Best trips from May to September in Nepal
Mustang and Tiji Festival
Mustang is best done in summer becuase the area lies on the rain shandows. When the lower part of Mustang like Tatopani, Marpha and Jomsom gets much rain the upper part from Jomsom is perfect and you can trek without any monsoon chaos.
This once forbidden land that has its civilization dates back to 800 BC was opened to limited number of foreign visitors in 1991. The charge to visit is US$500 per person for a minimum of 10 days. This restriction remains until today. The land mass located north of the main Himalayan chain between the snow-capped mountain on the east and west is part of Nepal that had jutted inside Tibet. The trail traverse through dull, dusty, and barren land and, crosses high passes (average 4600m) to the enigmatic land that has ancient monasteries an old fort. When it is wet in the south the weather in Mustang is good for travel from May to September. The historical and interesting sites and villages are located in the middle valley at the elevation of 3300 to 4000 meter. The landmark and sights and culture has remained same as when first time travelers like Tony Hagen, a Swiss geologist, Giuseppe Tucci- an Italian scholar, and Michael Peissel, a French adventurer traveled to Mustang in between 1952 to 1962. The land and people can still mesmerized anyone. Little has changed since then.
You can walk, trek or simply take adventure jeep and bus ride to Lo Manthang. People visit Lo Manthang, capital of Mustang, to see the spectacular land, culture and experience Tiji festival. The festival is celebrated since it’s hey days in this long lost forbidden kingdom. This festival happens from May 31 to June, 02, 2019. We advise early book your Mustang trip because there are limited good rooms in Lo Manthang.
It is amazing to see the landscape that keeps changing with the light of the sun. The panoramic view of Nilgiri and Damodar himal are in the south and east and the dull and gray rolling hills spreads to Tibetan plateau. The houses and monasteries are enclosed in the fortress. It has historic gompas and caves. The fresco painting at the monastery in Tsarang is spectacular. You got to see to believe. And the caves used by people to live long time back is worth a visit. Now it is possible to visit on a luxury jeep, take our overland trip to Mustang from Kathmandu. It is cheaper and only in 11 days you can finish the tour.
The culture is also very different than you find in lower region. They called themselves Bista (Hindu surname) and their ethnicity is Gurung (ethnic of the middle hills) but their way of life style is Tibetan. Many of them have two names – one is Hindu and other is Buddhist.
This old salt trading route of the Trans Himalayan region is bound to change dramatically when the road from north eventually join the highway to Jomsom.
