Upper Mustang

Both, with the emphasis on culture. You walk for thirteen days, none of them longer than about seven hours, towards a fifteenth-century walled town where the language is Tibetan and the monastery murals are being restored by conservators from New York. If your main interest is close views of high mountains, this is not the right trek. If you want to see the best-preserved area of traditional Tibetan culture that can be reached without a Chinese visa, this is the only trek that offers it.

Moderate and sustained. On most days you cross a pass between 3,700 m and 4,230 m and then descend to a village, so the route goes up and down repeatedly rather than climbing steadily. There is no technical section, no snow in season and no exposure. The main difficulty is the wind, which blows strongly up the valley every afternoon.

It is helpful but not required. The physical demands are closer to Annapurna Base Camp than to the Everest or Manaslu treks, and the altitude profile is gentle, because the approach through Pokhara, Jomsom and Kagbeni gives you three nights of gradual ascent. It is a suitable second trek, and a manageable first trek for someone who walks regularly.

Yes, you can book as a single traveller. On 22 March 2026 the Department of Immigration removed the rule that a restricted area permit required two foreign trekkers. You will still walk with a licensed guide, because a restricted area permit is only issued through an agency. A private departure for one person costs $3,090.

Fifty US dollars per person per day. On 18 November 2025 the cabinet replaced the previous flat fee of $500 for ten days, plus $50 for each additional day, with a daily rate. For this twenty-day itinerary, which spends about ten days north of Kagbeni, the cost is roughly the same $500. For shorter trips it is now much cheaper, which is why short Mustang itineraries are now available. Many operator websites still quote the old fee.

You need an Annapurna Conservation Area permit at NPR 3,000, because Mustang lies within the conservation area. You also need a licensed guide from a registered agency, which is compulsory with a restricted area permit. Everything is included in the trek price and we arrange it.

A restricted area permit is issued in Kathmandu against your passport on a working day and cannot be bought in advance. We include this day in the itinerary for that reason, and it is why arriving on a Friday for a Saturday start is not possible.

Mainly because of the permit: five hundred dollars of restricted area fees compared with twenty-two dollars for the ACAP permit. There are also two extra flights, twenty days instead of fourteen, and higher guesthouse prices, because all supplies arrive by jeep over a 4,000 m pass.

Three hundred to four hundred and fifty dollars in Nepali rupees, in small notes. There is a cash machine at Jomsom, but it is not reliable. Several monasteries in Lo charge their own entry fee in cash, and these fees help fund the mural restoration, so it is useful to carry enough notes.

Yes. It is the only trek we offer where this is the case. Upper Mustang lies behind Annapurna and Dhaulagiri in the driest rain shadow in Nepal, so June, July and August are dry and warm here while most treks in the country are closed. The one exception is the Pokhara to Jomsom road, which the monsoon damages at lower altitudes, so we rely more on the flight in those months.

The festival follows the Tibetan lunar calendar, so its dates change each year. It is usually in May, and in 2027 it takes place on 1 to 3 June. It consists of three days of masked dances in the square at Lo Manthang and is the best reason to plan the timing of a Mustang trek. There are a limited number of beds inside the city walls, and they are booked a year in advance, so please plan early.

Very cold, very quiet and partly empty. Most residents of Lo move south for the winter and many guesthouses close, so the villages you have come to see are partly closed. We do run the trek in winter, and we will tell you clearly what will and will not be open.

The wind is the main feature of the region, and most people underestimate it. From late morning a strong, dusty up-valley wind blows almost every day. For this reason our itinerary starts walking at half past seven and aims to cross each day's pass before the wind rises. Bring two buffs and wraparound sunglasses.

Simple guesthouses, which have improved in recent years but are not comparable to the Annapurna teahouses. Kagbeni, Lo Manthang and Tsarang are comfortable; Dakmar and Dhi are basic. Hot water is available for a fee as far as Lo Manthang, and the two largest villages have mains electricity from a micro-hydro scheme.

Coverage is better than many people expect. NTC covers most of the valley and the main villages, because the network was extended along with the road. Wifi is reasonable at Jomsom, Kagbeni and Lo Manthang and very limited elsewhere.

Yes, and this is an important question for Mustang in 2026. A jeep track runs from Jomsom to Lo Manthang and on to the Chinese border at Korala. It has changed the valley, but it has not spoiled it. The trekking route follows the old trails and passes rather than the road for most of the way, the villages are unchanged, and the walking days give you time to see the caves and gompas along the route. If you have only a week, the jeep tour is a good option and we offer it. If you have three weeks, we recommend walking.

About a hundred and fifty houses inside a four-hundred-metre wall of rammed earth, three major gompas, the former royal palace, and the fifteenth-century murals in Thubchen and Jampa, which attract art historians. Two days is the right amount of time; one day is not enough.

It is less likely here than on most treks at this altitude, because the approach is gradual and the overnight altitudes stay between about 3,600 and 4,000 m rather than increasing. Most cases of altitude sickness in Mustang affect people who drive from Jomsom to Lo Manthang in a single day.

You descend and, unusually for a Himalayan trek, you can do so by vehicle. The jeep track reaches every village on this route, so a serious case can reach Jomsom at 2,743 m in hours rather than days, and there is a district hospital there. Helicopters can reach Lo Manthang, and Pokhara is forty minutes away by air. Insurance covering helicopter rescue to 5,000 m is a condition of booking.

Three weeks is comfortable and ten days is possible, because the permit, rather than accommodation, is the limiting factor. The exception is the Tiji festival, for which we ask for six months' notice and prefer a year.

Yes. The Annapurna Circuit finishes at Jomsom and this trek starts there, so you can walk one directly after the other in about a month. It is an excellent combination, and we arrange it regularly.

Yes, and it is now good value. Since the permit changed to a daily rate, a nine-day itinerary combining jeep travel and walking costs about $1,690, including roughly $250 of permit fees instead of $500. It is the most significant practical change in Mustang travel in twenty years.