Mustang Tiji Festival Trek

Sightseeing tour in Kathmandu includes a guided tour around the art, historical, and cultural monuments around the Kathmandu city that has been listed under the UNESCO World Heritage Site charts. Today, after breakfast, your tour guide will pick you up for a city tour ahead. The tour starts from Kathmandu Durbar Square, a historical palace that dates back to the 16th century during the Malla reign in Nepal's medieval period. The palace is a vast complex with a palace, courtyards, and temples. The structure is beautifully crafted with various wood, metal, and stonework. We explore the periphery of the palace and visit a museum inside the palace. After exploring the palace, we head to Swayambhunath stupa, a large stupa placed on a hilltop surrounded by various Buddha statues and monasteries.

Next, we drive to Pashupatinath temple, the oldest Hindu temple with many temples and statues that date back to ancient times. At Last, we head to Boudhanath stupa, a huge stupa placed on a three-layered Mandela. We visit all these beautiful heritage sites and end our day with a drive back to your hotel. Tonight, spend your time at a hotel in Kathmandu.

Today, we get set to leave the Kathmandu valley. After breakfast at the hotel, your guide will pick you up for an overland drive to Pokhara city. The vehicle follows a route along the Prithvi Highway full of countryside views of Nepal. We will most of the time drive along the Trishuli River with fascinating views of terraced farmland, traditional villages, and lush hills on sight. We even pass a rafting spot on the way to Pokhara. After around seven hours of drive, we reach the beautiful touristic hub of Nepal–Pokhara.

Later, we check in the hotel, freshen up, and prepare for a relaxing exploration around the lakeside Pokhara. With the pristine air, serene lake water, and mountains, lakeside Pokhara is a heavenly place to be at. In the evening, we return to our hotel. Spend your time at the hotel in Pokhara for the night.

Early in the morning, we will transfer you to Pokhara Airport to catch a flight to Jomsom. In around half an hour, you will be in Jomsom. Jomsom is a beautiful village with several local markets, guesthouses, and lodges. From Jomsom, we get set for our walking journey towards Kagbeni. We follow a beautiful route with the wild landscape, narrow flagstone terraces, and flat-roofed traditional house to Kagbeni.

Kagbeni is a stunning valley that comprises Kaligandaki gorge–the deepest gorge in the world. At Kagbeni, we stop and the Annapurna Conservation Area Project office to register our permits. Today, we spend our night at a guesthouse in Kagbeni.

After breakfast in the morning, we get ready for our trek. At first, we get our permits checked at the Annapurna Conservation Area Project office. After that, we walk along the Kaligandaki river into the Kingdom of Mustang. Following the eastern bank of the river, we walk past the sandy trail to the village of Chhuksang. Enjoying the classic views of eroded cliffs, caves, alleyways, crop fields, apple orchards, whitewashed houses, and traditional villages, we make our way to Chele village. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Chele.

Leaving Chele, we follow a trail that climbs up steeply into a treeless and waterless grassy basin. Enjoying spectacular terrain views, we ascend to a pass at 3735 meters popular as Dorje La pass. As we reach the pass, it will reward us with some stunning views of mountains, rock formations, and interesting terrain.

Then, we descend from the pass and follow a trail that falls steeply downwards into the village of Samar. We walk past the village of Samar and ascend towards another pass, i.e., Bhena La pass, at an elevation of 3838 meters from sea level. A quick descent from the pass brings us to another pass called Yamada La Pass at an elevation of 3860 meters. Crossing the pass, the path undulates up and down until we reach the village of Gheling. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Gheling.

Moving ahead of Gheling, we climb up steeply until we reach Nyi La Pass at an elevation of 4025 meters. From the top of the pass, we can relish some amazing views of mountains in the Annapurna range and Dhaulagiri Himal range. We explore around the pass and spend some quality time admiring the views of mountains. Then we move forward with the trek. We descend towards the village of Ghami. We walk past the village and continue descending until we cross a small bridge over the Ghami river.

After crossing the river, the trail ascends to Charang La Pass at an elevation of 3870 meters above sea level. Leaving the pass, we descend for around one hour to reach the village of Charang. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Charang.

Today, we leave Charang and continue with our trekking adventure. After breakfast, we follow a trail that goes downhill towards Charang Khola. We cross a suspension bridge over the river and continue through a trail that ascends towards Lo La Pass at an elevation of 3950 meters above sea level. As you reach the pass, you can bless your eyes with some mesmerizing views of Lo Manthang and snowcapped mountains surrounding the long walled city. A short and scenic walk downhill from the pass brings you into the mystic land of Lo Manthang. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Lo Manthang.

Today is our day in Lo Manthang, and it is the first day of the Tiji Festival Celebration. Today, we explore three major gompas in the long walled ancient city of Lo. We visit Jhampa Lakhang, Thupchen Lakhang, Choprang gompa, and Chhoeda gompa. These are ancient gompas that went on restoration over the last two decades. The first day of the Tiji festival marks the birth of legend Dorje Jono. He was an incarnation of Buddha, born to a demon who was harassing the kingdom with his evil deed. On the first day, a monk dance called Tsa Chham is performed. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Lo Manthang.

It’s the second day of the Tiji festival and our stay in Lo Manthang. We have plenty of options for the day. In the early morning, we can hike up to Tingkhar, a beautiful village on Lo's northwest side. There are a king’s summer palace and Mustang's largest monastery perched on a hilltop just above the Namgyal village. In the afternoon, we present ourselves in the king’s palace to see the banishment of demons amidst the loud cries and firing of muskets, which is a part of the act in the festival celebration. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Lo Manthang.

In the early morning, we get ready for a short and scenic hike. We can also climb up to a viewpoint on a hilltop north of Lo Manthang, where we can applaud some beautiful views of mountains. In the afternoon, we present ourselves in the king’s palace for the Tiji festival celebration. We enjoy the acts and rituals performed in the palace and enjoy our day. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Lo Manthang.

After three days of long exploration and celebration in Lo Manthang, it’s time to embark on our journey back. However, we take a different route on our journey back to Jomsom. Leaving Lo Manthang, we take a trail that climbs up steeply to a pass called Chogo La Pass at an elevation of 4230 meters from the sea level. From the pass, we walk downhill to Ghar Gompa at an elevation of 3920 meters. It is an old gompa with beautifully carved and painted stones. The gompa dates back to the 8th century, and it is believed that it fulfills prayers with no doubt in this gompa.  We explore the gompa and drop along a steep path to Drakmar. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Drakamar.

After breakfast, we start our day with a gentle climb up to Syangboche La at an elevation of 3850 meters above sea level. Then we retrace our steps back to Bhena La and then to Beg La, admiring the spectacular views of mountain ranges visible from the passes. Finally, we come back to the village of Samar. From Samar, our trail descends to Chuksang. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Chuksang.

It’s the last day of our walking journey. After breakfast, we slowly move ahead, following the Kaligandaki River. We retrace our steps back to Kagbeni at the Annapurna Conservation Project office. After lunch on the way, we walked back to Jomsom, where we had started our trekking journey earlier. Tonight, we spend our time at a guesthouse in Jomsom.

Today, after breakfast at the guesthouse, we take an early flight to Pokhara. Upon arrival, we will transfer you to a hotel in Pokhara. We can use the day exploring Pokhara. Visiting lakeside and sightseeing around some important places can be a great option for the day. Tonight, spend your time at the hotel in Kathmandu.

Today, we drive back to Kathmandu. From breakfast at the hotel, we catch and a vehicle that will drive us back to Kathmandu. We follow the same scenic route along Prithvi Highway to Kathmandu. Upon arrival, we will transfer you to a hotel in Kathmandu. Tonight, spend your time at the hotel in Kathmandu.

Today, fly home from Kathmandu or continue your travel to some other destinations around the globe. We will drop you at the airport three hours before your scheduled flight. We hope you had a great time with us.