will pick you up and transfer to the hotel. After refreshment in the hotel, your guide will take you to the walking tours around the lake. Stay over night at the hotel in Pokhara.

        Note:  You can fly to Pokhara which takes 35min

          This is another short scenic but early morning flight (25 minutes) from Pokhara to Jomsom, from you, are going to start the trek. The air route follows the the World's deepest gorge- Kali Gandaki Gorge between Annapurna I (8,091m) and Ddhaulagiri (8,167m) mountains. Upon arrival, collect the gears and supplies and trek 3 hours to Kagbeni alongside the Kaligandaki River with the magnificent Mountain View. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

            Kagbeni in a main entrance of this trek, today the trail start with uphill for half an hour leaving the Kali-Gandaki River behind for a while. The path leads to harsh barren countryside all the way with occasional stop, passing through few small villages as the walk progress coming to the village Tangbe, another hour of good walk from Tangbe reach Chusang. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

              Today walk leads first to Chele village after crossing the stream through the broken canyons and ruin castle walls on the surrounding cliffs, across the river from Chussang are some spectacular red eroded cliffs above the mouths of inaccessible caves. After crossing the small bridge an uphill walk for 45 minutes brings you to Chele village. From Chele village the walk gets steeper for an hour up to the ridge at 3,130m, from here you can get a good view of Gyagar across a huge canyon. The trek continues with a slow climb on the windswept terrain till the pass is reached at 3,540m. From here the trail stars gradual up to Samar. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

                Today after breakfast the trail start short climb above Samr vilage to a ridge and downhill leading to a large gorge past a chorten. The walk continues into another valley with juniper trees, after crossing the stream the walk follows an uphill path to a ridge at 3,800m, the trail climbs over to another pass, from here the route descends to Shyangmochen, a small settlement with few tea shops. After a good break here, the trek continues to a gentle up and down a hill through the wide valley to Ghiling. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

                  From Geling, the trail climbs gradually through the fields up the centre of the valley, passing below the settlements, the walk continues a long climb across the head of the valley to the Nyi La pass 3,950m, the highest point of this trek. The pass itself happens to be the southern boundary of Lo. From here a slow descends for half hour brings to a junction; the right path leads direct to Tsarang while the left leads to Ghami village one of the main major of Lo region. From here the final climb of the brings to a 3,600m pass, after the last pass a gentle descent leads to the Tsarang, Tsarang  is the very interesting village. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

                    (The Capital of Mustang) Today the trail goes up and down through the several interesting village, along with the river and nice and big Chorten. This walk offers nice view of the mountain and great wide windswept landscape with cross several passes. Finally, reach at the Lomanthang for over night stay.

                      This is one of the largest villages in this trek, about 160 houses and the number of resident for the lamas. The school, health post, police post and several important chortens are located outside the walls to the north of the gate and east of the monastic part of the city. The people are very friendly and interesting here in Lo Manthang. Today you will be busy visit in ad around this area for different activities. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

                        Today the trail more descend and less short climb all the way to Ghami, cross few passes with the nice view of the valley and mountain. Once reach at the Ghami you will have to explore in and around. It has many important things to see. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

                          Today after breakfast, we re-trace back to Samar. Today the trail less ascend and more descend with the nice view of the mountain rang. Stay over night at the tea house or tent.

                            Re-trace back to Kagbeni, more descend and less ascends. Stay over night at the tea house.

                              Re-trace back to Jomsom, very gradual walk along the Kali-Gandai Valley. This trek offers the fantastic view of the Dhaulagri and Nilgiri Mountain. Stay over night at the tea house.

                                Today an early morning breakfast at the hotel your guide will take you to the airport for short but scenic flight to the Pokhara. Leisure day in Pokhara. Stay over night at the hotel.

                                  After the wonderful time in and around Pokhara, today after breakfast you will transfer to the tourist bus station for day countryside drive back to Kathmandu. Stay over night at a hotel

                                  Note:  You can fly to Pokhara which takes 35min

                                    Today you will transfer to the International airport for final departure.

                                    Not satisfied with this regular itinerary? Make your own.

                                    Customize Trip
                                    Inclusions
                                    What's Included
                                    •  All airport Pick up drop by private vehicle (Both Domestic and International flight)
                                    •  03-night deluxe accommodation on BB in Kathmandu
                                    •  Guided sightseeing tours with private vehicle in Kathmandu (Entrance fees extra)
                                    •  Kathmandu to Pokhara to Kathmandu by tourist bus
                                    •  02 night deluxe accommodation on BB in Pokhara
                                    •  Pokhara to Jomsom to Pokhara by flight
                                    •  ACAP Permit and Special permit for upper mustang trek
                                    •  Accommodation in the mountain during the trekking
                                    •  Three meals a day; breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner during the trekking
                                    •  A high experience, helpful, knowledgeable, friendly, English-speaking well trained, Government license holder guide with all his salary, food, drinks, accommodation, Transport, and insurance.
                                    •  02 guest=01 porter with their Insurance, Salary, Food, accommodation, and equipment Luggage per porter carries about 20kg).
                                    •  We provide assistance guide with his salary, food, drinks, accommodation, Transport, and insurance walking with the group to support where necessary as per the group size
                                    •  Arrangement of emergency evacuation service (should have insurance for emergency evacuation and will be paid by your travel insurance company)        
                                    •  Arrangement of emergency evacuation service (should have insurance for emergency evacuation and will be paid by your travel insurance company)
                                    •  Welcome dinner in an Authentic Restaurant
                                    •  First aid kit box
                                    •  Trekking Planner’s sleeping bag, down jackets, T-shirt, Cap, duffle bags, city and trekking route maps – if necessary.
                                    •  Oximeter to check your pulse and oxygen saturation and heart rate twice daily during the trekking (Very useful to check Altitude Mountain Sickness(AMS) symptoms) Which will ensure your trek is in the safest hands possible
                                    •  All applicable government and local taxes as per the itinerary
                                    What's Excluded
                                    • Your Nepal Visa fees (should bring small accurate fees in USD and 02 passport size photos)
                                    • All the Internationafaresrfare from and to Kathmandu (no need to pay departure tax for internatflightsflight)
                                    • Lunch and Dinner in Kathmandu and Pokhara
                                    • All necessary entrance fees for the guided sightseeing tours in the city
                                    • Personal travel and health Insurance, Insurance for helicopter evacuation
                                    • In case of extra nights accommodation, lunch and dinner in the city due to early arrival and late departure as well as early back/return from mountain/trekking (due to any reason) than the given period of itinerary
                                    • Your expenses such as ( laundry, baggage charge, phone calls, battery recharge, bar and beverage bill, boiled or bottled water, hot and cold shower, extra porter.. etc)
                                    • The Tips to the trekking crews and drive
                                    • Extra expenses due to flight delays, strikes, weather conditions, or any event out of our control
                                    Essential Info

                                    Suggested Equipment List

                                    • Duffel/Rucksack bag/Suitcase (We provide one complimentary Trekking Planner duffel bag that is to be returned after the trip)
                                    • Day pack
                                    • Trekking shoes
                                    • Sports shoes or sandals
                                    • Sun Hat/cap
                                    • Warm woolen cap
                                    • Warm fleece jacket or puffy jacket
                                    • Waterproof Gore-Tex layer
                                    • Pullover or warm sweeter
                                    • Raincoat
                                    • 4/5 pairs of good quality socks
                                    • Hand gloves
                                    • 2/3 pairs of trekking trousers
                                    • 3/4 pairs of trekking shirts
                                    • 3/4 pairs of underwear (noncotton preferred)
                                    • Sunglasses
                                    • Water bottle
                                    • 4-season sleeping bag (Optional/we can provide one if you need it. It is to be returned after the trip)
                                    •  Flash or Torch light
                                    • Camera and batteries
                                    Stress-Free Booking Guarantee
                                    All-inclusive priceUS$1799US$1999per person
                                    Total PriceUS$1799
                                    Client Reviews
                                    • rating star

                                      Fantastic family trekking experience with fantastic services from Trekking Planner!

                                      Our first family trekking experience in Nepal was amazing and this is all thanks to Trekking Planer. During the trip planning stage, Dipak was great in giving us detailed discussions, professional and flexible in planning. He came to meet us at KTM airport at midnight, carefully checked out the things. Since we insisted in a night drive to Pokhara, he gave us a spacious van so that all of us could have a comfortable ride. He also called our guide every day to update the situations and give advises on the actual matters. We were a bit unlucky with the weather as a happened heavy snowing in Muktinath blocked to road from Jomsom and Kagbeni to there. Luckily, we were aware of that in early communications and could make a great change in the plan by replacing Kagbeni-Muktinath by the high route trek Kagbeni-Piling-Phalyak-Dhakarjhong-Lubra-Jomsom. Our guide Narayan is a brilliant guy. He is positive and optimistic but also professional and realistic in making plans for the trek. He not only helped us in organizing the trek in details, from hiring horse for our small kids and porters when necessary to finding the guest houses in remote areas when plan changed, but also took care of my kids. He became my son's best friend during the trip and my kids till now keep remembering him every day.

                                      Back to the trek, we have two resting days in Pokhara before flying off to Jomsom. Highly recommend Begnas lake and Pokhara valley biew points such as Kalistasthan, Thularkot, Siddhipur. We took on the first trekking day the alternative route Jomsom to Marpha through Thini, Dumba lake and it was very beautiful. The hotel Sunrise in Marpha was great with 24h hot shower. Next day we discovered Marpha before taking bus and jeep to Kagbeni. Afternoon, we walked around Kagbeni old town. Marpha was really a jewel of the area and we wish to have more time there. On the third day, we took a day trip to Tiri village lying in the way to Upper Mustang. That was one of highlight days during our trip. Due to the heavy snowing conditions in Muktinath, we could not make it there as well as Jharkot and Jhong as planned. But the alternative route Kagbeni-Pilling-Phalyak-Dhakarjhong-Lubra-Jomsom was superb; the remote villages are very originated with Bon and some Dolpa features; the scene in the high route was the most beautiful among our whole trip. Lastly, we have two beautiful relaxing days in Kathmandu with visits to Patan and Bhartapur as well as Boudhanath temple.

                                      To summarize, Trekking Planner was great. Diplak and Narayan were highly professional, flexible and also reasonable and affordable. We highly recommend their services, particularly for the family with young children.

                                      TripAdvisor
                                      G
                                      gauvitSingapore,Apr 01, 2015
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