Biking Nepal's Wild West: Upper Mustang

Unpsoiled Tibetan culture - many believe Mustang is the last TRUE vestige of Tibetan culture... Spectacular, and out of this world, landscape... And SUPER friendly people. This is Mustang for you. It is by pure co-incidence I had packed Seven Years in Tibet to read while on this trip. Our trip to Tibet had just recently been cancelled as China had stopped issuing permits as they were celebrating the "60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet". So our two time client, Joelle Koster (she had previously done the Ultimate Everest Trek with us), and I decided to go to Upper Mustang as it was in the rain-shadow region and it was the best substitute for Tibet in Nepal.

As plans for the trek were being formulated at our base in Kathmandu, I decided why trek it when one can mountain-bike it? After all 90% of the dirt road connecting Jomsom to Tibet via Mustang is already complete. While we did get off the main motor road, even in "high traffic" when the whole road is complete I doubt that more than three motor vehicles will pass by on any given day.

While I did expect to be pushing and carrying my bike I hadn't anticipated the great thrill that was in store for me on the downhills. The highlight of the trip for me definitely was the section from the Thorung Pass to Muktinath. Another highlight was riding a horse from Lo Manthang to explore the caves of Mustang. Joelle and I became part of an exclusive club: we were two of fifteen or so people who have seen this medieval cave painting which is located in a secretive location with very difficult access. On this excursion, we were also lucky to sight some blue sheep. Perched on a cliff, a flock of blue sheep, looked at us for an instant and then headed straight down the cliff which was at least 75 degrees. I have never seen any animal that is more sure-footed in these high mountains. They have to be, given that their main predator - the elusive snow-leopard - is lurking very close by.

Recently Pete Athens and his team who were exploring the caves found wall paintings and manuscripts dating back many centuries. Check out the PBS video on their trip and findings in Mustang: http://video.pbs.org/video/1336049754/#

Grand Asian Journeys offers a couple of tours in Mustang including a biking tour. We can also customize trips for two or more participants.

1) Biking Nepal's Wild West: Upper Mustang
2) Mustang: The Kingdom of Lo Manthang

If you’re interested in visiting Bhutan, please contact our Nepal specialist Jwalant Gurung by email at jwalant@grandasianjourneys.com or at 888-586-7750.