Trek du Haut Mustang 14 jours — Lo Manthang & le royaume interdit

Met at the airport and transferred to your hotel in Thamel. Your guide checks your kit and briefs you on the route.

• Arrival: Visa on arrival for most nationalities.
• Evening: Briefing and kit check over dinner. Last chance to buy or rent gear in Thamel.
• Permits: Upper Mustang is a restricted area. Foreign visitors need a special permit (USD 500 per person for the first 10 days) plus the Annapurna Conservation Area permit, and must travel with a licensed guide through a registered agency. We arrange both.
• Overnight: Kathmandu

West to Nepal's lake city, with the Annapurna range above it.

• Travel: A 25-minute flight (morning) or about 200 km by road, 6–7 hours along the Trishuli river.
• Afternoon: Rowing boat on Phewa Lake to the Tal Barahi island temple.
• Evening: Lakeside for dinner.
• Tip: Sit on the right side of the plane from Kathmandu for the mountain views.
• Overnight: Pokhara (820 m)

A short, spectacular flight through the world's deepest gorge, between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna.

• Early morning: The 20-minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom. Flights go only in the morning, before the strong valley wind rises.
• Afternoon: 2–3 hours' walk up the Kali Gandaki to Kagbeni, a medieval village of mud-brick houses and a red monastery at the gate of Upper Mustang.
• Permits: Upper Mustang is a restricted area. Foreign visitors need a special permit (USD 500 per person for the first 10 days) plus the Annapurna Conservation Area permit, and must travel with a licensed guide through a registered agency. We arrange both.
• Tip: Weather can delay Jomsom flights; we keep a buffer day in mind and can drive instead (about 8 hours).
• Overnight: Kagbeni

Into Upper Mustang on foot, 5–6 hours.

• Trail: Permits checked at the gate, then along the Kali Gandaki and up past Tangbe and Chhuksang to Chele.
• Overnight: Chele, teahouse

Over two passes, 6–7 hours.

• Trail: Climb to the Taklam La (3,624 m) and Dajori La (3,735 m), with long views over eroded badlands and the Annapurnas behind.
• Overnight: Syangboche, teahouse

A shorter day, 5–6 hours.

• Trail: Over the Nyi La (about 3,950 m), the highest point so far, and down past Mustang's longest mani wall into Ghami.
• Overnight: Ghami, teahouse

4–5 hours to the second town of Mustang.

• Trail: Across the Ghami Khola and over the Tsarang La.
• Afternoon: Tsarang's five-storey dzong (fortress) and the large red monastery.
• Overnight: Tsarang, teahouse

4 hours to the walled city.

• Trail: Over the Lo La (3,950 m) for the first sight of Lo Manthang on the plain below.
• Afternoon: Walk inside the walls.
• Overnight: Lo Manthang

A full day inside and around the walls.

• Morning: The royal palace (from outside), Jampa, Thubchen and Chodey monasteries with their 15th-century murals.
• Afternoon: Optional pony or jeep to the sky caves at Chhoser or Namgyal monastery and Tingkhar village.
• Overnight: Lo Manthang

The western route, 6–7 hours.

• Trail: Over the Chogo La, past Ghar Gompa (Lo Gekar), the oldest monastery in the region, to Drakmar beneath red cliffs.
• Overnight: Drakmar, teahouse

Retracing south, 6 hours.

• Trail: Through the coloured cliffs and past Ghiling.
• Overnight: Syangboche, teahouse

A long descending day, 6–7 hours.

• Trail: Back down towards the Kali Gandaki via Samar and Chele.
• Overnight: Chhuksang, teahouse

The last walking day, 6–7 hours.

• Trail: Down the river bed through Kagbeni, then along the valley to Jomsom by mid-afternoon. Jeep from Kagbeni on request.
• Evening: Celebration dinner with your guide and porters.
• Overnight: Jomsom

Morning flight out before the wind rises, then on to Kathmandu by air or road.

• Tip: The wind in the Kali Gandaki stops flights by late morning, so flights leave early.
• Overnight: Kathmandu