Upper Mustang trekking is a distinctive and eccentric trek to a rather isolated and untouched region of Nepal. Traverse through the Upper Mustang trek with us as your helping hand, this 15 days trek bestows you with an experience like never before into the remote trans-Himalayan mountain region. The high desert area highly influenced by Tibetan culture, Kaligandaki, from the Tibetan border south to Kagbeni is generally referred to as Upper Mustang Lo-Manthang.
Upper Mustang trekking is your golden ticket to explore the uniquely astounding thousands of years old monasteries, temples, deep dived caves, ethnic tribes and breathtaking beauties of the different landscapes hidden in the barren land. Dare and undertake an adventure as you stride across the world’s deepest gorge, the Kaligandaki region and onto the world’s highest region of which it bears an almost barren by trees landscape, with a steep rocky trail up and downhill, accommodated by stunning views of Mt. Nilgiri, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, and several other high mountain peaks!
Upper Mustang trekking is a treat to a wanderer and an explorer with its setting of typical Tibetan villages, exquisite and one of a kind mountain passes, alpine valleys and the galore of high peaks. With modern culture being untouched for a thousand years, Upper Mustang has gracefully kept its ethnic culture, primitive lifestyle and age-old heritage intact for centuries and to date. Upper Mustang houses its locals in aesthetically pleasing stone and sunbaked mud bricks. The town wall and the four-story palace in Lo Manthang are two of the arresting architectures in Mustang that one should not miss out on. Yet another attraction is the Tiji Festival which is highly influenced by the rich Tibetan culture, which coincides with the end of the dry season. Do not be taken aback if you find a female from Mustang with more than 5 spouses! With an extremely unique and conflicting culture of different family life where all the brothers in the family are married to a single girl. Having half a dozen husbands isn’t something out of the blue for the locals at Lo-Manthang. This is what we may call a practice of Polyandry.
The Upper Mustang trekking was restricted only to locals until October 1991, which is from where it got its name The Last Forbidden Kingdom. The denizens of Mustang regard themselves as Lobas, and in their own unique way, have their own King or tribe-leader, Jigme Palbar Bista. However, when Nepal was declared as a republic country in 2007, the government of Nepal took back the official recognition of the Bista as the King of Mustang. Despite losing the tag of a King, the natives still give their utmost respect and consider him as their King or Tribe – leader. The people of Mustang have managed to collaborate with the government with strict control mechanisms to obtain a special permit from the Department of Immigration to protect their traditions and cultures from modern influences and to preserve their environment as well.
Upper Mustang trek starts from Jomsom to Kagbeni, the entry point of the trek and follows the banks of Kaligandaki River upstream to get to Lo Manthang valley, the last destination of our Upper Mustang trekking.
