10 Days Upper Mustang

Upper Mustang sits in the rain shadow of the Annapurna and Nilgiri Himalayas, so it receives very little monsoon rain and stays walkable from March to November. This is the defining advantage of the route: you can trek in June and July when most of Nepal's trails are muddy and leech-ridden. The Tiji festival in Lo Manthang, three days of ceremonial masked dances in the main courtyard, falls in May each year and is one of the best reasons to time a spring visit.

Autumn (late September to November) gives the clearest mountain views and is the most popular season overall. Spring (March to May) is warmer lower down and includes the festival. Winter (December to February) is cold and many lodges above Kagbeni shut, so it is not recommended unless you have winter camping gear and confirmed open accommodation.

Upper Mustang is a restricted area, so it needs two permits and, by law, a licensed guide booked through a registered Nepal agency. Since 22 March 2026 the old minimum-group-size rule (two trekkers) has been removed, so solo trekkers can now obtain the permit individually — a licensed guide, however, remains mandatory and is checked at the Kagbeni post. The Restricted Area Permit (RAP) costs USD 50 per person per day inside the restricted zone (from Kagbeni north); for this itinerary that is about 6 days, roughly USD 300. The Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP) costs NPR 3,000 per person for non-SAARC nationals (about USD 25).

These permits are issued only through a registered agency; individual trekkers cannot obtain them at the border. Swotah arranges both permits on your behalf once you provide a passport copy and two passport photos, and confirms current rates before departure.

Accommodation on the Upper Mustang Trek is the teahouse lodge, simpler than on the Annapurna Circuit because the region is restricted and the number of trekkers per year is capped. The lodges in Kagbeni and Jomsom are comfortable, with attached bathrooms and a good menu, while the stops at Tselle, Geling and Charang are smaller, with shared bathrooms and basic heating. Lo Manthang has a handful of well-run guesthouses by Mustang standards.

Hotels in Kathmandu and Pokhara at the start and end are comfortable. A warm sleeping bag is important, as nights above 3,000 m drop to low single figures even in summer, and colder than that in spring and autumn.

Food on the Upper Mustang Trek is teahouse cooking. Dal bhat (lentil soup, rice and vegetable curry) is the staple and is refilled for free, making it the practical choice on long days. Tibetan bread, noodles, tsampa porridge, momos and potatoes fill out the menu, and the choice narrows in the small villages above Geling. Swotah includes three meals a day on the trek.

For water, aim for 3 to 4 litres a day to support acclimatisation. Do not drink untreated stream or tap water: lodges sell boiled water, and purification tablets, a filter bottle or a UV pen all work. Carry a reusable bottle; the region enforces responsible trekking guidelines and single-use plastic is increasingly restricted.

The trek starts with a flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara (about 25 minutes), followed by a short but spectacular mountain flight from Pokhara to Jomsom at 2,720 m in the Kali Gandaki valley. From Jomsom, a jeep drive north reaches Kagbeni at 2,810 m, the gateway to the restricted zone where the walking begins. The Jomsom airstrip is wind-sensitive, so flights operate early in the morning before the valley wind builds.

The return follows the same route: trek back to Jomsom, fly to Pokhara, then onward to Kathmandu. Swotah runs jeep transfers for the Jomsom to Kagbeni leg and books both mountain flights, and the itinerary builds in a contingency buffer for weather delays on the Jomsom route, which is one of the most prone to wind-related disruptions in Nepal.

Lo Manthang is the walled capital of the former Kingdom of Lo, standing at 3,840 m on a flat plateau with the Trans-Himalayan rangeland of Tibet visible to the north. The town was founded in the 14th century and its perimeter wall, still largely intact, encloses whitewashed houses, the old royal palace and four major monasteries. Jampa Lhakhang, built in the 15th century, houses a three-storey clay statue of Maitreya Buddha, and Thubchen Gompa, from the same period, contains Tibetan-style murals of considerable age.

The Tiji festival, held each May in the palace courtyard, is a three-day ceremony of masked dances that re-enacts the expulsion of a demon from Mustang, and draws both local villagers and a growing number of visitors. The Chhoser sky caves, hand-cut into the cliff faces north of Lo Manthang, are some of the most accessible of the hundreds of ancient cave dwellings scattered across Upper Mustang.

The Kali Gandaki is one of the world's deepest gorges, cutting between Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) and Annapurna I (8,091 m), and the Upper Mustang route follows its valley northward into the Tibetan plateau. Because the Annapurna massif blocks the monsoon from reaching this far north, Upper Mustang receives an average of only 200 to 300 mm of rain per year, similar to a semi-arid steppe, while the lower slopes of the Annapurna Circuit get 10 times that amount in a monsoon season.

The ochre and red-banded cliffs that colour the landscape are eroded from ancient lake-bed sediment, and the flat-roofed mud-brick villages sit on alluvial terraces above the valley floor. This rain-shadow geology is directly why the trek remains walkable in the monsoon and why the scenery looks more like the Tibetan plateau than a Himalayan valley.

A licensed guide is mandatory on the Upper Mustang Trek: the restricted-area permit is issued only through a registered agency and to trekkers accompanied by a licensed guide (the former two-trekker minimum was removed in March 2026, so solo trekkers are now welcome), and checking points along the route verify the permit and the guide's credentials. Swotah's guides hold Ministry of Tourism licences, have Nepal Mountaineering Association training, and know the gompa interiors and village protocols of Lo.

A porter is recommended for comfort: one porter carries up to 20 to 25 kg, and you walk with a light daypack. Swotah provides a free duffel for the porter load, caps weights at safe limits, and provides porter insurance. Tips for the guide and porter are customary; a common guideline is 10 to 15% of the trek cost, paid directly at the end.

Mobile coverage in Upper Mustang is patchy. Nepal Telecom (NTC) gives the best signal in Jomsom and Kagbeni, with weaker coverage in the villages above, and limited or no signal in Lo Manthang. Swotah can provide a tourist SIM with an NTC data package for the trip.

Wi-Fi is available at some lodges in Jomsom and Kagbeni for a fee, and rare or absent above. Charging costs a small fee per device at most lodges, rising with altitude. A power bank is important for the upper villages, where generator power is limited and socket access is not guaranteed, and cold nights drain batteries faster than at lower elevations.

Responsible trekking in Upper Mustang matters because the region is restricted, the permit cap limits visitor numbers, and the communities depend on the trail economy. Carry a reusable bottle and treat your water, pack out all waste, ask before photographing people or gompa interiors, and walk clockwise around mani walls and chortens. The gompa custodians often ask for a small donation for entry and photography; this supports ongoing maintenance.

Tipping is customary but not mandatory. A standard guideline is 10 to 15% of the trip cost, shared between the guide, porter and driver, paid at the end of the trip. Booking with a registered agency like Swotah ensures that restricted-area permits are legal, staff insurance is in place, and porter loads meet government weight limits.