Upper Mustang Horse Riding Trek

Trip Duration 18 Nights/19 Days
Trip Code NAP-HRS - 005
Trip Grade Moderate to strenuous trail.
Trip Cost Prices on request
Best Time Aug-Nov and Feb-May

Overview

Upper Mustang ihorse riding trek s a very popular for horse ride trekking region in Nepal, which lies in the northern central part of Nepal and at the top of the Kaligandaki River where the languages, culture and traditions are alike to those of the Tibetan people. This area is consider as one of the most interesting and picturesque places in Nepal. The whole area has an isolated and mystical feel to it, enchanting and inspiring visitors to this region. The upper Mustang is dominated by an endless expanse of yellow and grey rolling hills made smooth by the wind. We traverse this lonely landscape on horseback via several passes (The highest being the Nyi-La at 3990m), camping in villages nestled in their green irrigated oasis until we reach the spectacular walled town of Lo-Monthang. Visually, this is an extraordinary place and home of the Mustang Raja (King) as well as some beautiful temples and monasteries. The people of Upper Mustang are always curious about new arrivals and we can expect children, with scary wind blown hair and apple red cheeks, will gather to confront the spectacle of foreign visitors. The abrasive lifestyle required to survive is easily evident here.

This trek begins after flight from Pokhara to Jomsom on the upper Kali Gandaki River between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri , our trekking holiday to Mustang allows us to explore a weird and wonderful landscape of eroded conglomerate cliffs, colored by natural earth pigments - reds, yellows, browns and blues. Trekking across passes of up to 4100m, we will also be walking through a succession of picturesque white painted Mustang villages and Tibetan monasteries, set against a backdrop of the distant snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. We have a day to explore our ultimate destination for excursion in Lo Manthang, a fairy-tale walled city and the capital of Mustang which is quite unlike anything else in Nepal. This enlightening trekking adventure to Mustang in Nepal will surely appeal to those looking to explore a very special part of the Himalaya and finally by flight from Jomsom to Pokhara or continue trek to Ghorepani Poon hill and ending Himalayan adventure trip at Pokhara.

The upper Mustang horse riding adventure trip also can be combine an alternative day Helicopter tour programs for a people who have limit time and are not able to trek due to the physical conditions. As well as, this adventure trip can be combine also another alternatively for mountain biker’s who have interest and energetic physical conditions to ride the bike in the classic scenery of the high Tibetan plateau.

Highlights

* Rim of the the Kathmandu valley
* Lake valley of Pokhara
* Horse ride in the classic scenery of the high Tibetan plateau, including the incredible sculpted
* Interesting and picturesque places
* Buddhist Monastery, Chorten and Mani walls
* Tibetan life-style in refugee camps and the mystic Landscape.
* Visit the medieval villages of Upper Mustang and stay in the ancient walled city of Lo Manthang.
* See the fortresses, the palaces, and the Gompas with their ancient Buddhist murals
* Ancient and isolated villages
* Mixed culture and purely Tibetan cultural
* The pilgrimage site of Muktinath

Trip Summary

Trip Grade Moderate to strenuous trail.
Trip Duration 18 Nights/19 Days
Trip code NAP-HRS - 005
Trip Start/Ends Kathmandu-Pokhara-Jomsom/Jomsom-Pokhara-Kathmandu
Maximum Altitude Chogo-La (4325m) Yamdo-La (4010m),
Trip Cost Prices on request
Group Size Minimum 2 upto 16 persons in one group
Accessibillity Kathmandu drive to Pokhara and 25 minutes flight to Jomsom
The Route Maximum altitude Chogo-La (4325m) Yamdo-La (4010m), 5/7-hrs average walking per day, moderate to strenuous trail.
Season Aug-Nov and Feb-May
Permit Fee US$ 500 per person (First 10 days and US$ 50 after 10 days)
Trip Facilities 3+ hotel in city on B/B and best available teahouse/lodge on mountain.

Itinerary

Arrive at Tribhuwan international airport, Kathmandu, you are welcomed by the hospitable meeting and then you will be transferred to your hotel. Short briefing will be followed about necessary formalities and rest of the program. Depending on arrival time you will have choice of visiting nearby sanctuaries or have a rest day.

After breakfast we drive to Swoyambhunatha stupa has it that Manjushree, found of Kathmandu valley, and discovered the lotus of ancient valley lake on which site the great stupa of swoyambhunath was later built. The omni sighted stare of Buddha greets visitors & residents a like compassion. This is one of the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world, which has been registered in UNICEOO heritage side. We then visit to Kathmandu Durbar Square. Kathmandu durbar square situated the center of Kathmandu where you can see the House of Living Goddess”KUMARI” Kasthamandup temple” Said that was built from single tree in 16th century, big bell-big drams, erotic carving in old temple, old palace etc. We then finally were sightseeing to Patan Durbar Square. Patan Durbar square is one of the beautiful Durbars square in Kathmandu valley. It is very famous for woodcarving, Metal works, Temples and Monasteries. Tour of Patan includes tour of Krishna temple, Patan king’s palace, Golden temple and much more.

This morning you will drive to Pokhara (200km) the road mostly follows the River Trisuli and Marshyangdi, depart 7:00 AM in the morning, approximately 6-hrs way by tourist bus and 5-hrs drive by private transport. Along the drive you will enjoy beautiful scenery. You will arrive late afternoon at Pokhara with enough time to enjoy the colorful town of Pokhara.

Pokhara we fly to Jomsom. From Jomsom our horse riding route follow the Kali Gandaki River toward to Eklebhatti and reach Kagbeni. From Kagbeni the route meets the junction where the trail splits for Muktinath, the pilgrimage temple and for Upper Mustang (Lo-Manthang). Kagbeni is a delightful village on the edge of the Mustang restricted area; it’s a hive of activity for donkey and yak caravans coming and going to and from mustang and for pilgrims taking a rest on route to Mukthinath. In Kagbeni, you can easily spend a few hours wondering around taking in this lovely village. 

From Kagbeni you enter the restricted area of Upper Mustang. The horse ride trail makes several ups and downs to arrive at Tangbe village (3060m). Riding further and descending you will reach to Chhuksang village (2980m) where you will see many beautiful white washed houses and agriculture fields. From Chhuksang making more ups and downs along the Kali Gandaki River you will get to Chele village.

 From Chele the horse ride trail climbs up to the Chele-La (3630m). After crossing the ridge from Chele-La the horse ride trail enters a large sided valley and descends to Samar (3620m) where you will have views of the distant Annapurna Himal dominated by Nil Giri. The trail climbs up to the Bhena-La (3830m) and to Bhena (3860m). Climbing to another pass, the Yamdo-La (4010m), you will descend steeply following a ridge to Shyangmochen (3800m). From Shyangmochen you descend to the picturesque village of Geling, spend some time here soaking up the village atmosphere. 

Turning west from Geling, climbing gently through the fields, passing below Tama Gaon and turning north you will reach Nyi-La (4020m). The horse ride trail then drops steeply to Ghemi (3510m), a large village surrounded by many fields busy with the activity of the local people working this arid landscape. From Ghemi the trail first descends and then climbs a rocky path to Choya-La (3870m). Making a gentle descent the trail reaches to Tsarang. 

The horse ride trail descends about 100 meters down from Tsarang, crosses the Tsarang–Chu and climbs steeply up a rocky trail to a cairn on a ridge and continues horse ride to climbs gently to a large isolated Chorten, then crosses a stream and reaches the Lo-La (3950m) where you will see the view of the walled city of Lo-Manthang. Descending for some time the trail crosses a stream and climbs up to Lo-Manthang where you will see the school, health post, and police check post and several important chortens.

This day will be spent in this mystical and isolated city. There are four major places and several other places like the Tall Champa Lakhang "God house", the red Thugchen Gompa, Chyodi Gompa and the Entrance Hall which are the main attractions of this town. Another attraction is the four–story building of the Raja's Palace as well as the surrounding panoramic views of the Himalayas. Having seen one, you are excited to see the others. Besides Lo-Manthang there are two other interesting valleys worth visiting. The western valley Tingkar, the sight of Raja's summer palace, Kimling and Phuwa as well as the Gompa of Namgyals "The Monastery of Victory” is the newest and most active Gompa in Lo. The eastern valley contains Chosar, the site of a High School, Garphu and Nyphu Gompa and is the main trading route to Lhasa.

From Lo-Manthang the horse ride trail climbs steadily offering a last glimpse of Lo-Manthang. The horse trail climbs a ridge at 4070m and continues climbing to the Chogo-La (4325m), the highest point on the trek. The horse ride trail makes a short, steep descent and crosses the Chharang River, then climbs to Lo-Geker and reaches to Ghar Gompa a small monastery. 

The horse ride trail descends passing the stone walls and fields of Dhakmar, then climbs to a ridge and descends to the lower part of Ghemi and further descending you will reach to Jaite (3820m) and descend again gently to Chhung-Kah. The horse ride trail then reaches to Tama Gaon (3710m) and continues descending to Shyangmochen.

The horse ride trail descends passing the stone walls and fields of Dhakmar, then climbs to a ridge and descends to the lower part of Ghemi and further descending you will reach to Jaite (3820m) and descend again gently to Chhung-Kah. The horse ride trail then reaches to Tama Gaon (3710m) and continues descending to Shyangmochen.

We horse ride down to Chele after lunch we continue horse ride the village of Tetang. Tetang village is formed between 2 hills; they should have found it a safe place to avoid the strong wind that hits the entire Kaligandaki valley. Tetang is the upper village of the Chuksang, which we visit on the first day entering to Mustang from Kagbeni. From Tetang village it takes one day to go to Jomsom and a day to arrive to Muktinath. 

From Tetang village the horse ride trail climbs till the Gnyu Pass, which take around 3 and half hours. The entire route provides a fine panorama of the Himalayan range and green valley with many kinds of Himalayan flowers. From Gnyu Pass you can see the whole Muktinath area in a distance of 2 hours gentle ride. The Name of the Muktinath (God of salvation) is name of a Hindu’s god. Muktinath is a holy place for all the devotees. Every year thousands of devotees from Nepal, India and Tibet come to visit this place for the salvation and purification of their belief. History tells that many Kings of Asia visited the place for meditation and salvation. Muktinath is decorated by Mt. Nilgiri and Mt. Tilicho to the southeast, Daulagiri to the southwest and Thorang peak and Yakawa Kang to the north. It is one of the most important religious centers of both Hindus and Buddhist. For Hindus, beside the Holy water, the importance of the Muktinath is in the belief that the incarnation of Lord Vishnu is in the form of Saligrams. Saligram are found in the water of Kaligandaki River, just a few hours walk from Muktinath.

This is the last day of the horse ride trek. The trail goes through the village of Jharkot where one can visit the Jharkot monastery, Tibetan herbal medical center and the old fortress of Jharkot, once served as palace. Continuing the horse ride toward Jomsom one will enjoy the view of the Kaligandaki valley and Kagbeni village the entry point to Mustang. We get a round trip of our trek in Ekle Bhatti visiting all the surprises of the human effort in this corner of the World of such an isolation and solitude. Arrive to Jomsom, celebrate the last day of the trek will in Jomsom with all the trekking staffs.

Jomsom we fly to Pokhara and transfer to your hotel in Pokhara. The trekking staffs except the guide will trek down till Pokhara and drive or fly to Kathmandu, which will take 4 days.

After breakfast, drive to Kathmandu by tourist bus. Along the way you can enjoy with good scenery views. You'll be arriving at Kathmandu late afternoon. You're free in Kathmandu for shopping.

We allow a Leisure day in Kathmandu incase the flight from Lukla is canceled due to weather. If you are in Kathmandu we will take you on a guided tour to Bhaktapur Durbar Square, one of the oldest cities in the valley.

After breakfast you will have some free time until the time to leave the international airport for your final departure.

Cost Included

• Documents:  All necessary paper work and permits (Conservation entrance permits and TIM’s card). Upper Mustang special permit
Activities: Sightseeing,horse riding trekking trip as per itinerary.
Accommodation: 4 nights hotel in Kathmandu, 2 night hotel in Pokhara and 12 nights lodges during trekking
Food: Full board on Home-stay/camping [Breakfast, lunch and dinner] during the trekking and 6 breakfast  in city.
Staffs: Leader/Guide and supporters and their daily wage, food, and accommodation
Transportation: Arrival/Departure transfer and surface road-head transportation and Kathmandu to Pokhara, Pokhara to Jomson and return flight to Pokhara
Company and Government’s service charge: All applicable Government taxes and official service charges. And Crew’s, daily wages/salary, food, equipment, air and road-head transportation

Cost Excluded

•  Your international flight
• Travel/medical insurance coverage personal accidents, medical and emergency Helicopter rescue
•  Personal travel and trekking equipments
•  Lunch and dinner while in City
•  Items of a personal nature such as normal drinks, hot shower, dessert, laundry, internet and phone call.
•  Expenses occurred due to unavoidable Events i.e. road wrecks, flight delays etc.
• Tips/Gratuities for your trekking crews
• Temple and Monastery entrance fee while sightseeing in city
• Optional activities
• And unforeseen expenses which are out of control by Nepal Adventure Point

Trip Notes

Please request our Trip Note advice and detailed itinerary.

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