Mustang Region Trekking

The restricted area of Upper Mustang looks like Tibet, and its people live like Tibetans. The landscape here has the lunar quality of the trans-Himalaya, with no trees, dramatic ochre cliffs, biting blue skies, and fierce winds that pick up during the day. The distinctive buildings with their grey, white, ochre and yellow stripes (all natural rock pigments) are a legacy of the Sakya school of Buddhism practised here, and the packed earth, sun-baked bricks, and large boulders are brought together to form remarkably sophisticated structures such as the walled capital city of Lo Manthang with its high palace. Upper Mustang has always had a considerable amount of autonomy, even as it has at various points accepted the suzerainity of Tibet and Nepal. The Lobas, as inhabitants of this area (locally known as 'Lo') are called, have for centuries been successul, urbane international traders. Upper Mustang is also notable for having some of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in Nepal, which house exceptional artwork. And finally, Upper Mustang is hisorically interesting for another reason too - the fearsome Khampa warriors from Tibet, many trained and armed by the CIA, chose this area as the staging post for their activities against the Chinese in Tibet in the 1960s.