Mustang: The Restricted Kingdom Behind the Annapurnas
A high desert of ochre cliffs and wind-carved canyons, closed to outsiders until 1992, and unlike anywhere else in Nepal.
Mustang is the old kingdom of Lo, in the rain shadow of the Annapurnas, on the Tibetan plateau southern edge. It sits behind the Himalayas at the head of the Kali Gandaki, and the rain that drenches the rest of Nepal never reaches it.
The result is a landscape that does not resemble the rest of the country: eroded ochre cliffs, wind-carved canyons, cave complexes cut into rock faces, and a sky that is unreasonably blue.
Upper and Lower Mustang are different trips
Lower Mustang — Jomsom, Kagbeni, Muktinath, Marpha — is open, needs no special permit, and can be walked or partly driven. It is a good trek in its own right.
Upper Mustang, north of Kagbeni, is a restricted area. Foreign visitors need a permit obtained through a registered agency, and the rationale is cultural protection: the region was closed entirely until 1992 to preserve its Tibetan Buddhist culture and the walled city of Lo Manthang.
Mustang, Nepal
The permit, and what it costs
The restricted-area permit is issued per person for a fixed ten-day window, with a daily charge beyond that. It must be arranged through a licensed Nepali trekking agency before you enter, and it is one of the more expensive permits in Nepal.
Because the fee is for ten days and the walk to Lo Manthang and back takes about that, most itineraries are built tightly around the window. Confirm the current fee and rules with your agency rather than trusting an older guidebook: they change.
You also need a licensed guide, and the region requires it. This is enforced at the Kagbeni checkpoint.
The wind is the defining fact
The Kali Gandaki valley is one of the deepest gorges in the world, and the pressure difference between the Tibetan plateau and the Indian plains drives a ferocious daily wind up the valley. It begins around ten or eleven, peaks in the early afternoon, and dies in the evening.
Everything about a sensible Mustang itinerary follows from this. Walk early, stop by eleven, find the leeward side of a wall, and drink water you did not think you needed. Dust gets into everything: bring a buff or scarf and something to cover a camera.
Nothing prepares you for how quiet it gets above Kagbeni.
Lo Manthang
The walled capital of the old kingdom is the reason most people come. It is a single settlement inside a mud-brick wall, with the royal palace, the Jampa Lhakhang and the Thubchen gompa, and a population of a few hundred.
The gompas hold some of the finest surviving Tibetan Buddhist wall painting in the world, much of it unrestored. Access is limited and photography inside is usually prohibited; the monks who unlock the doors are also the people who maintain them, and a donation is appropriate.
Altitude and access
Jomsom is reached by a short and famously dramatic flight from Pokhara, or by road up the Kali Gandaki from Beni. The walk from Jomsom to Lo Manthang climbs gradually to about 3,840 metres, so altitude is a real but manageable factor for most people.
The flights are weather-dependent and cancelled often. Build in a buffer, as with Lukla.
When to go
Mustang sits in the rain shadow, so the monsoon months — normally the worst time to be in Nepal — are viable here, with the caveat that the flight from Pokhara is often cancelled. The most reliable windows are March to early May and October to November.
Bring cash in Nepali rupees. There are no ATMs beyond Jomsom and card acceptance is effectively nil.