Upper Mustang Trek from Pokhara

The trek begins with one of the most spectacular short flights in Nepal.

The 20-minute flight from Pokhara to Jomsom (2,700 m) runs straight up the Kali Gandaki gorge, between Annapurna I (8,091 m) and Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) — the deepest valley on earth, measured from the summits either side. Flights go early because the valley wind rises sharply by mid-morning.

At Jomsom you meet the crew, complete permit formalities and start walking north along the riverbed. The landscape is already unlike the rest of Nepal: this is the rain shadow behind the Annapurnas, and the country is dry, treeless and coloured in ochres and greys.

Kagbeni (2,800 m) is a medieval-looking village of mud-brick alleyways, a red gompa and irrigated green fields, sitting at the checkpoint into restricted Upper Mustang. Around 3 hours of walking. Overnight in Kagbeni.

The first day inside the restricted zone, following the Kali Gandaki north.

Your special permit is checked at the Kagbeni post before you set off — Upper Mustang was closed to outsiders entirely until 1992 and still requires a costly restricted-area permit, a licensed guide and a minimum group size.

The trail follows the river north through an increasingly stark landscape of eroded cliffs, wind-carved rock and deep gorges. There is almost no vegetation except where irrigation channels support a village. The route passes through Tangbe, with its whitewashed houses and buckwheat fields, and Chhusang, before crossing the river.

The wind is a constant factor here, blowing hard up the valley from late morning — an early start makes for much easier walking.

Chele (3,050 m) sits above the river where the trail leaves the main gorge. Around 5–6 hours. Overnight in Chele.

A demanding day crossing several passes on the high desert plateau.

The trail climbs steeply out of Chele and onto the open plateau, and from here the walking is a succession of ascents and descents over ridges rather than a steady climb. The passes today include Taklam La (3,624 m) and Dajori La (3,735 m), each giving wide views over the surrounding badlands.

The landscape is extraordinary — bands of red, grey, ochre and purple rock, deeply eroded into pinnacles and gullies, with the snow peaks of Nilgiri and Damodar Himal on the horizon. There is virtually no shade and no water between villages.

You pass Samar, a small village in a stand of poplars, and a series of chortens and mani walls marking the route. The Buddhist culture here is Tibetan and long-established.

Syangboche (3,475 m) is a tiny settlement on the plateau. Around 6 hours. Overnight in Syangboche.

A day of ridges and passes with little net height change but a great deal of up and down.

The trail crosses the Yamda La (3,850 m) and Nyi La (4,010 m), the highest point of this stage, before descending into the Ghami valley. Between them the route passes through Ghiling, a village set among poplars and barley fields with an old gompa.

The highlight of the day comes on the approach to Ghami: the longest mani wall in Nepal, several hundred metres of stone faced with carved prayer stones, running across the open hillside below the village. By custom it is passed on the left.

The country throughout is high desert — bare, wind-scoured and vividly coloured, with cultivation only where snowmelt can be channelled.

Ghami (3,500 m) is one of the larger settlements of Upper Mustang, a compact village of whitewashed houses surrounded by green fields. Around 5 hours. Overnight in Ghami.

A shorter day crossing into the Charang valley, leaving time to explore on arrival.

The trail descends from Ghami, crosses the river and climbs past the long mani wall before ascending to the Chogo La — at around 4,280 m the highest pass of the trek. The views from the top take in the whole tangle of Mustang badlands and the peaks along the Tibetan border.

The descent into the Charang valley is through more of the extraordinary eroded terrain that characterises the region, with cliffs banded in red and grey.

Charang (3,560 m), also spelled Tsarang, was historically the second most important settlement in the Kingdom of Lo. It has a five-storey white dzong (fortress) and a large red gompa perched on the edge of the gorge, holding old thangkas, statues and manuscripts.

The shorter day leaves the afternoon free to visit both. Around 4 hours. Overnight in Charang.

The day you reach the walled capital — the destination of the whole trek.

The trail climbs out of Charang and crosses the Lo La (3,950 m), and it is from this pass that you get the first view of Lo Manthang below: a compact walled city on the plain, unchanged in outline for six centuries, with the Tibetan border ranges behind it.

The descent to the city takes around an hour.

Lo Manthang (3,770 m) was the capital of the Kingdom of Lo, founded in 1380, and its royal line was formally recognised until 2008. The city is entirely enclosed by a wall, with a single main gate, and inside it is a warren of narrow alleys, whitewashed houses and three major monasteries — Jampa, Thubchen and Chodey — holding remarkable 15th-century murals, some of them recently restored.

Around 5 hours. Overnight in Lo Manthang.

A full day in and around the walled city, with an excursion north toward the Tibetan border.

The morning trip goes to Chhoser (3,800 m), around two hours north, where the cliffs are honeycombed with man-made caves. The Jhong cave complex is the most impressive: a five-storey warren of chambers cut into the rock face, connected by ladders and passages, thought to be over 2,000 years old and used variously as dwellings, storage and refuge. Nobody is entirely certain who cut them or why.

Nearby is the Nyphu cave monastery, built into the cliff and still in use.

The afternoon is for Lo Manthang itself. The three great monasteries — Jampa, Thubchen and Chodey — hold 15th-century wall paintings of real art-historical importance, and the royal palace still stands by the main square.

This is as close to Tibet, culturally and geographically, as Nepal gets. Overnight in Lo Manthang.

The return journey begins on a different, western route back through the badlands.

Rather than retracing the way in, the trail heads south-west on an alternative line, which makes the return as interesting as the approach. It is a long day over open, exposed country with several passes and no shelter.

The route passes Ghar Gompa, one of the oldest monasteries in Nepal — traditionally dated to the 8th century and associated with Guru Rinpoche (Padmasambhava), who is said to have subdued a demon here on his way to Tibet. It holds old murals and is an important pilgrimage site.

Dhakmar (3,800 m) is the visual highlight of the whole trek: the village sits beneath enormous red cliffs, deeply eroded into fluted columns and caves. Local legend holds that the colour comes from the blood of the demon Guru Rinpoche defeated.

Around 6–7 hours. Overnight in Dhakmar.

A ridge-and-valley day rejoining the main route south.

The trail leaves Dhakmar and its red cliffs, climbing over open ridges and crossing dry valleys. As with most days in Upper Mustang, the net height change is small but the cumulative ascent and descent is considerable, and the ground is bare and exposed throughout.

The walking is through classic Mustang terrain — banded rock in reds, greys and yellows, eroded into gullies and pinnacles, with barley fields and poplar stands marking each village like green islands in a desert.

The route passes chortens, mani walls and the occasional cave dwelling cut into the cliffs, and the wind is a steady presence from late morning.

Ghiling (3,860 m) is a village set among poplars with an old gompa above it, and it makes a comfortable stop on the way south.

Around 6 hours. Overnight in Ghiling.

A long descending day of around 800 m, dropping back toward the Kali Gandaki.

The trail recrosses the Nyi La and Yamda La before beginning the sustained descent south. It is a long day with several climbs still involved, but the overall trend is downhill and the walking gets easier as you lose height.

The landscape gradually shifts from the high, cold desert plateau around Lo Manthang back toward the deep gorge country of the Kali Gandaki. It remains arid throughout, but the villages become larger and greener, with more irrigation and more cultivation.

The route rejoins the main river valley near Chele before continuing south.

Chhusang (3,050 m) sits at the confluence of two rivers, with striking eroded cliffs above it riddled with old cave dwellings and irrigated orchards below.

Around 6 hours. Overnight in Chhusang.

The final walking day, following the Kali Gandaki south out of the restricted zone.

The trail heads down the broad, stony riverbed, passing back through Kagbeni (2,800 m) where you check out of Upper Mustang. It is worth a short stop — the red gompa and the mud-brick alleyways are as good on the way out as on the way in.

From Kagbeni the route continues south to Jomsom. This stretch is famous for the valley wind, which blows strongly upriver from late morning, so an early start makes a considerable difference to how pleasant the walk is.

The Kali Gandaki riverbed here is also the place to look for shaligrams — black ammonite fossils, sacred to Hindus as manifestations of Vishnu, and evidence that this whole region was once seabed before the Himalaya rose.

Jomsom (2,700 m) ends the trek. Around 6–7 hours. Overnight in Jomsom.

The short flight back down the gorge, closing the trip.

Flights from Jomsom leave early in the morning, before the valley wind builds — by mid-morning conditions here are usually too rough for the small aircraft, so departures are almost always at first light. Delays and cancellations do happen, and a spare day in the schedule is always sensible.

The 20-minute flight retraces the Kali Gandaki gorge between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, and the descent from the arid high valley into the green, subtropical Pokhara basin is abrupt and striking — a whole climatic zone crossed in twenty minutes.

You arrive in Pokhara (822 m) in the morning, where the trek ends.

You leave having walked into the walled city of Lo Manthang, the old Kingdom of Lo, through a restricted region that was closed entirely to outsiders until 1992.