Upper Mustang Trek - 15 Days

You will be arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, where our representative will be receiving you. On the trip departure day, at around 7 am, we will head to Pokhara on a tourist bus from Kathmandu. 

We offer a free Kathmandu TIA (Tribhuvan International Airport) airport pick-up and drop-off service. Upon your arrival, you will find our company representative at your arrival gate holding a pamphlet with your name on it. They will then transfer you to your hotel in a private vehicle. Similarly, during your departure, our representative will receive you at your hotel and take you to Tribhuvan International Airport in a private vehicle. 

This fifteen-day trek includes twelve nights of lodge-to-lodge stay at trek regions and two nights in a hotel in Pokhara. You will be staying in the best available lodges. We provide ten nights rooms with attached bathrooms at Kagbeni, Jomsom, Syangboche, Ghami(2N), Tsarang, Lo Manthang (2N), Chhusang, Muktinath. Two nights standard room at Samar, Chele (twin sharing basis).

You will spend two nights at a hotel in Pokhara in a room with an attached bathroom, TV, 24-hour hot water, power, and laundry facility.

For solo trekkers, we will arrange a single private room with an attached bathroom in available lodges and single private accommodation in other places.

You will require two nights of hotel stays in Kathmandu before and after the trek, but it is not included in the package. Kathmandu has a wide range of hotels for all budgets and interests. 

Note:- Lunch and dinner at Pokhara are not included in the package.

Since you will be hiking in high elevations, you will need plenty of nutritious food. We will provide you with enough nutritious, tasty, and hygienic food in the best hotels/restaurants, but your choices will get shorter and shorter as we trek in higher elevations. 

This trek package includes 14 breakfasts, 13 lunches, and 13 dinners.

Some of the popular menu items are:

Fourteen breakfasts - Oatmeal, Corn Flakes, French toast with Jam, Butter, Cheese, Honey Tibetan bread or Chapati, Local Tsampa porridge, Eggs, Pancakes, Muesli Breads, Fruits, and Vegetables, Hot drinks (varieties of teas and coffees, hot chocolates, etc.)

Thirteen lunches - Dhal, Bhat, & Tarkari, Tibetan Bread, Various Soups, Sherpa Stew, Steaks, Sandwiches, Momo (dumplings), Macaroni dishes, Tenduk Spaghetti Noodles, Thukpa, Pasta, Vegetable curry, Potatoes, Vegetables, Salad Pizza (Tomato, Mushroom, Mixed), Snacks (Papad, Prawn), Desserts, (Rice Pudding, Apple pie), etc

Thirteen dinners -  Dhal, Bhat & Tarkari, Tibetan Bread, Various Soups, Sherpa Stew, Steaks, Sandwiches, Momo (dumplings), Macaroni, Tenduk Spaghetti, Noodles Thukpa, Pasta, Vegetable curry, Potatoes items, Vegetable and salad Pizza (Tomato, Mushroom, Mixed), Snacks (Papad, Prawn), Korean Ramen, Desserts items (Rice Pudding, Apple pie), Hard Drinks, Steaks, etc

We recommend you take fresh vegetables and liquids - hot lemon, green tea, lemon tea, ginger tea, and garlic soup (must) at high elevations.

Though plenty of non-veg items are available at trek regions, we do not recommend them, because of meat quality concerns. We also encourage you to avoid dairy and stay away from alcoholic drinks, caffeinated items, and hot chocolates at high elevations.

Note:- This package does not include lunch and dinner at Pokhara (before flying to Jomsom). 

The weather is the decisive factor while deciding to trek to Upper Mustang. People trek to Upper Mustang throughout the year, but the trek is easier and more enjoyable in certain seasons. If you are looking for comfort and views, summer and autumn treks are the best. During winter, most residents leave Upper Mustang to avoid cold and snow. 

Spring (March-May) is a season when mountain lovers and travel enthusiasts come to trek to Upper Mustang in large numbers. In this season, the climate is mild, with daytime temperatures between 16 to 22 °C Celsius. However, nights are colder as the temperatures can dip to below 0°C Celsius. 

June to August is the summer season in Nepal, but it also coincides with the monsoon. However, there is no monsoon in Upper Mustang, which makes summer a perfect season to trek to Upper Mustang. On an August full moon day, the locals at Upper Mustang celebrate a horse festival. The temperature during summer ranges from 16 to 25°C. The night temperature range from -3 to 0°C.

Like in other parts of Nepal, the autumn skies in the Upper Mustang are clear, providing great views of the mountains, but afternoons can be windy. The daytime temperature range from 12 to 20°C, while the nights are cold at -8 to -4 °C.

The trekking season is over by November. The villagers will migrate to other regions to avoid the cold, so the lodges are closed. In addition, the snow covers the trails making treks almost impossible.

This trek package includes one day of rest in Lo Manthang for proper acclimatization to avoid altitude sickness. Altitude sickness is preventable but can be fatal if you ignore the symptoms. 

We have designed our itinerary for slow and steady ascending so the body can adapt to the new altitude. All our trekking leaders/guides have extensive first-aid training and are well-experienced. Our crew will frequently use oximeters to monitor your blood oxygen level at high altitudes. We urge all trekkers to inform their group leaders as soon as the first sign of altitude sickness shows up. 

We guarantee that your health will be in reliable hands. Your trek leader or guide will also suggest precautions. The best way is to take your time while trekking and drink plenty of water every day. If altitude sickness is severe, the only cure is to descend immediately. Please note that your group leader has the authority to decide whether to stop the ascent if altitude sickness shows up. It is essential to keep in mind that some people are more vulnerable than others.

This is a moderate-grade trek. The hiking is generally 4 to 7 hrs a day, with regular breaks to appreciate the stunning mountain views. Past hiking experience would be an advantage, but no technical experience or skills are necessary. Trekkers who can hike 5 to 6 hours a day, at a reasonable pace, with a light day pack can complete this trek.

So you should be reasonably fit and prepared for long treks. Trekking at high altitudes is more physically demanding than trekking at lower altitudes. 

To enhance stamina, exercising and jogging regularly for a couple of weeks before the trip is a good idea. Please note that the fitter you are, the more you can enjoy the trek. To join our Upper Mustang Trek, you should be in good health and have a positive attitude, self-confidence, and strong determination. Participants with sensitive pre-existing medical conditions such as heart, lung, and blood disease should inform us before booking the trek.

We organize group as well as private treks. If you have your group, the bigger your group is, the more discounts you will receive. We can handle all group sizes. For groups of twelve or more, we add an assistant guide. Each trek team will have a guide and porters according to requirements. 

Each day comes with a fresh trekking experience. You will be enjoying the scenery, taking photos, and exploring the local villages. Our experienced, friendly guides/Sherpas will be by your side during the trek. They will also share with you information about the places you will be trekking. 

All of our trek team will consist of porters to carry your luggage. However, we expect you to bring with you a small regular-day bag with essential and valuable items. Each day starts with an early morning hot cup of tea/coffee. After a wholesome breakfast, we start the day's trek around 7 to 8 AM, depending on the duration and nature of the hike. 

After trekking for three to four hours, we will serve lunch around midday on the route to the next destination. After lunch, we will be resting for an hour and then continue on the walk. The afternoon walk is shorter - two to three hours. Once we reach our overnight lodge/tea house/tent, we snack on the extra dietary food and explore nearby places until it gets dark.

We serve dinner around 6 to 7 PM. After dinner and before going to bed, you can indulge in friendly conversations and discuss the experience of that day. Your trek leader/guide will brief you about the next day’s plan. After this briefing, you can read books, watch mountaineering videos, or enjoy games like Monopoly and Cards. Most foreigners indulge in learning light Nepalese words from our crew. 

During the Trek, you can use internet service at the lodges you will be staying in, but it will come with some extra service charge. You can contact your family and friends via the lodges, but once you reach high altitude, we will be communicating through the phone. 

Our Kathmandu office will remain in contact with all the trek teams via the team guide at least once a day to ensure that everything is going on as planned. You can buy a local sim in Kathmandu, but the signals might not be strong enough.

Discovery World Trekking is transparent about the cost involved in all its trekking packages. This package does not include food and lodging costs in Kathmandu. Similarly, lunch and dinner in Pokhara (before taking the flight to Jomsom) are not included. 

Trekkers need personal spending money for visa processing, travel insurance policy purchase, beverages, snacks, tips to crew members, souvenirs, hot showers, mobile and battery recharge, and mineral water. We recommend you bring cash (major currencies) and exchange for Rupees in Kathmandu. You can also bring your credit card, which you can use to withdraw Nepali Rupees from an ATM (bear in mind your bank may charge for this service). 

Throughout the trek, electricity for the camera and mobile battery recharge is available in all lodges but comes with a service charge.

You can either buy packed mineral water from local lodges and en-route shops or fill your water bottle with boiled water that you can purchase in lodges/teahouses. We also advise you to use water purification pills. 

This trip grade is moderately difficult. It comes with high-altitude trekking risks such as potential altitude sickness and other unforeseen events. Hence travel insurance is compulsory. 

All trekkers must provide a copy of their comprehensive travel insurance policy to Discovery World Trekking. The policy must cover medical and emergency repatriation - including helicopter rescue and evacuation expenses at the highest trek altitude.

We can recommend insurance companies according to the experiences of our previous clients. However, we do not sell travel insurance. 

Please send us your detailed insurance information within a week of booking the trek. In case of emergencies, we will use your insurance policy and informational documents to arrange a quick rescue. 

All foreigners except Indians require a visa to enter Nepal. Citizens from most countries receive an arrival visa at the Tribhuvan international airport. The visa application requires a passport with at least 6 months of validity and a passport-size photo. The current visa cost is USD50 for 30 days, which you can pay in cash. 

Citizens of China and the SAARC countries will receive free visas. 

Citizens from Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Cameroon, Somalia, Liberia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan may not receive an arrival visa. If you are a citizen of these countries, contact your local Nepalese embassy.

Visa information may change without notice. Please visit https://immigration.gov.np/ for the latest info. 

Nepali Rupees (NPR/Rs) is the local currency.
(1 USD = ~ Rs.130 NPR).

You can exchange most foreign currencies through local banks and legitimate money exchanges in Kathmandu and all over Thamel. Legal money exchanges display ongoing rates visibly. Please note that only INR notes of 100 and 2,000 are legal in Nepal. 

Despite traveler cheques' security advantage, we recommend you bring cash and exchange them in Kathmandu. This will help you avoid lengthy bank processes and commission rates. 

You can also withdraw cash (in Rupees only) from ATMs in Kathmandu and Thamel. Several of these ATMs are open 24 hours. The maximum withdrawal amount from these ATMs is 35,000 Rupees for a 500 Rupees processing fee using a foreign card.

If you use the money exchange facility at banks and financial institutions, you have to pay a service fee of about four percent or more depending upon the bank.

We assign one porter for every two trekkers to carry luggage. The luggage weight limit per trekker is 9kg. Our porters will not carry more than 18kg of combined weight. We also expect you to bring a small backpack for your valuables and essentials. We advise you to bring only the basics, you can leave the excess luggage either at your hotel or at the Discovery World Trekking store for free. 

We guarantee your safety and security. We take several precautions to ensure your safety. During the trek, we will be carrying all the necessary gear, equipment, and first aid kits. Our trek leaders/guides have completed extensive wilderness first aid training. If a trekker falls sick, the trek leader has the authority to decide whether to continue to trek forward or descend immediately. Furthermore, we will hike as a group.