Pawan Bhattarai · Updated on October 8, 2026

The Old Kingdom of Mustang, Nepal: Upper and Lower

Mustang is a district in north central Nepal. It was a kingdom in its own right until 1950, and it is split in two by law. Lower Mustang is open. Upper Mustang sits inside a restricted zone, and its permit costs USD 50 per person per day on top of the ordinary conservation area permit.

That division decides almost everything. Where you can go, what it costs in days rather than money, and how far ahead the paperwork has to start. This guide sets out both halves, the permits each one needs, and when the weather actually favours you. Who this guide is for: travellers choosing between Upper and Lower Mustang, and anyone weighing whether Upper Mustang is worth the permit and the fortnight it takes. It assumes you are planning a private trip rather than joining a group departure.

• Best for: a first visit to Mustang, or a second Nepal trip after Annapurna or Everest.
• When to use it: while you are still deciding which half to visit, and before any permit is filed, because the restricted area paperwork has a lead time.
• Less useful if: your dates and permits are already fixed, or you are walking the Annapurna Circuit and passing through Jomsom without stopping.

Permit figures were checked against the issuing bodies in September 2026. Fees in Nepal change by government notice rather than on a schedule, so confirm them again before you file.

Key takeaways

• Two halves, two rule books. Lower Mustang is open. Upper Mustang is a restricted zone, and the line between them is drawn at ward level.
• Permits. Everyone needs the Annapurna conservation permit. Upper Mustang needs a second one on top, at USD 50 per person per day.
• Time. Lower Mustang works from one base in about a week. Upper Mustang is four days on foot to Lo Manthang, so a fortnight once flights and a buffer day are counted.
• Season. The rain shadow inverts the Nepali calendar. Monsoon works here. Winter is the one to avoid.
• The decision. If you want a walled capital that was closed within living memory, it is Upper. If you want the Kali Gandaki, Muktinath and a single base, it is Lower.

Where Mustang is, and why it looks nothing like the rest of Nepal

Mustang lies north of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri massifs, along the Kali Gandaki. The Nepal Tourism Board calls this the Himalayan rain shadow. The mountains take the monsoon before it arrives. So while the rest of the country sits under cloud all summer, Mustang stays dry. The Board lists it as one of the few regions in Nepal fit for trekking even in the monsoon.

The result is high desert. Ochre cliffs, wind, and a Tibetan Buddhist culture that looks north rather than south. The map says Nepal. Almost everything else says Tibet.

Upper and Lower Mustang are not the same trip

The two halves differ in access, paperwork, altitude and time. Most confusion about Mustang comes from treating them as one place.

Lower Mustang can be done from one base. Jomsom has an airstrip, and Kagbeni, Marpha, Jharkot and Muktinath are each reached and returned from inside a day. You unpack once.

Upper Mustang cannot. The Nepal Tourism Board puts the walk to Lo Manthang at four days at the least. Our guide to Upper Mustang covers the permit, the road and the walking decision in full. It advises one more day there for sightseeing. Add the return. That is a fortnight once flights and a weather buffer are counted.

The permits, and what they actually cost

The short answer is two documents, issued by two different bodies.

Both figures come from the issuing bodies. The conservation fee is published by the National Trust for Nature Conservation. It also notes that restricted areas inside the conservation area need Department of Immigration approval as well. The restricted area rate is listed by the Nepal Tourism Board.

The restricted zone is drawn at ward level, not along a line on a tourist map. It covers three rural municipalities in part:

• Lomanthang Rural Municipality, wards 1 to 5
• Lo-Ghekar Damodarkunda Rural Municipality, wards 1 to 5
• Baragung Muktichetra Rural Municipality, ward 3 and Satang village of ward 5

Everything outside those lines is ordinary Annapurna Conservation Area.

Three rules travel with the restricted permit. None of them are optional:

• Trekking anywhere except the specified area or route is a violation of law.
• The permit must be carried while trekking.
• It must be shown to immigration staff or police on request.

A traveller cannot apply alone. A registered agency has to file it. The lead time is real, so dates come first and paperwork follows. Our guide to Nepal trekking permits covers the general system, including the TIMS card and the guide requirement.

The kingdom, and how long it was closed

Until 1950 Mustang was a separate kingdom inside Nepal’s borders, by the Nepal Tourism Board’s dating. Lo Manthang was its capital, and it remains a walled settlement rather than a ruin, still lived in. The dynastic timeline ran longer than that single date suggests, and we set it out in full there.

The closure lasted decades. The Nepal Tourism Board dates the opening to non-Nepali trekkers to 1994. The restricted status that followed kept Upper Mustang out of the trekking circuit, in a way Annapurna never was. Far fewer people have stood in Lo Manthang than at Everest Base Camp.

When to go, and the one season to avoid

In short, the rain shadow inverts the usual Nepali calendar. Summer works here. Winter does not.

The Nepal Tourism Board is direct about it. Mustang gets cold in winter and is always windy, and it advises against winter treks because of the weather. That leaves a long usable season from spring through autumn, with monsoon a genuine option rather than a compromise.

The wind is the constant. It funnels up the Kali Gandaki and builds through the morning. That is why the Pokhara to Jomsom flight leaves early, and why it is cancelled outright when the weather closes in. Anyone flying out of Nepal on a fixed date needs a buffer day. For how this fits the rest of the country, see the best time to trek in Nepal.

Altitude, and why it is not the hard part

Muktinath sits just under 3,800m, and that is the high point of most Lower Mustang itineraries. Jomsom is lower, and the valley floor lower still.

Those are moderate numbers by Nepali standards. The trouble is not the ceiling. It is the approach: a flight that gains height fast, then a road or a walk that keeps going. Basing several nights low in the valley before moving up to Muktinath does more for how the trip feels than any amount of fitness.

What a visit actually asks of you

Lower Mustang asks for about a week and no special status. Upper Mustang asks for a fortnight, an agency, a government escort and a daily fee that runs while you are inside the zone.

Neither is harder in the climbing sense. They are different trades. One buys you the Kali Gandaki, Muktinath and the Nilgiri wall from a single base. The other buys you a walled capital that was closed to outsiders within living memory, and it charges in days.

What the valley teaches you about building an itinerary

Two things shape how we plan Mustang, and both come from the valley rather than a brochure.

The Jomsom flight is the first. It leaves Pokhara early because the wind builds through the morning, and it is cancelled outright when the weather closes in. So we put a buffer day before any international departure. For example, a guest flying home from Kathmandu on a Sunday is back off the mountain by Friday, not Saturday. Guests who treat that day as spare are usually the ones who end up needing it.

The second is pace. Muktinath sits just under 3,800m while the valley floor is far lower, so the obvious move is to drive up and come straight back down. We base guests five nights in the valley instead, then reach Muktinath, Kagbeni and Marpha as day trips. Unpacking once is the comfort argument. Arriving acclimatised is the real one.

For how Mustang fits inside a wider itinerary, and what the word luxury should mean here, see our guide to a Nepal luxury tour. Far Ridge Collective is a Nepali owned luxury tour operator in the Nepal travel industry, running private guided journeys in Mustang and the wider Himalaya, capped at five guests. In our experience the Mustang decision turns on time and permits far more often than on budget. Our Kingdom of Mustang journey is the Lower Mustang itinerary, based in the valley below Jomsom. Upper Mustang is arranged on enquiry, because the permit, the escort and the season have to be settled before an itinerary means anything.

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Pawan Bhattarai

Pawan Bhattarai co-founded Far Ridge Collective, a Nepal-only operator of private treks, tours and wellness journeys. He has five years of experience in trekking and tour operations in Nepal, and he has walked the routes he writes about rather than researching them from a desk.He also comes from technology and content, which shows in how the guides on this site are put together. Where a figure appears, it has been traced back to the Nepal Tourism Board, the National Trust for Nature Conservation or another primary source. On the ground, journeys are led by Far Ridge's expert guides.