By eleven in the morning the wind arrives in the Kali Gandaki valley. You will hear it before you feel it: a dry hiss through the poplars at Jomsom, then grit against the jeep window, then every scarf in the vehicle pulled up over every nose. It blows up the valley from the south almost every day, and it has done so for as long as anyone in Thak Khola can remember. Our drivers plan around it. So should you.
This is a letter about the road north, to Muktinath and on to Lo Manthang, written by people who drive it every season. It is not a list of attractions. It is the order things happen in, and what we wish someone had told us the first time.
Pokhara to Jomsom: the long way in
Most of our groups go by road from Pokhara, through Beni and up the gorge past Tatopani and Ghasa. The fields change from rice to buckwheat to nothing much at all. Somewhere after Ghasa the pine forest gives up and the land turns the colour of a biscuit.
The road is rough in places. Landslides after the monsoon are normal, and a jeep day here can mean an hour waiting while a loader clears rubble. Pack patience and a snack. The flight from Pokhara to Jomsom is short and spectacular when it goes, but it only flies in the calm morning hours and cancels often, which is why we treat it as a bonus rather than a plan.
Stop in Marpha if you can. White-washed lanes, apple orchards, and an apple brandy that people either love or regret.
Muktinath: one temple, two faiths
Muktinath sits at roughly 3,800 metres, high enough that the walk up from the jeep park leaves most people breathing hard. Go slowly. There is no prize for arriving first.
Hindu pilgrims come for Vishnu and the 108 stone spouts, where the brave run beneath ice-cold water in a single wet line, and dip in the two kunda pools in front of the temple. Tibetan Buddhists know the same ground as Chumig Gyatsa, and in a small shrine nearby a natural gas flame burns beside running water. Pilgrims from both traditions share the courtyard without fuss. It is one of the quietly moving things about this place.
Many of our Indian and Nepali guests buy shaligram here, the black ammonite fossils from the Kali Gandaki riverbed. They are 150-million-year-old sea creatures sold on a mountainside, which tells you something about how this valley was made.
Muktinath alone is reachable without any special permit for foreigners beyond the ACAP entry, which makes it the easier half of this trip. Our Muktinath tour is built around that pilgrimage, with time for the bath and the prayer rather than a rushed photo.
Kagbeni, and the line on the map
Kagbeni is the gate. Mud-brick houses, a red monastery, a checkpost at the north end of the village. Beyond it lies Upper Mustang, the old Kingdom of Lo, and the rules change.
If you hold a Nepali citizenship card
You do not need the restricted-area permit. Carry your citizenship card, expect checks at Kagbeni and further up, and pay the small conservation area fee. That is it. For Nepali families this has made Lo Manthang a realistic Dashain or spring holiday, and we see more of them every year.
If you hold a foreign passport (including Indian)
You need a Restricted Area Permit on top of ACAP. It currently costs USD 500 per person for the first ten days and USD 50 for each day after. It must be issued through a registered agency, you must travel with a licensed guide, and there must be at least two of you. Indian nationals need it too, even though they need no visa for Nepal. We handle the paperwork, but we need your passport details a few working days ahead. Please do not leave it to the last week.
Is USD 500 worth it for a jeep trip? Honestly, for a short visit it is a lot. Most foreign guests who choose it stay most of the ten days to get the value, and we build the itinerary accordingly.
Lo Manthang
The walled town sits at around 3,800 metres on a plain ringed by eroded cliffs. Inside the walls there are narrow lanes, the old royal palace, goats, children on bicycles, and in the evenings the smell of juniper smoke from kitchen fires.
The monasteries are the reason to linger. Thubchen and Jampa have wall paintings that were restored over years by local craftspeople working with conservators, and the colour in Jampa’s upper chamber stops most people mid-sentence. Bring a torch. The lighting is deliberately dim.
Mornings are the best time. Cold enough to see your breath even in May, perfectly still, light coming low across the plain. By early afternoon the wind is back.
The caves
The cliffs of Mustang are full of holes, some of them thousands of years old: dwellings, meditation cells, burial chambers. Near Chhoser, a short drive from Lo Manthang, you can climb inside a multi-storey cave complex by ladder and notched log. It is cramped, dusty, and very good. People with bad knees should know the ladders are steep. Most of the famous “sky caves” high in the cliff faces are not accessible at all, and should not be.
Tiji: plan a year ahead
Tiji is the three-day masked dance festival held by the monks of Chhoede monastery in the square below the palace. It follows the Tibetan calendar, so the dates move. It usually falls in May, occasionally drifting toward late April or early June. Lodges in Lo Manthang fill months ahead for those three days, and prices rise accordingly.
If Tiji matters to you, tell us early and we will confirm the dates with the monastery calendar before you book flights. If it does not, consider going in September or October instead. Fewer people, clearer skies, harvest in the fields.
What the road has changed
Twenty years ago, Lo Manthang was a long walk from anywhere. Now jeeps reach it in a day from Jomsom, and the road continues to the Chinese border at Korala. Goods are cheaper. Hospital trips are possible. Young people can leave and come back.
The other side is real too. Some trekking lodges along the old trail have gone quiet. Concrete is creeping into a mud-brick town. A few guests arrive expecting a sealed-off medieval kingdom and are disappointed by the motorbikes. We would rather tell you that now.
Our view, for what it is worth: the road is not ours to regret. People here wanted it. What visitors can do is stay in family-run lodges, eat the local barley and buckwheat, hire local, and spend more than one night.
Small practical things
- Altitude: you will sleep above 3,500 metres for several nights. Drink water, skip the beer on the first night up, tell your guide early if your head is pounding.
- Sun and dust: sunglasses, a buff or scarf, lip balm, moisturiser. The air is very dry.
- Cash: ATMs are unreliable past Jomsom. Bring rupees.
- Nights are cold outside the summer months. A good sleeping bag or liner helps even in lodges.
- The jeep ride is bumpy. If you get car-sick, sit in front and say so.
Our full Upper Mustang jeep tour combines Lo Manthang, Chhoser and Muktinath with enough nights to settle in. The Muktinath tour is the shorter, permit-free option if time or budget is tight.
If you are weighing up dates, permits or if your parents will manage the altitude, just ask. Message us on WhatsApp at +977 9851141663 or write to peacejourneytravel@gmail.com, and someone from our Thamel office who has actually been up that road will reply.
