Muktinath Small Trek

The small trek to the area of Jomsom, Kagbeni and Muktinath (Ranipawua), is one of our favourites. It opens a very different dimension of Nepal, surprising, in the middle of a hard, dry and incredible landscape. The route brings us closer to the Mustang (administratively it belongs to the Lower Mustang), a territory that was an independent kingdom linked to Tibet and, although Nepal is now a republic, the royal family of the Kingdom of Lo (as the Mustang was called) still lives there and enjoys respect from the community.

The land here is arid, with beautiful ochre and yellow colours, with patches of intense green in the oases that have created the crops in the small villages. The buildings are clearly Tibetan style, with flat roofs, and are usually painted white, with stains or strips of grey, blood and black, while the Gompas (temples) stand out for their reddish tone. Some elements, such as animal skulls or certain decorations in the houses and temples date back to superstitions older than the Bön religion, currently a branch within Buddhism.

And if anyone wants more, from Muktinath you can climb the Thorung-La pass at 5416 meters of altitude and the highest point of the circuit of the Annapurna… and the possibility of taking a tea in the highest tea shop in the world. Although it has no technical difficulties with good weather conditions, it is an ascent for both physically and mentally prepared people, since it walks up a positive slope of 1700 meters and takes about 7 hours of ascent plus 4 or 5 hours of descent. This option would imply one more day in the program.

As it is in the “shadow” area of the monsoon since Annapurna stops the clouds, it rains less during this season, so it is more in its favour.

But for someone who does not want to, or cannot, walk, the whole route is connected by a rough road, so the tour can be done by jeep or bus. Anyway, the route of the trek does not follow the road, so if you do the route by car you do not pass by Puthak, Jhong and Lupra.

A very interesting option is not to return by plane and to return from Jomsom to Pokhara by bus or jeep following the track that runs next to the Kali Gandaki, in two days of journey and with an interesting stop in Tatopani where a hot spring water pool next to the river is waiting for us.

As with all our routes, the itinerary can be personalized and adapted to the taste, needs and preferences of the traveller, especially about the stay in Nepal outside the trek. You can opt for the complete trip or just the exclusive trek and travel on your own in Nepal.