The Upper Mustang trek of Nepal is an exotic trekking to the enchanting dried landscape with ancient Tibetan villages, rare medieval Buddhist arts, the exotic culture and the unique beauty of the Himalayan desert. The medieval settlement of Upper Mustang and its capital Lo Manthang lies in the remote Himalayan desert behind the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri Himalayas ranges .Geographically the land is an extension of the Tibetan plateau, characterized by windy and airy valleys .The people in Upper Mustang are Tibetan origin, might migrated from Tibet centuries ago, and belong to Bhotias and Loba communities influenced from the Tibetan Buddhism but in administration they are known as Bista and Gurung. They practice Sakyapa concept school of Tibetan Buddhism.The only place to see Tibetan culture in completely undisturbed state the houses and monasteries in here have medieval look and unique local architecture at several hundreds year old Monastery and Gumbas. Mostly they are built with stone and sun baked mud bricks mix with the huge woods which are incredible for the visitors. the Upper Mustang has covered the land about 2600 sq km in area and is a home of 6000 people. Festivals are religious in nature, the Tiji festival being the biggest .The capital called Lo Manthang , a walled complex with the houses of local notabilities and monasteries will be one of the main attraction of the trek.Recently in 2007, an international team of explorers have discovered invaluable objects of cultural and historical importance in Upper Mustang caves. even if it is technically hard to go In high caves requiring technical climbing they have discovered beautiful Buddhist culture and historical objects around 800, years old. Now there is road access all the way up to Lomanthang and also Tibet (China) Border. so you can also drive up explore the areas and objects then you can drive back or better to trek up then drive all the way back to pokhara. you have many options.
The Upper Mustang (special area ) Trek described here begins and ends in Kagbeni village 2:30 hrs walk to north from Jomsom a part of Mustang , but belongs to the (ACA) Annapurna conservation Area, the special permits requires just upper part of Mustang beyond Kagbeni village. where your permits check in for the upper Mustang. The Upper Mustang is one of the extra ordinary place in the world that the visitors have to visit this part of Nepal at least once in life time. You have two different choices to go Kagbeni either by Flight from pokhara to Jomsom or by Motor Bus or jeep. Or if you have enough long time it would also be worthy to walk from Nayapul near pokhara or Besisahar over Thorong-La then Visit Upper Mustang and Trek back to Jomsom and fly down to pokhara or walk all the way down to pokhara. This trekking route is guided through the government authorized trekking company, the special permit cost US$-500 per head for first 10 days then extra US$-50, per head per day additional and needs Annapurna conservation permits also. It can be much better to have minimum 13 days time to complete this trekking or above maximum 17 days is enough to explore most things of this area.
