Teri La Pass Trek

Welcome to Nepal. You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m), where our representative meets you in the arrivals hall and drives you to your hotel in Thamel.

Your guide joins you for the briefing: the twenty-day plan, the two restricted area permits and the passport photographs they need, the camping routine on the plateau, and the water and altitude discipline that Mustang demands. We check your kit against the list, with particular attention to your sleeping bag and sun protection.

Our office lodges the Upper Mustang and Nar Phu permits today, which is why the trip starts here rather than in Pokhara. The rest of the day is free. Overnight in Kathmandu.

After breakfast we leave the Kathmandu valley on the Prithvi Highway, following the Trishuli river west through gorge country with terraced hillsides above and whitewater below.

The drive to Pokhara (822 m) covers roughly 200 km and takes most of the day, with a lunch stop at a riverside restaurant. The 25-minute flight is available as an add-on.

Pokhara arrives in the late afternoon on the shore of Phewa Lake, with the Annapurna massif rising behind it and Machhapuchhre unmistakable from the lakeside.

The crew makes the final load sort here. Overnight in Pokhara.

An early flight up the Kali Gandaki between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, twenty minutes through the deepest gorge on earth.

Jomsom (2,720 m) is the district headquarters of Mustang, and the group organises loads here before walking north up the wide grey riverbed into the wind that funnels up this valley every afternoon.

Kagbeni (2,810 m) is a compact medieval village of mud-brick alleys, a red gompa and irrigation channels running under the streets — a green oasis against grey desert cliffs, and the checkpoint where the Upper Mustang restricted area begins.

Around 3 hours of walking. The afternoon is free to wander the alleys and climb to the ruined fort above the village. Overnight at Kagbeni.

The first day inside the restricted area, and the landscape changes immediately.

The trail follows the Kali Gandaki north through Tangbe and Chhusang, villages of whitewashed houses, buckwheat fields and apple orchards set against cliffs of ochre, grey and red. Above Chhusang the rock is eroded into columns and fins by the wind.

Beyond the village the river disappears into a canyon and the trail crosses to the east bank through a natural rock tunnel, then climbs steeply.

Chele (3,050 m) is a small village on the far side, where the route leaves the river for good and begins the series of passes that make up the Mustang trail.

Around 5–6 hours. Overnight at Chele.

A long day over three passes — the classic Mustang rhythm of climb, cross, descend and climb again.

The trail climbs out of Chele to the Taklam La and the Dajori La, with canyon country opening into a plateau of eroded ridges. Every pass is marked with cairns and prayer flags, and each view is bigger than the last.

The village of Samar and the cave shrine at Rangbyung, built around natural rock formations in a gorge, come before the final climb to the Nyi La.

Ghami (3,520 m) is a substantial village of flat-roofed houses among poplars and barley fields, and just beyond it stands the longest mani wall in Nepal — several hundred metres of carved stone.

Around 7 hours. Overnight at Ghami.

A shorter day past the most photographed cliffs in Mustang.

The trail crosses the mani wall and climbs past Dhakmar, where the cliffs are deep blood red — local tradition holds they were stained when Guru Rinpoche subdued a demoness at the founding of Lo Gekar monastery.

The route crosses the Mui La and drops into the Charang valley, the fields vivid green against the red and grey rock.

Charang (3,560 m) sits beneath a five-storey dzong and a red monastery on the lip of a canyon. The gompa holds an important collection of thangkas and statues and the caretaker will usually open it in the afternoon.

Around 5 hours. Overnight at Charang.

The day you reach the walled city.

The trail climbs out of Charang and over the Lo La at around 3,950 m, and from the crest Lo Manthang appears below on the plain — a compact walled rectangle of white buildings with the Tibetan border ridge behind it.

The city was the capital of the Kingdom of Lo, which kept its own monarchy until 2008. The walls, the four-storey palace and the monasteries inside them date from the fifteenth century.

Lo Manthang (3,840 m) has around 150 houses packed inside the wall, with fields and newer buildings outside it. You arrive in the early afternoon with time to walk the perimeter before dark.

Around 4–5 hours. Overnight at Lo Manthang.

A full day in the city, doing acclimatisation work as well as sightseeing.

The morning is the monasteries: Jampa Lhakhang with its fifteenth-century clay Maitreya and restored mandala murals, Thubchen with its enormous wooden columns, and Chodey, the working monastery of the city.

In the afternoon you can ride or walk north to the cave complexes at Chhoser, a five-storey warren carved into a cliff and reached by ladders, or climb to Namgyal Gompa and the viewpoint above the city. Both take you above 4,000 m, which is the acclimatisation the second half needs.

Your guide checks the group tonight before the plateau section, and the crew tops up supplies for the week ahead. Overnight at Lo Manthang.

South-east off the main Mustang circuit onto the route almost nobody walks.

The trail leaves Lo Manthang across open plateau, crossing the Dhi La and dropping into the valley of the upper Kali Gandaki tributaries. There is no trekking traffic at all on this side, and villages are hours apart.

The walking is high desert: gravel plains, eroded ridges, and irrigation-green villages appearing suddenly in the canyon bottoms.

Yara (3,650 m) is a village of a few dozen houses with barley fields and a view across to the cliffs holding the Luri cave gompa, whose upper chamber contains fifteenth-century murals painted directly onto the rock.

Around 6–7 hours. Overnight at Yara.

A day of canyon country to the last village before the pass.

The trail drops from Yara into the Puyung Khola and follows a series of gorges south, climbing over shoulders and descending to riverbeds. The rock here is layered in bands of grey, ochre and purple, cut into fins and hoodoos by wind and water.

There is no settlement between the two villages and no reliable water for hours, so the day is planned around the crew's carrying.

Tange (3,240 m) is one of the most isolated villages in Mustang: forty or so whitewashed houses, a field system fed by a single channel, and a remarkable line of chortens on the approach. Almost no trekkers stay here.

Around 7 hours. Overnight at Tange.

The biggest climbing day of the trek, gaining more than 1,750 m onto the high plateau.

The trail leaves Tange east and climbs relentlessly out of the canyon system onto open ground, following a stream bed and then a broad shoulder. There is no village, no shelter and no trail traffic — this is the beginning of the week without anybody.

The height gain is large and the group takes it in stages, with the crew moving ahead to pitch camp. Drinking discipline matters today more than any other.

Teri La Base Camp (5,000 m) is a flat area of gravel and moraine with the col visible above. The Damodar Himal stands around the camp and, on a clear evening, the light on the peaks is the best of the trek.

Around 8 hours. An early meal and an early night. Overnight camping at Teri La Base Camp.

The crossing, and the point where Mustang becomes Nar Phu.

An early start for the climb to the col — three to four hours on snow and scree, steady rather than steep, with the group moving slowly at this altitude. In normal conditions there is no technical ground, though your guide carries rope and axes and will use them if the snow demands.

The Teri La (5,595 m) is a broad saddle strung with prayer flags. The view takes in the Damodar Himal, the Tibetan plateau to the north, and, to the south, Himlung Himal (7,126 m) and the peaks above the Nar Phu valleys.

The descent east is long, on scree and then grass, dropping a thousand metres into grazing country where yaks appear again.

Dhalung (4,600 m) is a herders' ground with water. Nine to ten hours. Overnight camping at Dhalung.

Down into the Phu valley and the first village in a week.

The route descends grazing slopes and moraine into the upper Phu valley, following the river as the walls close in. Yaks, then stone walls, then irrigation channels — the signs of habitation arrive in that order.

Phu (4,080 m) is one of the most striking villages in Nepal: a tight cluster of stone houses stacked on a rock spur above the river, with a ruined fortress above and a chorten gateway at the entrance. It is Tibetan in language, dress and religion and was closed to outsiders until 2002.

Tashi Lhakhang Gompa sits on the ridge outside the village, and the climb to it is worth it for the view back up the valley to Himlung Himal.

Around 6 hours. The first lodge in a week. Overnight at Phu.

A day in the village after the pass, and a good one to have.

The optional walk goes up the valley towards Himlung Himal base camp at around 4,900 m — five to six hours there and back, on moraine, with the north side of the Annapurna range and Himlung's glacier at the end of it.

The gentler option is the village. Phu has fewer than fifty households, a monastery, the fortress ruins above, and a way of life built around yaks, barley and trade over the border. Your guide can introduce you, and the afternoon goes quickly.

Practically, this is a laundry, wash and recovery day before the walk out, and the crew reorganises loads now that the camping section is over.

Overnight at Phu.

A day between the two villages that give the valley its name, with a pass in the middle.

The trail descends the Phu gorge to the confluence and then climbs steeply to the Nar Phedi monastery, where the nuns will usually offer tea. From there it is a long switchbacking climb of around 500 m onto the plateau.

Nar (4,110 m) is entered through a line of four painted chortens, and behind them is a walled village of about eighty flat-roofed houses on an open shelf with barley fields and a monastery. It is larger and more open than Phu, and the setting — a plateau ringed by peaks — is extraordinary.

Around 6 hours. The afternoon is free to walk the village and the fields. Overnight at Nar.

The last walking day, dropping 1,500 m out of the gorge onto the Annapurna Circuit.

The trail leaves the plateau and descends into the Nar Phu gorge, following the river through the narrowest section on a path cut into the wall, past hot springs at Dharmasala and through pine and juniper forest. The air thickens quickly and the vegetation returns valley by valley.

At the mouth of the gorge the Nar Phu Khola joins the Marsyangdi and the group checks out of the restricted area at the police post.

Koto (2,600 m) is on the Annapurna Circuit, and after three weeks in restricted country the bakeries, jeeps and other trekkers take some adjusting to.

This is where the crew finishes and tips are given. Around 6–7 hours. Overnight at Koto.

A jeep day down the Marsyangdi on the roughest road of the trip.

The route descends through Chame, Dharapani and Jagat on a single-track road cut into the valley side, fording streams and crawling along ledges above the river. Five to six hours for what looks short on a map.

The valley transforms as it drops — pine and barley at Chame, subtropical green and rice paddies by Besisahar, with waterfalls coming off both walls the whole way.

Besisahar (760 m) is the road town at the start of the Annapurna Circuit and the end of the rough section.

Overnight at Besisahar.

A straightforward highway day back to the capital.

The road joins the Prithvi Highway at Dumre and follows the Trishuli east through gorge country, with a lunch stop en route. Around six hours in total.

The countryside on this stretch is the ordinary, productive middle hills — rice terraces, roadside bazaars, buffalo in the fields — and after three weeks on the Tibetan plateau it looks impossibly green.

You arrive in Kathmandu (1,400 m) in the afternoon and transfer to your hotel, with the evening free for a long shower and a proper dinner. Overnight in Kathmandu.

A day held in reserve, and a free day in Kathmandu if the trek ran to schedule.

On a route with a 5,595 m pass and a weather-dependent flight at the start, the spare day is part of the plan rather than padding.

If everything went smoothly, today is yours. Boudhanath in the late afternoon is the natural choice after three weeks in Tibetan Buddhist country. Patan Durbar Square and its museum, or the old town at Bhaktapur, are the other two good uses of a day, and Thamel handles the shopping.

Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your last day in Nepal. If your flight leaves later there is time for Swayambhunath or a last walk through the old city with your guide.

Our representative collects you from your hotel and transfers you to Tribhuvan International Airport around three hours before departure.

You have crossed from the Kali Gandaki to the Marsyangdi over a 5,595 m pass, walked two restricted areas, and spent a week in country with no roads, lodges or other trekkers. The Saribung La next door is the glaciated version of the same crossing, and the Jomsom Dolpo traverse is the longer one. Safe travels.