Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   Travelogues (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/)

-   -   Epic Nepal: The last forbidden kingdom! Upper Mustang & Lo Manthang (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/187038-epic-nepal-last-forbidden-kingdom-upper-mustang-lo-manthang.html)

EPIC - This is an epic and an exclusive trip for a few special reasons. At the time of doing this trip in April 2017 :
1. Gabru is the only vehicle from Mumbai to go to Lo Manthang and to the China border from there.
2. Gabru is probably the only one from Maharashtra to do so.
3. Gabru is probably the only vehicle from India to do so, or atleast in the top 3 vehicles from India to get there.
( I would love anyone to prove me wrong on any of the above 3 if any Indian vehicle did this trip before us)







So it all started in Nov 2016. Snow drive. Yes, Genesis (on this forum) and me decided that we were going to go on a snow drive.
We got our better halves to agree to join us and the plan was made. It was to be in Feb, when we were certain that it will have snowed enough for us make good use of all the 4x4 equipment we had.
Vigorous planning started, however, I was skeptical about the trip happening. You know, that gut feeling. Genesis too sounded - iffy. Nevertheless, we kept ourselves abreast of the weather situation.
The gut feeling was right, life had other plans and our trip plan was postponed at the last minute. We decided to push it to Early April.

I would wake up every morning wondering, what will it be! The urge to do a trip was intense, it had to be an offroad trip.
April came and for many reasons it didn’t look likely that the snow drive would happen.
Genesis chanced upon some pics on Fb of some bikers doing the Manang circuit in Nepal. A little research told us that this would be an intense offroad trip. What else, before we knew it, with renewed vigour our trip planning began all over again.
The wives had backed out due to other commitments and it was down to the two of us and from 2 cars we were down to one – Gabru.

We initially planned to drive to Manang, which from our little research seemed to be bone jarring and challenging. Some more research brought us to the Lo Manthang route. Lo Manthang is a Tibetian village in the Upper Mustang region of Nepal. It is the last bastion of the original surviving Tibetian culture after Tibet was annexed by China and is also one of the last surviving Tibetian villages in Nepal, which may no longer exist in a few years considering that Nepal just signed the OBOR with China and there is word of a highway being built that will wipe out what is left of Lo Manthang. About 25 kms from Lo Manthang is the Nepal border with China. More searching did not help since there was not much information available on most travel forums about driving to Lo Manthang other than some videos on youtube. That added to the motivation of doing this trip.



Access to Lo Manthang is not only difficult, but also expensive for all non Nepal Nationals thereby making it an exclusive and hard to get to for the general tourist. Read on for all details about information and permits for Upper Mustang which are mentioned at the start of the Lo Manthang section.

We live only once and the remoteness and exclusivity of Lo Manthang along with the challenge of getting there was extremely tempting. We dropped plans for Manang and focused on the Lo Manthang plan. All this excitement, inspite of being utterly unsure if we would be able to make it at all. Everything was last minute.
Work and personal commitments for both of us, more for me than Genesis, meant that we were not sure if we were going till 3pm on the day of departure. There was no time to even service or inspect Gabru.


I finished work and called Genesis at 3pm, asking him to prepare to leave and lets leave tonight. The excitement was palpable for both of us. I told Genesis, I will reach his humble abode by 10 pm, then we load up and leave. I reached home at 5:30pm and started packing. My wife, the kind soul that she is had already packed a box of eatables and kept it ready a day in advance in anticipation of the trip. I quickly dumped some clothes in and ran to the local grocery to get 20L Bisleri Jar.
A quick dinner ensued and I though I will catch a short nap. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t happen as I would remember something or the other that I had missed packing. I left home at 9:30pm and reached Genesis’s parking at 10pm.



The man was ready and waiting, sharing the same level of energy and excitement as me. We decided to get dirty first and load all the stuff up.
I realized that the bolts for the stepney carrier on the rear bumper were oversize and the standard oem nuts wouldn’t fit. I never had time to check earlier. That meant that we would have to put the Spare tire from Genesis’s Fortuner on Gabru's roof. We were told to carry spare tires more than any other spare, as tire cuts were guaranteed. So we had 2 stepneys and one spare tire. In addition we had a pair of aluminum sand ladders borrowed from a friend.
We loaded the tires on the roof rack, and all the stuff in the car and it was already midnight. Gabru was loaded and expedition ready. We spent an hour sipping coffee and some excellent chocolate biscuits and then decided to get going. Another 20 mins was spent clicking parting shots before we embarked on what was to be one of our most exciting, fun and memorable drive yet.
Time, time was of the essence, because I had to be back to attend to some urgent matters, we really didn’t have any time to waste on the transit stage, besides the excitement was quite high.



A pic of the cockpit




As we departed from Mumbai at 1am we decided to drive non stop, taking turns. Roads were good throughout and I was quite familiar with the route having used the same route for my Arunachal & Bhutan circuit trips earlier.


Mumbai - Sonauli : 1850 kms - You can call this day 1.04
The route was simple - Mumbai - Nasik - Dhule - Indore - Vidisha - Jhansi - Kanpur - Lucknow - Gorakhpur - Sonauli.



A breakfast stop just before the sun started to come up after crossing Dhule.



After crossing Indore we got onto the 2 lane road towards Vidisha. Here we spotted some fields being burnt in readiness for the monsoon.






Just then i saw that Gabru had crossed the 1 lakh kms mark.clap:



Excellent roads all along. Having done Mumbai Kanpur in 17 hours in the past I was quite sure we could reach Kanpur by 7pm. Just a short while after crossing Jhansi, as I was driving while Genesis was catching a well deserved nap, the engine light popped up and the engine lost power, prompting me to stop. It probably was the dieseltronic acting up, its rare, but this time it did. I pulled over and switched off the ignition and waited a minute before starting again. I planned to stop at the next dhaba and as if agreeing with me, the engine light came up again, just as I approached a dhaba. Promptly, I pulled in and we planned to eat and catch a nap before heading on.
The dhaba was very nice, and as luck would have it, we were lucky to participate in the aarti & inauguration of a Shiva temple attached to the dhaba. Divine intervention I believe, that the engine light popped up prompting me to stop, or else I would’ve driven to Kanpur. Do you believe in blessings?, I do. And I believe these were divine blessings for our trip ahead. As for the engine light, it never showed up again on the entire trip.


The family temple next to the dhaba



Gabru resting at the dhaba.



We had a sumptuous meal and I got a pillow and a chaddar and snoozed off on a khatiya in the dhaba under a starry sky. It couldn’t have been better. Genesis, who had already had a nap was busy chatting with the dhaba owner and nudged me up just before midnight. We had some tea and drove on taking turns to drive till we reached the India border at Sunauli in UP at 5am. It was a 28hr drive from Mumbai to Nepal. The exhaustion of the drive was taken over by the exhilaration of reaching Nepal.

An over 5kms line of trucks on the Indian side before the Nepal border. Acche din has not reached the life of a truckie yet. There are no facilities for them along the 5kms of waiting by the highway. I wonder what about the National toilet plan aka Swacchh Bharat. We didnt see any evidence of it.



And then we saw the big sign - Welcome to Nepal


5kms before the border we were followed by an Indian tout on a bike who said he will charge Rs. 200 for arranging our documentation. We thought it was a small fee to pay to a fellow Indian brother for his service while we waited and relaxed, absorbing the Nepal border experience and enquiring about the roads and other stuff.
Permits for the Gabru were done and we had to drive 3 kms to pay a fee which would enable us to get a receipt. At this point we realized that our Indian agent had conned us of Rs.1000/- in the guise of statutory fees.
We went back to the border, but he was however gone and the Nepalis blamed it squarely on the Indian agent. Sad but true. I believe getting the vehicle permit is not a big task and should be attempted by oneself. We most likely would have done so if we were not tired, however, lesson learnt, we wouldn’t let it sour our experience of driving on.

This shaping up to be a great thread! Epic adventure ahead.
Eagerly waiting for the next bit of the travelogue. :D

Oh man! Clap, clap and clap! My weekend is sorted!

Here i am dreaming about riding to the lower mustang valley and what do we have! Bring it on mate!

Woohoo. This is already sounding as if your Arunachal foray from a couple of years ago was just a stroll in the park. Surely this travelogue is going to make riveting reading and make many a BHPian salivate.

The only trouble is that we all know your posting speed is a small fraction of your driving speed. So we shall honk honk endlessly until the travelogue is finished !

Wov :Shockked:, that's one heck of a drive. Driving from the western border of India to the north east border in 28 hours flat, salute to you jaysmokesleaves & genesis. How much distance was covered in these 28 hours?

I too am now hooked to this thread. Bring it on, spill the beans fast, can't wait any more.

After reading this I was likerl:literally fell off from my sofa. I would let others do the honking as that would make way for me as well (sorry I have run out of my two smiley's limit, so can't add more)

Day 2 : Sonauli to Pokhara:

We left immediately for Pokhara, having arranged to meet our permit agent there. Earlier plans to spend 2 days in Pokhara were cancelled due to lack of time. So we decided to stay 1 night in Pokhara and leave the next day soon as we got the permits.








It was about 2pm we we were hungry as hell and decided to stop for local Nepali food. Found this one small family run restaurant and dropped in. Excellent food, simple fare and very tasty.




Then we stopped for a sim card. Genesis stepped out to find the sim card shop and even managed to get a sim without any id card :uncontrol




Then we spotted a car with MH plates. Most likely in Nepal for Muktinath darshan.



Pokhara is a beautiful touristy town and we stopped to look for directions. While looking around i looked up and saw this - a maze of wires all hung from street poles. Everywhere i looked there were wires.





We got directions to our agent and went to meet him. The agent said he would get to work in the morning and assured us to get the permits in double quick time. Due to the last minute nature of our trip we had not paid him in advance so permits could only be done after we arrived in Pokhara. Also important to note is that the original passport is required for the upper Mustang permit. We were definitely not going to courier passports to Nepal to get permits in advance.


We then proceeded to put up in Hotel Iceland on the main street close to the lake.




A well deserved hot shower and a cozy bed was all we needed and that is exactly what we got at Hotel Iceland.

Watching Gabru from the room.


We decided to step out for dinner and explore the many restaurants around for some good food. Genesis, always spot on with selecting the right restaurant found just the right one with good food and the right ambience. A sumptuous meal later and we walked back to the Hotel and crashed for the night.

It was a lazy morning in Pokhara. We were told we would receive permits by 12pm after which we could drive straight to Kalopani. So while the agent worked on getting our Upper Mustang permits, we walked around and visited Pokhara lake followed by some street window shopping and lunch. We requested the Hotel for an extended checkout to which they very courteously agreed.


It seemed permits would be delayed and the probability of having to stay another night in Pokhara began to emerge. However, we were determined to leave and make the best of the available time. The agent called and said he is arriving with the permits in 30 mins. We quickly checked out of the hotel, met the agent, received our permits. Since there was no guide available at Muktinath we were forced to book a guide from Pokhara. Our agent arranged for a guide to travel from Pokhara 2 days later and meet us straight at Kagbeni to commence the Upper Mustang leg of our journey.


Some uninteresting and lazy clicks around the main street while waiting for the permits.

Arunachal was a very different challenge from this one. Not much information is available about Upper Mustang. Lots of sketchy accounts, a few youtube videos, etc. So we decided to go and find out for our selves. Arunachal is a very difficult place to travel especially considering accommodation etc. Nepal caters to tourists. Arunachal is virgin territory. In Nepal except for Upper Mustand and some other areas, most of Nepal is documented.
Arunachal calls me again, and this time even deeper and more diverse places to discover.

For those who want to test themselves and their vehicles, they must drive these mountains in the monsoon.

Im trying to work on my posting speed this time :D

Distance from Mumbai to Sonauli was approx 1850 kms.
I dont intend to boast, but I have done more distance in lesser time driving solo, but I was very exhausted even before the start of this trip and surely could not have done this trip without a good teammate. It was a very good team achievement with Genesis. Cheers to Genesis.

Wow!! Two veterans making the trip together. Its been a while since i heard from Soumya. I last met him at the Alpha Kilo Challenge 2 and i havent seen you since our Ladakh run in 2011:D

Looking forward to some great narration with amazing pics and videos. Good to see you are working on your posting speed :uncontrol

Rated this 5 stars.

We should plan!!

The drive to Muktinath - The adventure begins

Day - 3 : Pokhara - Beni - Tatopani :

The agent came with the permits at 3pm. We collected our passports, permits and got details of our guide form him.
The guide was from Pokhara since he could not find a guide for us at Kagbeni. So our guide would join us 2 days later at Kagbeni for the onward journey to Upper Mustang.

We quickly tanked up on diesel at the first pump we could find in Pokhara. We didnt fill the jerry can with diesel since Genesis was quite sure we would find fuel at Beni which was also confirmed by our agent earlier. I still had this nasty gut feeling about fuel but decided to go with Genesis's calculation.
Fuel is cheaper in Nepal than in India. Genesis will provide details on that since he was in charge of the finance ministry and kept track of everything. What a blessing that felt like. This role was managed by my wife on other trips so im quite used to not tracking anything other than looking out of the window and enjoying the drive.
However, I can say for sure that accommodation, food and drinks is definitely cheaper than in India compared to the service we get in India. I would even rate it cheaper than what we pay in Bombay for food in a grade 3 restaurant.

The sky was overcast and looked a bit intimidating as we left Pokhara at 3pm. Looked like a storm on the horizon.



Since we were running late, we didn't stop too much. We were not sure how the road would be although we were told that after Beni the roads were BAD.



The roads till Beni are tarred but thin in many places and jams like this are frequent. We waited for about 30 mins.



The drive till Beni was good. By the time we crossed Beni it was dark and the only pump in Beni was shut. I guess they shut at 6pm and we reached later. I looked at the fuel gauge and by my calculation we did not have enough fuel to go to Lo Manthang and come back. So finding fuel ahead was important. Genesis though was confident that we had enough fuel to make a return trip all the way back till Beni and i was very confident that we wouldnt. We were told the next village after Beni had a pump and we should try there.


Trust me the road after Beni doesn’t exist. It was first and second gear all the way till Tatopani. And in the dark it felt like i was driving on some offroad path to hell. Atleast in the night with limited visibility it looked and felt like that.

We reached the next village and the pump was shut and we were told it was out of fuel. That was not a good feeling.
We would now have to buy fuel in black from Jomsom, and some of the people we asked added to my worry since they didnt sound too sure about availability.
Driving in 1st and 2nd gear for 2 hours plus, it was now getting tiring and if this was a sign of things to come, then we definitely needed some rest. Genesis had done some background homework and had found that we could also stop in Tatopani for the night. We were recommended to stay in Tatopani guest house.
At about 9pm we reached Tatopani and Tatopani guest house was full. A few other places we asked were also full and we managed to find accommodation in Trekkers Inn. We had to park outside on the road since there is no parking there and Trekkers Inn is a short walk ( about 200 meters) inside the town. We were TIRED but the good food and drink was a refresher. We didn’t venture into the hot springs since we were told, morning is the best time when the water is clean and by the evening it gets dirty thanks to the crowds all through the day. So we skipped it and got straight to bed. I recommend staying at Kalopani though since the view is much better from there. Kalopani is about 2 hours further from Tatopani.

Trekkers Inn




Day 4: Tatopani - Dana - Lete - Largunj - Marpha - Jomsom - Kagbeni - Muktinath

As usual we were up early and ready to go. Dirty and dry and ready to fly.


Just as we were getting ready to leave the sky let loose and the weather changed completely after it rained for about 30 mins.



We left early at daylight 6am to escape the pilgrim traffic that would head towards Muktinath and we planned to catch breakfast enroute. The weather was lovely. No other vehicles along the route. We stopped at many places clicking away.







The route from Tatopani is - Tatopani - Dana - Lete - Largunj - Marpha - Jomsom - Kagbeni - Muktinath


Some pics along the route.





Saw this single bed double axle truck very heavily loaded grunting its way up. Hats off to this driver. We witnessed him making many 3 point turns on very steep and sharp hairpin bends.



Can u spot 2 trucks on the inclined road in the distance.



The checkpost at Ghasa. They were astonished to know we were headed to Upper Mustang and were waved farewell at most places.




We then spotted a road going down to the river bed. It was about 10am and what better than to pull over on the river bed, pull out the awning and camping chairs and catch some hot coffee.
What a lovely setting.

The road going down to the river bed.



The spot we camped. You can see the road going up on the left side. The big 4x4 trucks go straight through the river bed crossing many deep streams to the other side of the river. Its a shortcut.



While we sat there a big Tata 4x4, the types used by the Indian army, showed up and got into the river ahead of us and crossed it to the mountain on the other side. We were actually in the way of the river path.



These huge Tata 4x4 offroad trucks drive on the river bed with equipment and supplies. There is no other way to transport stuff since big trucks cannot access the steep and extremely curvy roads in the mountains beyond Muktinath. Besides, the river route is shorter and easier for trucks that often wade through over 4 -5 feet of river water, that can easily gobble up any suv.

After our brief camp stop we moved forward. The road( if we can call it so) runs along the Kalagandaki river. For offroad enthisiasts lots of shortcut river crossings exist. However these must be tried only with local knowledge, extreme caution, a backup vehicle, adequate parts and people and responsibly. Freak offroaders planning to try stunts on the river bed will not only attract a bad name to future offroad enthusiasts but also attract local opposition and eventual prosecution by local authorities.

The road ahead becomes extremely scenic, I will let the pictures do the talking.













The bravery award goes to this driver. Its amazing to see the Alto doing duty in the mountains. We see many of these up North in India as well, but here the terrain is nothing short of dangerous for a small car. Yet this chap kept a very good pace. One miss and something will break.






The big 4x4 Tata trucks. These are the ones that go all the way to Lo Manthang and all deep interiors. I think these drivers use these trucks more than the Indian army does and probably even more offroading too. Watching these drive through the river beds is a sight to behold. They absolutely annihilate the terrain.





Pilgrim traffic returning from Muktinath darshan. Lots of sumos, Scorpios and buses ply on this route to Muktinath.



Backed off a about 150 meters for this behemoth to come through. I wish I could have one some day. The ultimate offroad motorhome tourer. Couldn't help but salivate looking at these.


Then we came across these bunch of cyclists.


.. And then these trekkers walking to eternity.



And then we reached Marpha.. doesnt it look like Tabo ( in Spiti). I think same to same.. ( well almost :D )








The Mustangs of Mustang. Very very beautiful.


Another stream crossing. It looks very different in the pic. You CANNOT cross this with ANY small car/sedan. Its a deeply rutted water crossing. There is a separate thin wooden bridge for bikes and people on foot to cross.


And then this Safari Storme went speeding by and i remarked to Soumya that nothing beats a Safari's suspension. In some ways, not even the Ironman suspension on Gabru.



And then we drove into Jomsom... finally!! Its a small town. The last town where u can hope to find any supplies or a mechanic. Mechanics mostly work on buses, trucks and Mahindra jeeps. But I remarked. A Toyota needs no mechanic. :D


Driving ahead we reached the police checkpost on our right. They checked our Upper Mustang permit and told me that we are the First ever Indian vehicle they have seen going to Upper Mustang. The officer was piss drunk and like they say.. a man speaks the truth when hes drunk. So im not sure if its a fact but I would like to believe so.


From where I stood to click this pic, is exactly where you get petrol and diesel. The shop below Krishu guest house is the fuel point. As much as u want but at a premium. We paid 120Rs NPR for diesel here compared to the approx 80Rs in Pokhara. He does not have a pump. He fills it in a big plastic jerry can and empties it into your tank.



At the checkpost we found this board lying in a corner specifying all the distances from Jomsom.



Then we realised that we wont find a restaurant ahead so we turned around to head back to find a restaurant to have lunch. This is a shot of the fuel drums on the left and Krishu guest house on the right. Its unofficially official since the police themselves tell u to get fuel from here if you are headed to Lo Manthang, warning you that there is nothing available ahead.



A view of the Annapurna mountains on our right. Jomsom also has a small airport. Tourists fly in from Pokhara and then head onwards to Muktinath and the more adventurous head to Lo Manthang. Flight services depend on the weather and is seemingly erratic.



After a sumptuous Thakali lunch, we once again crossed the checkpost and reached this fork junction. We proceed left from here to drive across the river bed crossing the Kaligandaki river.

We are now headed towards Kagbeni. Taking the left from Jomsom towards the river brings us here. Notice the Tata 4x4 truck making its way through. There is no marked track through the river. The trucks make their own road, the tractors come from different paths. I tried to locate what looked like a possible track used by the jeeps.



Genesis was on the wheel and I managed to get these screenshots from a video i shot holding the mobile phone out of the window. Water depth covered over 3/4th of the wheel in most places and we had water over the bonnet in 2 other crossings.





We make it across the river and get on to the track on the other side for a brief stretch before getting onto the river bed again. This time its dry.



One of my favourite clicks. In the background far away in the distance is Jomsom.



We drive over the river bed for over a km and then get back onto the road. A beautiful long rope bridge going across the river.



A landslide being cleared towards Kagbeni.



Thats Kagbeni at the bottom left. very picturesque and a serene place to spend a day or two.



Taking this road down goes to Kagbeni. We will return here from Muktinath to head on towards another route going to Lo Manthang.


We reached Muktinath by 3pm only to find that vehicles are not allowed inside Muktinath between 8am – 6pm. So we leave Gabru in the parking lot outside the town and walk into Muktinath town and check in to The Grand Shambhala hotel, recommended by a few people we asked. We then went to checkout Hotel Bob Marley, which was recommended by friends and found that to be much better. I think Bob Marley restaurant is better anyday for the lovely food and ambience. It’s a place that’s completely ALIVE.
We walked around exploring the town and went to see the Tsechen Kunga Choeling Gompa. It was about 6pm by the time we finished exploring around the town so I went and got Gabru to the Hotel to offload our luggage.
Then we walked to the Bob Marley restaurant for some sumptuous dinner while Genesis gave an Italian tourist a free consultation on the App business and a business startup.
Some lovely music, food and drink at Bob Marley and we called it a night.

Where we stayed. The Grand Shambhala.


Street souvenir shop. You find a lot of the






A solar cooker.



The Tsechen Kunga Choeling Gompa. A tourist clicking away.



Bob Marley Hotel. Uncle Bob wouldve been proud. Good food, good music, lovely people and a very chilled out atmosphere.



The mini town of Muktinath.



A sweet tibetian child riding his bucket horse.




Day 5 : Muktinath - Kagbeni - Lo Manthang
Next morning we are up early. We are told that the temple opens by 6am. It takes about 20- 30 mins to climb up to the temple. We plan accordingly so we can descend to the hotel by 730am and checkout and move Gabru out of the town by 8am before the vehicle restriction kicks in.

Mules are also available to go to the temple. We chose to walk up. The temple complex is very simple and straightforward with a very Tibetian buddhist style to it.
I was surprised to find the Lord Vishnu in the temple. I always thought Muktinath was a Shiva temple. Well, I had not researched on the temple so was surprised. The temple complex is calm and serene, there is a huge Buddha to the right side of the temple within the complex.
We completed darshan and i figured we were late. SO I ran down the mountain while Genesis followed. I would take Gabru to the parking outside and Genesis would join me after some souvenir shopping. Muktinath is famous for the Shaligram stone, so we bought a few for friends and family.

By about 9am we drove out of Muktinath for Kagbeni where we would meet our guide. It took us a while to find our guide who was waiting near the checkpost. Surprisingly the checkpost is not on the road to Lo Manthang, but further inside on the walking trail. The road to Lo Manthang has been open only for the last few years and there is very less vehicular tourist traffic on the route. Its mostly foreigners who come trekking to Lo Manthang.


What a stunningly beautiful and humbling view to wake up to.



The entrance to the Muktinath shrine.



The Muktinath temple.



The path leading up to the temple.



The blessing shop opening up.



A view of the beautiful Buddha facing the Gompa.



A view of the Muktinath parking lot outside the town.



Having completed our temple visit we left for Kagbeni.
A view of the beautiful Kagbeni town from the Muktinath road.


The road leading to Kagbeni.

The drive to Lo Manthang:

Day 5 : Muktinath - Kagbeni - Lo Manthang

We reached Kagbeni and found our way deep inside the little town. Genesis was trying to reach the guide but connectivity being very erratic he could not connect.
Fortunately the guide called informing us that he is waiting near the checkpost. We found out that the car will not go to the checkpost since the checkpost is located on the trekking route. The road to Lo Manthang has only just opened to 4-wheeled tourist traffic. So while I waited at a small hotel in Kagbeni, Genesis found his way to the checkpost with our permits and passports.
A short while later he arrived with our guide and a short while later we were on our way after grabbing a quick cup of hot lemon tea.

Some information about Lo Manthang for those who want to drive -
Lo Manthang is a restricted area in the Upper Mustang region of Nepal. It is close to the China border and is the last surviving original Tibetian village in Nepal. Access to this place is restricted to international tourists and similar to our ILP in India, Nepal has an Upper Mustang permit which costs 50 USD per day for a minimum of 10 days and can be extended by paying 50 USD per day.
The permit can only be issued via a registered agent in Katmandu or Pokhara.
Agents charge 10 % or 50 USD for the service. So minimum 550 USD per person per permit.
There has to be minimum 2 people in a group.
For Upper Mustang you have to have a compulsory registered guide for the entire duration of your stay in Upper Mustang. Guide is required Kagbeni onwards. Guide charges approx 2500 NPR per day which includes his food and stay or 2000 NPR per day where you pay for his food and stay.
In addition to this you require to get the A CAP & TIMS permit till Muktinath which costs 1800 NPR. This is apart from the Bhansar permit you have to take for your vehicle when you enter Nepal.

For Self drives in self owned vehicles from India - There is stiff resistance from local travel agencies to convoy vehicle movement from India for Upper Mustang and they do not get permits for large groups of people and vehicles coming in self drives from India, especially considering its a restricted border area. For those travelling in groups you have to go via them(agency) which means using their vehicles which are basically 4wd Landcruisers and Scorpios. As such they offer packages which include food, stay, guides, vehicles etc as an adventure package.
We managed the trip since we were just 2 guys in 1 vehicle so did not have any problems getting permits.
There are atleast 6 checkposts along the route between Beni and Lo Manthang and they all check your permits and write down details.

Vehicles : Venturing beyond Kagbeni can only be done in an suv. There are quite a few river crossings, some are deep and there is no fixed path through them. The heavy 4wd trucks passing through them often leave deep ruts that can get you stuck.
When we went, the rivers were deep above 5ft in most places so we had to use most of the mountain route which runs along the river. This route is extremely prone to lansdslides and the bulldozer service to clear landslides is scarce and not as efficient as we have in the mountains up North in India. So be sure to carry adequate food supplies if you are stuck or stranded between Kagbeni and Lo Manthang.
Also, there are no repair shops, and basically no services at all for anything. Vehicluar traffic is sparse to non existent. Although the distance between Kagbeni to Lo Manthang is approx 90 kms, it is quite challenging. It is good to have adequate hill driving experience before venturing out there.
A 4wd with good ground clearance is required. Most likely the agency may not get the permits for you if they see you dont have a 4wd suv. We were first asked about the vehicle and after seeing Gabru they agreed to get us the permit.
If you have a 4wd vehicle and plan to go, its a good idea to know how your 4wd equipment works and you should know its capabilities in order to use it.

Before you ask, NO, you cannot go there in an Xuv or the likes with any form of AWD. The trail through the mountain has many very steep 3 point hairpin bends which you cannot make in 1 turn. There turns have little or no traction and lots of BIG loose rocks. You miss seeing and you will take a underbody hit. You miss a beat and your vehicle will stall.
4wd 2L is what you will need to get started again. On 2 occasions it had to be 4wd 1L ( 1st gear in 4 Low). The climbs are steep. Steeper than Zojila and WariLa with almost no traction.
The trail in many places is exactly as wide as the car. if you have a vehicle in front then you will have to go back in reverse till 2 vehicles can pass. The local vehicle never reverses.
You better have good tires and an extra spare. The road is full of sharp rocks and in many places widening is in progress adding to more rocks.
If there is a landslide you will have to use the river route which means water fording. Then it all depends on your skill and your luck and the competency of your guide to take you through the river crossings. The trucks have made many paths through the river and its hard to tell which one will be shallow.
The rivers are deep. We saw the trucks driving through with the entire tire almost submerged. We had water over Gabru's bonnet on 2 occasions. If it rains, God bless you.

Those considering an offroad expedition will be better off preparing their vehicles well with 1 back up vehicle. Most likely that the agencies will not get permits for you if you have more than 2 vehicle. And there is also a possibility of being stopped at Jomsom by the taxi operators. ( this is the information we managed to gather from reliable sources)

Regarding bikes : We saw some local offroad bikes and 4 Nepal registered Enfield Bullets heading up on our way back. The bullets were without any luggage which meant they had a support vehicle with luggage and spares. I could tell from the sound of them that they were lugging in 1st gear. Not sure how they fared on the steep zero traction twisties that were to follow.

The drive was intense and we had a lot of fun. Gabru performed flawlessly. The Ironman suspension was a saviour. We all know how good the Toyota stock suspension is. ( sarcasm)
Work is on however to make a highway between Nepal and Tibet and at the time of writing this China has already signed the OBOR. We can expect the adventure trail to make way for a good road in a few years.

Beyond Kagbeni the entire scenery and topography changes. While it looks a lot like Spiti in many places, it becomes extremely stunning and exceedingly more breathtaking than Spiti I would say. It’s a vast vast expanse of open empty wilderness.
We stopped at many places to click pics and to just stand and stare. Then I felt something was loose up on the roof. We stopped and found that one of the rachet straps had gotten cut off due to the sharp edges of the sandladders. So we had the task of repositioning everything and then tying it up. Our flyweight 60yr old superman guide scooped himself to the roof and did a wonderful job of tying everything together while I modified the rachet strap and tied for additional protection.
I will let some pictures do the talking.

The view of the road as we set out from Kagbeni. Its a dirt track actually and not a road.





We spot of group of tourists trekking to Lo Manthang.



Some sections were very narrow where we would have to slant up the hill to be off the edge.



Soon we approach 1 river crossing. That truck is 2 wheel drive delivering construction supplies for a bridge up ahead. Notice the tires over half submerged. Although the mountain path ahead looks fine there is a landslide not visible in the pic, hence the river route.







Here you can see water coming almost above the bonnet even while driving slowly to ensure we dont create a wave.



Notice the jeep trying to make its way up. Its a 4wd Mahindra camper. Also notice the steep ascent with multiple hairpin bends over a short distance.



The remains of a backhoe that fell off the cliff.



Another work in progess pic. Road widening being done in all possible places.



A fresh landslide. These rocks were just wide enough for us to pass through without scraping the ORVMs.



What a beautiful view. Pic isnt as stunning though.



The red and blue mountains. These are actually red and blue and not sunlight trickery.






Gabru at one of the mountain passes.



The long barren and winding road to the beautiful red and blue mountains.






By this time we were hungry. We reached this small hamlet with just 2 houses of which one was a small restaurant. Lunch was simple but very tasty Tibetian bread with dal soup. ( Not dal and not soup but dal made like soup = dal soup)


Tibetian bread with dal soup. Simple and very tasty.



Then we headed on. Stopping frequently we clicked and we clicked and then we got tired clicking. You just cannot capture all of it. Its just too vast and just too deep. You just stand and stare and you wonder with a big grin. And then you stop wondering, brain dead in awe and then there is pin drop silence and you just drive.












Then suddenly our guide broke the silence. Hum Pahaunch gaye... ( We have reached) Then he mumbled, we are almost there.
I remember it vividly. We climbed up a steep mountain slope and then there was a right turn and then Lo and behold – what a sight. OHH MAI GAWDD.
Genesis almost jumped out before I stopped and went out clicking from all angles. The view was really breathtaking. NO pictures can do justice. It was a little chilly too. We spent some time there absorbing the beauty of it all and soaking it in. WOW!







And we drove into Lo Manthang. It’s a beautiful small quaint hamlet. Like time stood still. The last bastion of original Tibetains in Nepal who have managed to retain their originality and culture.







It wasn’t very difficult to find our Lo Manthang Guest house. Probably the only one in Lo Manthang with private parking for Gabru. We checked in to find a very friendly and homely kind of setup.



The modest in-house restaurant dishing out very good local and continental cuisine.



Since we reached in the evening we decided to spend our time resting and mingling with other travelers in the small homely mess area of the hotel. We met a bunch of senior folks who had come walking to Lo Manthang and would be walking back. We also learnt from them about a mountain race to happen in a few days. It did sound very inspiring but we were happier with 4 wheels for now.
The wind began to blow harder and it was indeed quite chilly. We had a sumptuous Thenthuk and sneaked into bed.
Tomorrow was going to be eventful. We would drive to the China border.

Day 6 : Lo Manthang - Chosher - Tibet / China border - Lo Manthang

We woke up all charged up looking forward to a very exciting morning – our drive to the China border.
I had seen some pics of the Nepal – China border. There was no guard post and just a small gate.
The fact that I would be standing at an international border post, in the middle of nowhere, with no security breathing down my neck, no gun pointing at me, allowing me to take my time and soak in the experience was quite exciting. Throughout the drive i was imagining it and finally we were going to be there today.

We quickly gobbled breakfast and shot out of the hotel. Gabru started with half a crank of the ignition as if sharing my excitement.
The drive to the border is fun. There is one check post in between where they check our permit and enter our details. The roads are not good, just like the ones earlier. However, we didn’t seem to notice it much. It’s a 1 hr drive to the border post with some super stunning views enroute.


A few pics as we left Lo Manthang towards the China border.









A view of Chosher. The mountains in the background have caves which are natural formations. However, the excitement to see the border was too high so we were to visit this on our way back.



Here is our guide soaking in the views.



I see a broad grin on Gabru. Bring it on!!



Soon enough we were on a plateau which led us straight to the border fence.
There were a small group of firang tourists there with their Nepali guide. There is no security post of either Nepal or China on the border post.
We were advised not to bring the car close to the border stone, since the Chinese have a hi resolution camera on the post and do not like / tolerate vehicles coming close to the post, even if they are Nepali vehicles on the Nepal side and ours was an Indian vehicle.
I wondered why they would have a problem, if they can see us, they can surely see harmless tourists. We all agreed that Gabru however, doesn’t look harmless but rather purposeful and battle ready :D

So we parked here about 200 meters from the border stone next to the Landcruiser.
The tourists checking out Gabru.



The border stone with the gate in the background. Beyond the gate lies Tibet - China.





Soon as the other tourists left, we decided to take a chance and I brought Gabru close to the border stone to get some clicks before we left. You only live once to experience these things. Who knows if this adventure will exist tomorrow or if we will live to experience it again. It was the money shot.



As we began to leave we could see a very fast moving cloud of dust on the Chinese side approaching us. We left quickly.
To me this entire border experience felt a little unreal. Just a week ago I had never thought of coming here. And here we were, on a plateau, on a border, where history was made, not very far from where history exists. I couldn't help but smile in wonder.
Life happened to us, when we didnt make a plan. When we planned it didnt happen. When it happened.. and how!! clap:


As we drove back slowly the feeling was intense for both of us. It was like a satisfaction beyond measure. None of the sights we saw from now on would matter as much. We made a small part of history in our little lives. History in a jiffy.


This is what the Garmin showed.



The drive back was slow and easy. The road didnt matter. The view was still breathtaking but we didnt stop. Soon we reached Chosher, where they have the caves.

Gabru parked next to his grandpa.



The tourist fee is 1000 NPR and it would also cost us 1hr of cardio to walk to the caves and climb up and back.
We were still soaking in the joy of what we just experienced and neither of us was in a mood to see holes in a mountain.
And then this chap came up asking.. why are you here..?



That settled it and we got the point. We settled for a cup of lemon tea and drove back to Lo Manthang for part two of the day.
We reached the guest house for lunch.

Over a drink of Cheng ( local rice beer) we had a conversation with a Sherpa who had summited Everest twice out of three attempts. It made for an even interesting conversation especially because the content of his conversation was directly proportional to his Cheng intake which he seemed to have a very good capacity for. And we were in a very generous mood to treat him to some more.

After a post lunch siesta we set out to tour Lo Manthang on foot and for some local souvenir shopping.

Animals seem to have a strange affinity to have conversations with me and vice versa. Soon as I stepped out, this curious goat came to say hello. I wasnt very sure of his intentions after the initial greetings since he looked more of a hustler, so I stepped aside before he would hustle me with the inverted solid tentacles on his head.



Little kids being kids, sneaking into a shop to peek at something.



A local woman at the community handpump to clean up a utensil.



The kings palace. Entry inside is restricted.



Local women chatting away.



Tibetian boy from Lo Manthang. Everyone there looked just plain happy.



While walking through the street we met this tibetian man. He welcomed us to his house and took us to the rooftop for a birds eye view of Lo Manthang. A very generous gesture.



A view of Lo Manthang from the tibetian mans rooftop.



Aamir in Tibet! No, he is a tibetian artist who paints all these thangkas himself. We bought a few from him to take back home. Very beautiful hand painted thankhas of various different themes and sizes.



The mutton brothers band heading home after their evening grazing session.



Chinese dirt bikes offered by the adventure tours from Pokhara.



Diesel transfer. A necessity in these areas. Note the Scorpio with a tail - 4wd.



Back to the room after a very satisfying and fulfilling day. We walked straight to the in-house restaurant for some hearty conversations with the Australian tourists we had met yesterday. We exchanged notes and travel stories and bid each other farewell. After listening to our China border escapade they decided to do a trip to the border too. We planned to leave at 6am to drive directly to Pokhara, an ambitious but achievable plan.

Day 7 : Lo Manthang - Kagbeni - Jomsom - Pokhara

Lo Manthang to Pokhara :

The sun is up early in these parts and we too were up at 5am and could hear our guide already ready and in the pantry outside. The owner had come early so we could settle the bills and leave on time. A sumptuous breakfast followed. Omlettes with Buckwheat rotis freshly made.



Breakfast vanished into our famished tummies. Most of the luggage was loaded in last night so there were just a few small bags that we took with us as we stepped out.

Gabru's windscreen was frosted with ice and it showed 3'c. Half a crank is all it took to fire up and about 5 minutes to get rid of the frost on the windscreen.


Toothless. My lucky charm always smiling :D Its chilly!!



The early morning view as we left Lo Manthang.



Some really tight sections with landslides and fallen rocks.



Climbing down in 4 Low 2nd or 3rd gear for better control. Extreme hairpin bends. Some couldnt be negotiated in one turn.





Lots of rocks strewn around.



Adventure biker and hiker in the same frame on the river bed.



Steep descent. Notice the road in the bottom left of the pic. That is where this road is headed.



Letting Adventure bikers pass.



Making way for another big 4wd truck.



Then we spot these 2 trucks in the river bed. Driving like the Dakar rally crisscrossing each other making their own road. This pic is shot almost 1km away on the Nikon P900. The following one is a closeup.







Soon we crossed Kagbeni. The guide got off and went to the checkpost to closeout our permits while we waited for him at the town entrance. Permits closed we then stopped again at Jomsom for lunch.

At Jomsom we were again low on fuel and I didnt want to wait to reach Beni to refuel. SO we filled 15 liters in Jomsom. It proved to be a good decision, since by the time we reached Beni, the pump was shut yet again. Lunch got delayed at Jomsom since we picked the wrong restaurant thanks to our guide and had to wait for food to be cooked.
Next stop was to be in Marpha for some local apple brandy produced in Marpha.

A vulture devouring a carcass in the river. Rare to see these majestic birds nowadays unless you head out into deep forests or the wilderness.



By now it was tea time and we stopped at this waterfall chaiwala for some tea. Spotted this tourist from Andhra Pradesh headed for Muktinath. He stared and stared at the waterfall as if he was going to dive, till the chaiwala broke his concentration.



Gabru never had a shortage of admirers.



Another braveheart. They stopped here and had a flat tire. They seemed too reluctant to use the stepney and opted to fill air instead.. that too with a cycle hand pump. After struggling with the pump for a good 10 mins with no result, we helped them with our air compressor. Soon as they had a little air in the tire they shot off as if on fire.



It was starting to get cloudy and it looked like the sky was going to let loose.
We spot a trail of Scorpios full of pilgrims headed for Muktinath.



Soon enough it started raining and we found this empty non stop bus that was driving at a good pace.
More importantly it was clearing traffic for us making everyone back up and moving forward. We tailed this bus all the way till Beni.
Beni was our momo stop. We refreshed ourselves with some very tasty momos before moving on to Pokhara.


Following the bus.






Soon as we left Beni it was dark. The rain continued all the way till Pokhara. And as we got closer to Pokhara we also experienced thick fog.
Kept Shuffling between various combinations of lights to suit the situation.
LOW BEAM


LOW BEAM WITH FOG LIGHTS


HIGH BEAM WITH FOG LIGHTS



As we entered Pokhara, our guide got off. We paid and thanked him for his services and proceeded to Hotel Iceland. Our stay for the next 2 nights.



Day 8 : Rest day in Pokhara.

We woke up late, and spent some time transferring the fotos to hard drives and backing up the video.
Then we set out for souvenir shopping and just basically hanging out and taking it easy. Discussing various parts of the trip and reminiscing.

We had 1 cut sidewall on the front right tire, which we discovered while climbing to Lo Manthang. I didnt think it was too serious since it looked like a superficial cut. We had decided to keep watching the cut, which we did at every stop. It looked the same. Then we thought that we would replace the tire once we would reach Pokhara.

We drove around in the evening around Pokhara trying to find a tire shop which could replace the stepney. Had a hard time finding one and gave up. It was raining relentlessly as well.

Pokhara onwards was higher speed sections of our return leg. So I decided to swap the front tire to the back and back to front.


Day 9 & 10 : Pokhara to Mumbai

Next morning as we left Pokhara we found a tire shop on the highway to Sonauli. We stopped here for breakfast next to the tire shop while the tire was being swapped.





We drove back to Bombay on the same tire with no problems and it continues to do duty at the rear.

Seeing the Welcome to India sign was indeed heartwarming. The pleasure of coming home is indescribable. Crossing over to India was quite easy with a brief check by Indian immigration.
Reliance Jio ( data dongle & sim card) does not work from the Indian border of Sunauli almost till Gorakhpur. What a pity since they have signboards along the way.



Initially we had decided to drive back with a stopover in Kanpur. However, as we approached Kanpur early we decided to just drive on with stops as and when needed. The run from Pokhara to Mumbai was in 36 hours flat with a fairly relaxed drive.
A parting shot of Gabru somewhere along the highway when we stopped for a snack.



The final Garmin reading when we drove into Genesis's parking lot in Mumbai.




Thank you.

This trip was only possible thanks to my family for accommodating my eccentricities.
And to Genesis for the consistent flexibility to adapt to my erratic time constraints and his superb teamwork.
And lastly to Gabru for taking us on this journey and bringing us back in absolute comfort over some truly terrible terrain and returning back without a squeak.

Thank you for taking the time to read it and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed sharing this.

Lastly, Thank you to Team-bhp for providing a lovely platform to share yet another journey and spawn many more such fabulous ones.

Pictures contributed by both Genesis and myself.

Cheers.