Receive our e-newsletter, sent 5-6 times a year, announcing new adventures and special offers.
Explore the heart of mystical Tibet on this culturally rewarding expedition. Visit the country’s most significant monasteries and cultural sites, cross the soaring Tibetan Plateau under intensely blue skies, and feast your eyes on Everest’s stupendous North Face—the thrill of a lifetime!
Ultimate Mustang
Journey to Lo Monthang and Beyond
with Gary McCue
Trip Leader Gary McCue’s passion for trekking and the Tibetan Buddhist culture has led him to the most remote corners of the Himalaya. Now, join him on this ultimate trek to Nepal’s Mustang region, a beautiful desert landscape of rugged canyonlands along the northern border with Tibet. From the town of Jomsom, we trek up along the Kali Gandaki, crossing a number of ridges, visiting pilgrimage sites and ancient temples, and passing through picturesque villages high above the river’s “Grand Canyon” before reaching Lo Monthang, the 500-year-old walled city and capital of the Kingdom of Mustang. After four days exploring this fascinating enclave, we head to Damodar Kund (17,700'), a high alpine lake sacred to Hindus, then descend to the wild eastern environs above the Kali Gandaki, a realm of remote villages, hand-hewn caves dotting sheer cliffs of ancient ocean sediments, and Himalayan vistas. We exit the Upper Mustang restricted area by way of the Tap La pass (13,100'), with its grand views of the Himalaya and the Muktinath valley, one of the most renowned sacred places in Nepal, at our feet.
Highlights
- Journey into the far reaches of Mustang unvisited by most other groups
- 4 days to explore Lo Monthang and the villages, monasteries, and cave temples to the north of town
- Damodar Kund (17,700'), a high alpine lake sacred to Hindus and renowned as the “mother lode” for ammonite fossils
- Muktinath, one of Nepal's most revered pilgrimages sites
Details
- 27-day trip begins and ends in Kathmandu
- 5 nights in hotels, 1 night guesthouse, 20 nights camping
- All meals included except 3 lunches and 2 dinners
- 21-day trek on steep trails, 3-8 hours a day, altitudes between 8,800-18,400 feet
Tour Costs
$6895 (11-15 members)
$7395 (7-10 members)
Single supplement: $520
Internal airfare: $435 (Kathmandu/Pokhara/Jomsom/Kathmandu-subject to change)
Taj Mahal Extension from: $1925
Scenic Everest Flight from: $235
Tiger Tops: Royal Chitwan National Park Extension from: $235
Lhasa Extension from: $985
Prices are for 2010 dates
Departures & Leaders
May 23-Jun 18, 2010 Gary McCue
Suggested Reading
Reading list, click here.
Itinerary at a Glance
Days 1-2
Kathmandu
After a chance to explore the temples and shrines of Kathmandu, we head south of the Kathmandu Valley to Parping, known for its Buddhist pilgrimage sites. Here we visit the Nyingma/Kargyüpa gompa, with its statues, thangkas, and wall frescoes, and climb the hillside to see a cave where the 8th century Indian tantric master Guru Rimpoche (Padmasambhava) meditated.
Days 3-4
Pokhara/Jomsom
We fly to Pokhara, a town at the base of the Annapurnas, then on to Jomsom, the district headquarters for the Annapurna region, through the spectacular Kali Gandaki river chasm, renowned as the world’s deepest gorge and situated beneath the towering snow-capped summits of Annapurna I (26,502') and Dhaulagiri I (26,811'). After meeting our trek staff, we hike to the village of Thini, the largest settlement in the area.
Days 5-10
Trek to Lo Monthang
We follow the Kali Gandaki river to Kagbeni, the gateway into the restricted zone of Upper Mustang. As we climb higher into an eerily beautiful world of eroded ancient ocean sediments, stunning views of the snowy Nilgiri peaks and the “Grand Canyon” of the Kali Gandaki come into view. We pass villages of whitewashed houses surrounded by terraced fields of wheat and buckwheat and visit local monasteries, pilgrimage sites, and cave meditation retreats. Crossing the Nyi La pass (12,800'), the traditional boundary of the Kingdom of Lo, we pass through Ghemi, with its 800-year-old gompa, and through an extraordinary landscape of badlands to reach Tsarang (11,300'), where a lovely old gray, white, and red-striped monastery sits on a barren hill at the southern end of town. We reach Lo Monthang on Day 10.
Days 11-14
Lo Monthang
Lo Monthang is one of the last walled cities in Asia, and within its labyrinth of alleyways are several monasteries and temples containing some of the finest mural art in Nepal. We visit several monasteries, including enormous 15th century Thubchen gompa, one of the larger chanting halls on the Tibetan Plateau, the amazing cave temple complex of Garphu, Chöde gompa, and the five-storied king’s palace. Jigme Palbar Bista, the current King of Mustang, is the 25th direct descendent of King Amepal, the founder of Lo Monthang.
Days 15-19
Luri Gompa / Damodar Kund
We head to the eastern side of Lo and explore Luri gompa, a remarkable cliff-side cave temple with a finely crafted interior chörten and murals from the 13th and 14th centuries. Crossing two high passes, we continue to Damodar Kund, a high alpine lake nestled in an isolated valley near the Tibetan border. The lake is renowned in the Hindu religion as the source of the shaligram ammonite fossils that are found throughout the Mustang region, and to some it is also regarded as the source of the Kali Gandaki river. Each year on a full moon (usually in August) small parties of Hindu pilgrims venture up from the lowlands to worship at this site, which due to its remote location has had very few western visitors.
Days 20-24
Tange / Muktinath / Jomsom
Turning west, we enter a wild world of fluted formations of eroded ocean sediments as we trek to the picturesque village of Tange (10,800'). As we continue to descend, we’re greeted with a panorama of Himalayan peaks, from Annapurna I to Tilicho Peak to Nilgiri, plus Dhaulagiri I. The scenery only gets better as we approach the end of the Grand Canyon of the Kali Gandaki, with the river valley dramatically opening out. If the weather is clear, we may enjoy sweeping views of Himalayan peaks and the Muktinath Valley as we cross the Tap La pass, the boundary for the Upper Mustang restricted area. We descend to Muktinath, one of the most venerated pilgrimage places in Nepal, and end our trek at Jomsom.
Days 25-27
Kathmandu
We fly to Kathmandu and have a day to explore the city before departing on Day 27.
This is the Itinerary-at-a-Glance. For the complete trip description, Download Full Trip Brochure
Optional Extensions
If you would like to extend your adventure, we offer the following options:
- Taj Mahal and Jaipur Extension (4 days)
- Tiger Tops: Royal Chitwan National Park Extension (3 days)
- Scenic Everest Flight (1 days)
- Lhasa, Sacred City of Tibet Extension (5 days)