Nepal is divided into 75 districts and Mustang, one of the 75 districts, sits at an altitude of 12,600ft and lies in the North-West part of Nepal. The district straddles the Himalayas and extends northward onto the Tibetan plateau. Mustang is popular for adventurous trekking and natural scenery where as Muktinath,Mustang is a sacred place for both Hindus and Buddhists located in Muktinath Valley
On Feb 19th, 8 of us including my parents; reached Kathmandu domestic airport to take the 20 minute flight to Pokhara. If we were to drive; it would have taken us about 5-6 hours to travel 204 km/127 miles. Our flight was delayed due to poor visibility, so when we reached Pokhara airport it was about noon. We had traveled from an altitude of 4,593 ft in Kathmandu to 2,713 ft in Pokhara.
We picked up our luggage and headed to the Jeep which was waiting for us in the airport. We got the bags loaded on top of the Jeep and headed to our destination Jomson, Mustang. The Jeep we got had three rows of seats, 2 rows faced front and the back seats faced sideways. Somehow 3 of us managed to sit on the back seats, while others sat on the seats facing forward.The drive started out okay.
As we crossed Baglung district at 3,346 ft elevation, the unpaved roads started and it started to get rockier. We were driving uphill on the rocky mountains.The Jeep was jumping left and right, and all of us inside were getting jolted every second, yet we managed to laugh at each other. The roads were scary but the views were beautiful. The terrain of the road was such that the; road was on the edge of the rocky mountains and a river was running parallel to the road.
As we reached closer to Jomson, Mustang at an elevation of 8,999 ft, it started to get dark. Driving in the mountains in Nepal you can only go so fast, we were only traveling 0.6 miles every 10 minutes. As we reached closer to the hotel where we were staying at in Jomsom, in the pitch dark road; the driver said "I think we are lost. This looks like the way to go back. Let me call my uncle". A few minutes later, the driver’s uncle guided us; by turning on the headlight from the correct road.
After reaching the hotel we all got fresh then went downstairs to have dinner. While waiting for our dinner we discussed our plan for the next day. We planned to leave at 6 am the next day. Early in the morning, before leaving the hotel, we went out to the Terrace to see the outside view. When I saw the view I was speechless, finally so close to Mountains. We took every chance to take pictures of those breathtaking views, and I don’t think I will ever have enough of them.
We started our journey as the sun came out, we saw more of the Mystical and beautiful Mustang. Some of the mountains were just rocky, while some looked like the Grand Canyon. After traveling for; 3 hours,a 14 mile road, we reached our destination Muktinath, Mustang at an altitude of 12171 ft. As we were climbing to go to the temple, I enjoyed the view of mountains; the clouds from the mountains looked as if they were smoking into the brilliant blue sky.
On Feb 19th, 8 of us including my parents; reached Kathmandu domestic airport to take the 20 minute flight to Pokhara. If we were to drive; it would have taken us about 5-6 hours to travel 204 km/127 miles. Our flight was delayed due to poor visibility, so when we reached Pokhara airport it was about noon. We had traveled from an altitude of 4,593 ft in Kathmandu to 2,713 ft in Pokhara.
We picked up our luggage and headed to the Jeep which was waiting for us in the airport. We got the bags loaded on top of the Jeep and headed to our destination Jomson, Mustang. The Jeep we got had three rows of seats, 2 rows faced front and the back seats faced sideways. Somehow 3 of us managed to sit on the back seats, while others sat on the seats facing forward.The drive started out okay.
As we crossed Baglung district at 3,346 ft elevation, the unpaved roads started and it started to get rockier. We were driving uphill on the rocky mountains.The Jeep was jumping left and right, and all of us inside were getting jolted every second, yet we managed to laugh at each other. The roads were scary but the views were beautiful. The terrain of the road was such that the; road was on the edge of the rocky mountains and a river was running parallel to the road.
As we reached closer to Jomson, Mustang at an elevation of 8,999 ft, it started to get dark. Driving in the mountains in Nepal you can only go so fast, we were only traveling 0.6 miles every 10 minutes. As we reached closer to the hotel where we were staying at in Jomsom, in the pitch dark road; the driver said "I think we are lost. This looks like the way to go back. Let me call my uncle". A few minutes later, the driver’s uncle guided us; by turning on the headlight from the correct road.
After reaching the hotel we all got fresh then went downstairs to have dinner. While waiting for our dinner we discussed our plan for the next day. We planned to leave at 6 am the next day. Early in the morning, before leaving the hotel, we went out to the Terrace to see the outside view. When I saw the view I was speechless, finally so close to Mountains. We took every chance to take pictures of those breathtaking views, and I don’t think I will ever have enough of them.
We started our journey as the sun came out, we saw more of the Mystical and beautiful Mustang. Some of the mountains were just rocky, while some looked like the Grand Canyon. After traveling for; 3 hours,a 14 mile road, we reached our destination Muktinath, Mustang at an altitude of 12171 ft. As we were climbing to go to the temple, I enjoyed the view of mountains; the clouds from the mountains looked as if they were smoking into the brilliant blue sky.
About 40 minutes of walking and climbing stairs; we reached the Muktinath temple; which half of us;had only seen in pictures and heard from our families. It has 108 taps around the temple and the number carries great significance in Eastern philosophy. We all washed our face in those 108 taps, freezing cold water, , visited the temple and we headed back to get our breakfast.The restaurant where we had breakfast served Yak momos which are steamed dumplings, one of the famous and most loved food in Nepal.
We spent about an hour and then drove to visit Kagbeni, Mustang, the village famous for apples in the Annapurna region, which sits at an altitude of 9186.3 ft. We stopped at Yac Donald restaurant, which is owned by our family friends. The restaurant/hotel was nicely decorated. After having lunch, Dara dai, a family friend, took us for the Kagbeni village tour. We learned a lot about the village but; I wish we had an extra day to spend there. Soon we drove back to our hotel and started getting ready to leave for Pokhara; the next day.
We had to reach Pokhara airport by 1pm so we started our drive at 3:45 am. The driver took the shortcut roads by driving through the river. It was about 7 or 8 am when we first stopped for breakfast and a bathroom break. The view in that place was amazing, with mountains on both sides, the sun was rising from the middle of them, the sun rays hitting the mountains were like; rays of golden thread shining through the snowman’s head. As we reached closer to the airport, we stopped to have lunch around 11am. By 1:30 pm, we were at the airport. We were able to get into an early flight; and all of us were happy to be going home to Kathmandu on a 20 minute flight.
It was a very fun trip with the family. The few things I wished I was able to do was spend more time in Kagbeni, Mustang, trek from Jomson to Muktinath, and also take a flight from Jomsom, Mustang to Pokhara, in a tiny 18 seater plane which flies from the middle of two mountains. One last thing I wanted to do was Yoga at the 12,171 ft altitude, especially the Dancing Shiva pose to express my joy of reaching the beautiful Mustang.
Our 3 day trip left us with lots of beautiful memories, traveling from 2700 ft to 12171 ft altitude, in the rocky roads with spectacular views.I also had the experience driving through the river. And this experience made me realize Nepal is more beautiful than I had imagined.
Below are some of the vidoes, where one can see the Jeep being driven on the river and the rocky mountain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qsQ_xEys6M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSTyxpsSqps (Scary road,edge of the mountains,river running parallel)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB279QIg_jE (Jeep crossing the river)
