Mustang Trek 2008,
By Malcolm

Many of you (especially those who have been to the Himalaya before) have asked me for a report on our trip to Mustang - Nepal's "Forbidden Kingdom", and probably the last untouched frontier on earth.

We returned from Nepal only yesterday so let me give you some feed-back while the memories are still fresh in my mind!

Nothing on the Internet, or in the published literature on Mustang, could ever have prepared us adequately for this amazing journey!

Surprises awaited us on every turn.

The Mustang terrain consists of a maze of crumbling canyons, with the earth ranging in colour from chalky white, to yellow ochre, to bronze, to steel grey... even to blood red - a land of vibrant colours, reflected in the brightly painted chortens, mahne-walls, monasteries and private dwellings of the local people.

In many places, the ground (now an eroded alluvial plain, raised 6000 metres above an ancient ocean bed), was strewn with ammonite fossils - fossilized sea creatures that lived 150 millions years before the Himalayan chain was formed, and which are three times older than the Himalaya themselves! These were there for the picking.

Mustang (governed by Nepal, and therefore untouched by the Chinese) is an enclave where pure Buddhism has flourished for over 600 years, and where Western influence has hardly penetrated. Until recently, the people of Mustang believed the earth to be flat, and only discovered the wheel very recently. Even to this day, many families practise polyandry - a woman being married to all the brothers of one family to prevent the fragmentation of family property.

We visited ancient cave monasteries tucked away in remote corners, which contained exquisite art; fortresses and castles; look-out towers; king's palaces; ancient armouries, where we could handle the weapons from a bygone era; and "libraries" which contained ancient Tibetan sacred texts embossed in pure gold.

On occasions we passed through blistering hot canyons, where eggs could be fried on the rocks, only to find ourselves two hours later summiting a mountain pass (bedecked with colourful fluttering prayer flags) where our faces where stung by freezing rain and sleet. The surrounding high mountains were blanketed in snow, and in the distance we often caught sight of the gleaming summit of Nilgiri (a superb peak belonging to the Annapurna massive), and Annapurna 1 itself - the first 8,000-metre mountain to be climbed. Surprisingly, we had a fair amount of rain.

Each afternoon we reached a remote village where we could overnight. These villages are really "oases" in a wilderness of sand, grit and gravel - each village a thriving, self-sustained community surrounded by verdant terraced fields of buckwheat, maze and wheat standing three to four feet tall (we were there at harvest time). Irrigation from high mountain streams has made agriculture and animal husbandry possible, and peach and apple orchards abounded. Fresh vegetables could be purchased along the way. The people were warm, friendly and accommodating - people who, in spite of their many hardships, have laughter in their eyes. Sometimes they gave us apples as a goodwill gesture as we passed through their villages.

On some occasions, on arriving at our camp sites (after having spent the day ploughing through a harsh, desolate landscape), we were surprised to find our tents pitched amid a riot of flowers - pink and white cosmos, purple sweetpeas and orange and red poppies! At 4000 metres (13,000 feet), where the air and the water are sweet and clean, flowers grow to twice their normal size. The huge trees in the villages surprised us too - gnarled old trunks, sometimes with a girth which exceeded 6 metres - evidence that Mustang once enjoyed a more benign climate! Sometimes we passed through alpine meadows sprinkled with wild flowers, and with crystal clear streams tumbling from the heights above.

Still on a positive note, EcoTrek's support crew were amazing. The food was excellent (we marvelled at what our cooks could produce on kerosene stoves); the team members full of fun, efficient and always willing to help; and our guide knowledgeable and highly effective. We had a train of 10 pack horses to carry the loads, and lend an element of drama to our photographs as they negotiated the precipitous pathways!

After 7 days trekking we entered the fabled walled city of Lo Mangang, built in the 13th century. Here, two full days had been allowed for exploration.

The only entrance to the city is through a huge wooden door located to the east of the township. In earlier times, this gate was closed before dusk and opened at dawn, but the rule is no longer in practice. Tradition still holds, however, that everyone, except the King and Queen, dismounts his or her horse while passing through the gate.

On our first day we hired horses and went on a long pony trek to a distant village where we visited the Chhoser cave where a whole village once lived. This man-made dwelling, consisting of 40 rooms burrowed into the solid rock of the mountain and standing 5 stories high, goes back to 1500 BC! Pottery and utensils, dating back many centuries, were on view.

On the second day we travelled in a westerly direction to a Monastic Boarding School for young boys aged 5 to 10 years. In the afternoon we were invited to have tea with the King and Queen! (The "crown" traces its lineage back to the 13th century!)

For the return journey we crossed the Kali Gandaki, and travelled south on the Eastern side of the river with spectacular views of the route we had taken to Lo Manthang. Across the valley, every little village could be seen as if in miniature. The terrain was highly challenging, however. Our first day's march took 12 hours (we visited Luri Gompa in the afternoon), and on our second day we climbed a 920 metres / 3,000 feet pass in four hours, only to discover at the top that our overnight camp was still 20 kilometres away! We estimated the entire journey (15 days of ups and downs) to be approximately 220 kilometres in length - at high altitude, of course, and over very rough terrain! So this trip is really suitable only for serious walkers!

What, then, of the future?

Personally, I have fallen with love with Mustang, and want to return. When? Perhaps in 2009 or 2010 - depending on how soon we can put another group together. Costs are high (there is a high premium to be paid for the permit) but in spite of this, I believe that in the future Summit Ventures will be offering this trip on a regular basis.

Interested?

If so, just let me know, and I will keep you informed of all future plans!

Thanks for your patience,

MALCOLM