Mustang Region
High desert north of the Himalaya — sky caves, walled cities and Nepal's best monsoon trekking.
Trekking in the Mustang Region
Mustang sits north of the main Himalayan chain, on the Tibetan plateau, which means the landscape has nothing in common with the rest of Nepal. There are no forests, no rhododendrons and almost no rain — instead you get eroded ochre and grey canyons, wind-carved cliffs, whitewashed villages built around monasteries, and barley fields irrigated by hand-cut channels.
Upper Mustang, closed to outsiders until 1992 and a functioning kingdom until 2008, leads to the walled city of Lo Manthang at 3,840m and the Chhoser sky caves — thousands of man-made chambers cut into vertical cliff faces. Lower Mustang gives you the same plateau landscape, plus Kagbeni, Muktinath and Marpha, without the USD 500 restricted permit.
Critically, Mustang sits in the Himalayan rain shadow. From June to August, while the rest of the country is under cloud, it stays dry — making this the best summer trekking region in Nepal.
Treks in the Mustang Region
Lower Mustang Trek – 8 Days
Eight days in the Kali Gandaki gorge — Kagbeni's medieval alleys, the sacred temple at Muktinath and the apple orchards of Marpha. No restricted permit required.
Upper Mustang Trek – 16 to 18 Days
Sixteen to eighteen days into the walled kingdom of Lo Manthang — Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, ochre canyons and cliff-cut sky caves in Nepal's high desert.