UPPER MUSTANG TREK

Arrive Kathmandu. You will be met on arrival at the Tribhuwan International Airport. Transfer to Hotel. Day Free. Enjoy welcome dinner. Briefing during dinner.

Overnight Hotel. (Dinner)

Full day of sightseeing in Kathmandu. You will be accompanied by our in-house city guide. In the morning, visit Bodhanath, the Stupa of a Million dew drops, to watch monks and devotees circumambulate the largest stupa in the world. Then visit Pashupatinath, Nepal’s most sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, with its two-tiered golden roof and silver door. Drive to Patan for lunch in the garden of the Patan Museum Café. After lunch, visit the well-maintained Patan Museum storing ancient Nepali artifacts, followed by a tour of Patan Durbar Square. Drive back to Kathmandu.

Overnight Hotel. (Breakfast and Lunch)

Board a thirty-minute flight to Pokhara. Day free in Pokhara.

Overnight Hotel. (Breakfast)

Board an early flight to Jomsom. The plane navigates up the Kali Gandaki gorge between Annapurna (26,538 feet) and Dhaulagiri (26,788 feet) to the Jomosom airstrip. Hike one hour downhill to the charming town of Marpha for a night of acclimatization. Here you will meet your trekking staff, who will have brought all your camping gear up by road.

Begin your trek up the windy Kali Gandaki valley to its confluence with the Jhog Khola. Kagbeni is the gateway to Upper Mustang and was formed in the 14th century as a checkpoint to control travel.

Overnight Lodge. (All meals)

JOMSOM TO EKLEBHATTI:
Distance – 5.11 miles/8.22 kilometers
Ascent – 743 feet/227 meters
Descent – 512 feet/156 meters
Ascent time – 1.5 hours
Descent time – 25 minutes
Flat time – 45 minutes

EKLEBHATTI TO KAGBENI:
Distance – 1.17 miles/1.88 kilometers
Ascent – 144 feet/44 meters
Descent – 102 feet/31meters
Ascent time – 15 minutes
Descent time – 13 minutes
Flat time – 6 minutes

Heading north along the river, snowy Nilgiri (22,431 feet) will dominate the skyline in sharp contrast to the river canyon below. Enter Tange Village, a labyrinth of narrow alleys among whitewashed houses with fields of buckwheat, barley, wheat, and apple trees. Then continue toward Chhuksang along a trail lined with chortens (Buddhist wayside shrines) painted the traditional colors of red, black, and white — colors made from local rocks and minerals. Eventually cross the Kali Gandaki River on a steel footbridge, then climb up to the village of Chele, perched on a ridge above the gorge.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

KAGBENI TO CHUSSANG:
Distance – 6.33 miles/10.2 kilometers
Ascent – 1,339 feet/408 meters
Descent – 1,041 feet/318 meters
Ascent time – 1.5 hours
Descent time – 1 hour
Flat time – 1 hour

CHUSSANG TO CHELE:
Distance – 2.02 miles/3.25 kilometers
Ascent – 582 feet/178 meters
Descent – 177 feet/54 meters
Ascent time – 36 minutes
Descent time – 20 minutes
Flat time – 20 minutes

Today will begin with an unrelenting climb — the trail often hewn out of the canyon wall — continuing more gently to your lunch stop at the pleasant village of Samar. In the afternoon, navigate over two more ridges (highest pass is about 12,500 feet) to Syangbochen, a small cliff-side settlement with a panoramic view of the Annapurnas.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

CHELE TO SAMAR:
Distance – 2.78 miles/4.47 kilometers
Ascent – 1,172 feet/357 meters
Descent – 126 feet/38 meters
Ascent time – 1.5 hours
Descent time – 9 minutes
Flat time – 25 minutes

SAMAR TO SYANGBOCHEN:
Distance – 6.49 miles/10.45 kilometers
Ascent – 1,878 feet/573 meters
Descent – 1,233 feet/375 meters
Ascent time – 2.5 hours
Descent time – 1 hour, 10 minutes
Flat time – 1 hour, 10 minutes

Start uphill to another pass of about 12,500 feet. The trail then descends with two drops into small canyons, and then continues with a gentle ascent toward Chyunkar and the Nye La (12,720 feet). From this pass, you’ll have incredible views of the Annapurnas and Nilgiris as well as sweeping views of Mustang. Ghemi Village, built on the edge of a steep cliff, appears in the distance. After lunch, continue to Drakmar with its prominent red-cliffs. These cliffs are home to blue-sheep.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

SYANGBOCHEN TO GHEMI:
Distance – 8.27 miles/13.4 kilometers
Ascent – 1,899 feet/579 meters
Descent – 2,532 feet/772 meters
Ascent time – 2 hours
Descent time – 2 hours
Flat time – 1 hour, 50 minutes

GHEMI TO DRAKMAR:
Distance – 2.4 miles/3.86 kilometers
Ascent – 864 feet/264 meters
Descent – 247 feet/76 meters
Ascent time – 1 hour
Descent time – 15 minutes
Flat time – 45 minutes

Soon after leaving camp, climb over Mui La and proceed to Ghar Gompa (Lo Gekhar). Lo Gekhar contains one of the oldest gompas in Nepal (built in the eighth century — even older than Samye in Tibet), a great red-and-white structure surrounded by trees. At Marang turn to follow the drainage to Tsarang, the impressive village that contains a huge five-story white dzong (fortress) and well as the imposing red gompa, Dorje Dhen.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

The trail follows a gentle but unrelenting climb for increasingly beautiful views of the mountains to the south, past numerous caves in the cliffs adjacent to Lo La (pass) at 12,800 feet. From here, you’ll have our first view of the impenetrable fortress of Lo Manthang. Enter this walled city through the imposing main gate.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

TSARANG TO LO MANTHANG:
Distance – 8.87 miles/14.27 kilometers
Ascent – 1,757 feet/536 meters
Descent – 925 feet/282 meters

Explore the maze of narrow streets winding through approximately 150 houses, and three important gompas built in the early 15th century. These temples (along with those in Tsarang and Lo Gekhar) have been rescued from the ravages of time by the efforts and heart of local people (Lo Gyalpo Jigme Foundation in collaboration with the American Himalayan Foundation) — with stunning results. If you are very fortunate we may get an audience with the king or queen at the four-story palace. The king, Raja Jigme Parbal Bista, although his duties are mostly ceremonial, is well loved and respected throughout the region.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

Our route south is unusual; most groups return the same way they came, but we will make a loop following remote trails on the east side of the Kali Gandaki. Back over the Lo La, head southeast to the Tholung Valley, with terrific views of Nilgiri as we climb higher. Tsarang will come into view across the way, and finally descend steeply into the bowels of the canyon to the village of Dri, one of the most prosperous villages in Mustang.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

It is a whole day’s trip to Luri Gompa and back via Yara and Ghara villages. The landscape here contains strange, fluted pinnacles eroded by wind. At 13,500 feet, Luri sits like an eagle’s nest in the cliffs. This mysterious cave monastery dates from the 13th century. The central chamber is carved directly into the rock. The domed ceiling is covered with murals, and in the center of the chamber there is a large and finely crafted chorten. Luri is a true jewel in a most unbelievable setting — the artwork here is considered to be some the finest and most unusual in the Himalayas.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

The trail follows the river for a while, and we’ll negotiate five or six fairly shallow crossings of tributary streams (wading shoes will be necessary). This is a very good time to look for spiral fossils (saligrams) scattered among the rocks along the shore. Cross the river that is coming down from the sacred lakes of Damodar Kunda, and then over desolate terrain up to a pass of 12,600 feet. This is a long day, but finally the fields of the prosperous village of Tangye will appear below, and we’ll arrive at camp after passing a series of large chortens.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

After another river crossing ascend steeply to a higher plateau. You’ll have increasingly fantastic views of not only much of the Mustang we have traveled through, but of Dhaulagiri, Nilgiri, Tukche, Tilicho, and Annapurna. You’ll look for blue sheep and enjoy the wildflowers as we traverse to a shepherd’s camp by the stone hut near the pass.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

Ascending and descending, travel through the vast and silent world of the wild uplands. Along a ridge, again have views of Mustang, the wind carved hills all around, and the snow peaks stretching from Dhaulagiri in the south to Tibet in the north. Care must be taken on this path that contours along and into a steep and contorted canyon. Tetang is on the Narsing River above Chhuksang, which we passed our first day out of Kagbeni.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

It will take about five hours to reach the pass, Gnyu La, at 13,000 feet. It is a rewarding route providing fine views the entire way and wildflowers. From the pass one can see Muktinath, and within a few hours we will arrive at the final stretch where the trail goes through a grove of trees, across a bridge, past a nunnery, and finally joins the main trail from Manang. Here officially exit the restricted area of Upper Mustang. Muktinath is a holy place, the destination of thousands of Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims every year. We’ll have time to visit the many fine temples and shrines.

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

On the last day of trek you’ll be on the main Annapurna circuit route. Enter the village of Jharkot and visit the monastery and the traditional Tibetan medicinal center. Heading west to the Kali Gandaki, we’ll pass Eklobatti, then south along the river to Jomosom. While still beautiful, Jomosom will be quite a culture shock compared to where we have been with all its busy activity — perhaps including a newly arrived highway (which may even have some internal combustion vehicles plying the gravel and spewing exhaust).

Overnight Camp. (All meals)

Fly Jomsom to Pokhara and change plane for flight to Kathmandu.

Overnight Hotel. (Breakfast)

Full day of sightseeing in Kathmandu: visit Swayambhunath, the monkey temple. Then drive to Bhaktapur, the city of Devotees, for lunch and a tour of the royal palace square.

Overnight Hotel. (All meals)

Transfer to airport for final departure. (Breakfast)