Upper Mustang Trek

Land at Tribhuvan International Airport and transfer to your hotel. Meet your guide for a trip briefing, and complete the paperwork for the US$500 Upper Mustang restricted permit.

Travel west to the lakeside city of Pokhara, launch point for flights into the mountains. The afternoon is free to relax by Phewa Lake and make final preparations.

An early, spectacular mountain flight up the Kali Gandaki gorge between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna to the windy town of Jomsom. Trek up the riverbed to the medieval fortress village of Kagbeni, the gateway to Upper Mustang, where the restricted zone begins.

Your permit is checked and you cross into the forbidden kingdom, following the Kali Gandaki past Tangbe and Chhusang, where the landscape turns to eroded red cliffs and sculpted canyons. Cross the river and climb to the tidy village of Chele.

A demanding day over the Taklam La and Dajori La passes, with dramatic views of Nilgiri, Tilicho and the Damodar peaks. Pass chortens and the villages of Samar and Bhena before reaching the small settlement of Syangboche.

Cross the Yamda La and Nyi La — the highest passes on the northbound route — through a surreal, wind-eroded desert of ochre, grey and red. Descend to Ghami, one of the largest villages in Lo, set among barley fields and poplars.

Cross the Ghami Khola and walk alongside one of the longest mani walls in Nepal, its painted stones stretching for hundreds of metres. Climb to Tsarang, a spread-out village crowned by a five-storey white dzong and a red gompa on the canyon rim.

The day you reach the goal. Descend to the Charang Chu, then climb across open desert to the Lo La pass, from where the walled capital of Lo Manthang appears below on the plain — a medieval city of whitewashed houses ringed by its ancient rampart.

A full day inside the walls of the old kingdom. Visit the towering Thupchen and Jampa (Champa) temples with their restored 15th-century murals, the Chode monastery, and the four-storey former royal palace, soaking in a Tibetan-Buddhist culture preserved here for centuries.

Ride or walk north toward the Tibetan border to the extraordinary Jhong sky caves at Choser — a multi-storey cliff dwelling carved into the rock over 2,000 years ago — and the hilltop Namgyal Gompa, before returning to Lo Manthang.

Return south by a different, higher route via Lo Gekar and the ancient Ghar Gompa — one of the oldest monasteries in Nepal, said to date from the 8th century — to the striking red cliffs above the village of Dhakmar.

Recross the high desert country, retracing part of the outward route over the passes with the mountains ahead of you now, back to Syangboche.

A long descent back down through the canyons and eroded badlands to the greener valley floor, following the Kali Gandaki to the village of Chhusang.

Walk down the wide, windswept riverbed via Kagbeni, exiting the restricted area, back to Jomsom for a final night and a celebration with your crew.

Catch the early mountain flight out to Pokhara (before the winds rise), then connect to Kathmandu. The rest of the day is free to rest and shop.

The trip concludes after breakfast. Transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport for your onward flight, or extend your stay in Nepal.