Mustang Region Treks

Upper Mustang — the ancient Kingdom of Lo — sits behind the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges, in Nepal's only true Tibetan-plateau region. The walled capital Lo Manthang, founded in 1380 by Ame Pal, was the seat of an independent Buddhist kingdom for six centuries. Nepal abolished the monarchy in 2008, but the last king Jigme Dorje Palbar Bista died in 2016 having lived his whole life in the same palace.

The region was completely closed to foreigners until 1992, when Nepal opened it under a restricted-area permit scheme. Only around 2,000 trekkers visit each year, kept low by a $500 permit fee for the first 10 days. The trans-Himalayan rain shadow means the trek is one of the few in Nepal that remains fully open during the summer monsoon.

The region's most extraordinary feature is its sky caves — over 10,000 man-made dwellings carved into vertical cliff faces, some dating to 1000 BC. Recent expeditions have found 600-year-old murals, complete human burials, and an entire library of Tibetan scripture inside them. The 11-day trek to Lo Manthang follows the Kali Gandaki — the world's deepest river gorge — past Buddhist chortens, eroded badlands and apple orchards.