Robin and Judy's Mustang trek

By luck they celebrated a special festival there

Robin and Judy are good friends and were trekking with Mountain Club

G'day from the land of confusion

Well we've arrived back safe and sound after a wind-blasted trek to Mustang, and this must rate as one of our luckiest ever treks! We flew to Pokhara and had a couple of days of teaching Pema, our guide, how to swim which was a great laugh for all. Then we made it to Jomsom despite heavy cloud and a finger-nail biting flight. When we arrived we heard that there was a festival, Teeji, about to start in 2 days in Lo Manthang, the 'capital' of Mustang. This is by far the largest, most colourful, and hardest to reach festival in the Nepal Himalaya as there is only about 3 months notice of when it will happen. Bearing in mind that I had guessed when we wanted to go to Mustang last November, our luck at arriving at just the right time was spectacular! However, Lo Manthang is about 4 or 5 days walk from Jomsom (2750m), so we had no choice but to hire some strong horses and get there as quickly as possible.

Day 1

We headed out from Kagbeni (2900m) on the 22nd May after staying in a lovely tea house, the Annapurna Lodge. The trail along the river bed of the Kali Gandaki river bed isn't the most inspiring and the early hour found us half asleep and trying to balance as we crossed the river a few times. As you head north up the valley the scenery begins to change from the broad, smooth slopes that climb up to the holy shrine of Muktinath, to jagged towers of eroded sedimentary rock. At one point a small creek had carved what looked like the entry to an enormous Egyptian tomb, on the opposite side of the valley a cliff face rose for hundreds of metres; a huge swirling mass of rock. After a couple of hours a Gurung village, Tangwe (3100m), appears perched above the river but we had no time to explore. Another massive bend in the river and we arrived at Chhuksang (3000m) and a lunch stop.

The only tea house in town was in chaos as we arrived. A special remembrance puja was about to begin (the patriarch having died on this day 3 years ago) but we were welcomed into the kitchen and we sat quietly as various extended family members came and went.

Back into the saddle for a short section to Chaile (3100m), which leads to a climb that takes you out of lower Mustang, and up onto the plateau behind the Annapurnas – Upper Mustang. It took a good few hours to ascend the 500 or so metres along a dusty track that offered great views of Nilgiri and Tilicho peaks and the mountains surrounding the Thorong La. By 3pm we had crossed a small pass, we were dusty, tired and our backsides were agony. Fortunately we only had a short way to go to reach Samar (3545m), our stop for the night and I insisted on walking to try and get my legs to work again! Both Judy and I were surprised to find that not only are the tea houses comfy (but Nepali standards) in this part of the mountains, but they even offer hot showers! A good scrub, one of Chanda's excellent dinners and a big sleep were a fine way to end a long day.

Day 2

We decided to take the higher of the trails as it would save time and as we were well acclimatised from previous treks the 4 passes that we'd have to cross today were of little concern. What was worrying me was the tenderness in our backsides. A few years ago both J and I bought some Thermarest pillows for camping and we now stuck them on the saddles for a little extra padding. They worked really well until they had squashed flat and didn't offer any cushioning. Then we'd have to walk for a while, which helped the blood back into aching knees.

Samar is a pretty place, with poplar trees and tall prayer flags (Chatta) blowing in a wind that carries clouds across the surrounding mountains. Behind the village rises a range of dark rock peaks that form a natural barrier to Upper Dolpo (where we went last November). On the far side of the Kali Gandaki valley, perhaps 15km as the crow flies, stretch white tipped mountains that one day I want to cross to the villages of Naar and Phu (a trek we did in 2004.

We started early and first had to get past 2 deep creeks. On the first J got off her horse as it was getting pretty steep but I wanted to be a macho man. "Look at me, I'll show you how to go up rocky steps," I said in a moment of bravado. Suddenly I heard a snap from the harness and just had time to think, "Oh, oh." as I slid off the backside of the horse, saddle and all. Within a moment I was lying on the ground, with a mystified horse looking at me, J laughing (after first checking for my pulse) and a very concerned Pema berating the horse driver or his inferior saddle. Fortunately there was no damage done and a suitable rock was found to pound the offending buckle back into shape. However, my lesson was learnt and we always got off for any steep sections thereafter.

The day was then a succession of up and down passes and clomping thru villages; Bhena (3600m) is just a hamlet and a few wind blown poplar trees, Yemdo (3700m) is a one house and no horse place. The Soi La (3900m) provided our first views of Upper Mustang proper. Range after range of copper, chocolate, grey, ochre and coffee coloured hills stretched northwards with deep canyons forming a maze of windy depths. We stopped for another one of Chanda's not so light lunches at Shyangbochen (3700m) before plodding on over another pass, Nyi La (3966m) and more great views to Ghemi (3567m). In Ghemi we stayed in a tea house and home of the sister of the King of Mustang. It was the first time we'd stayed in a royal household, and our gracious hosts treated us very well, especially when we shared around some of Chanda's fabulous chocolate cakes!

Day 3

Today we had to get to Lo Manthang as the festival was expected to begin at 3pm. Another early start had us plodding along the new road thru Mustang that has been built by the Chinese. There can be little doubt that this road is making irrevocable changes to Mustang as Chinese rubbish lines the entire road. It was a dull, dusty plod to Tsarang (3547m), the old capital of Mustang. We had a quick lunch and as there was no-one left in town (they'd all gone to Teeji too) we soon got back in the saddle. At 2:30 we arrived in Lo Manthang, were our sherpas, Bhoj Raj had found us accommodation of sorts. A multitude of locals and about 45 tourists had booked every room and campsite so we pitched our tent on a guy's roof. The amenable local, Pema Bista, turned out to be a really lovely chap, who owned a shop right in front of the festivities. We were quickly ushered to the main square and he gave us stools to sit on just as the festival started. Our prime location seats were in just the right spot and we were soon surrounded by friendly locals who were right into the party atmosphere. For 3 hours we sat transfixed as different lama dances came and went, some were cleansing dances, others called powerful spirits forth to help drive out mischievous demons.

This year all of the monks from every gompa took part, either as dancers, musicians or assistants. Tibetan horns blasted, cymbals crashed, and monks chanted. It was bloody great.

That night we rested in Pema's house and shared gossip with various characters who turned up at his house for a chat. An American man visited, Bill Chapman, who is a fantastic photographer and we invited him and his wife to some cake and Port the following evening. That night was a dancing competition between some of the local associations (mother's group, north Mustang communities, etc) and the whole town was up till late singing and dancing.

Day 4

As the festival wasn't due to begin until 2pm we had time to explore the ancient walled town of Lo Manthang. Again fortune was on our side as we arrived at the largest gompa, Thugchen, the main cleansing puga (prayers) we taking place. This gompa is very Tibetan-esque; a prayer room of about 160 sq metres is filled with multicoloured pillars, large statues of Sakya Bhuddist deities and painted with fantastic frescos that an Italian team have spent the best part of 20 years restoring. We lingered listening to the chanting and sporadic music while talking to a lama about the gompa's history.

We then headed on to Gyamba Lhakang gompa where there is said to be 1,000 mandala (meditation paintings) on the 3 levels. The detail in the mandalas was astounding, for example a 2 metre diameter picture would have thousands of miniature images of deities, every one with a different expression or pose. The view from the roof of the town was equally great.

Then we headed to Chyodi gompa, a teaching gompa with about 80 students. We were shown around by the principle who told us that the kids can learn any number of general school subjects as well as their Buddhist teachings. This is the smallest of the gompas and certainly the most intimate feeling. They have built a new gompa next door which is still not quite complete and we found some of the masks and dresses that the monks had used in the previous days dancing.

It was now time for a quick bite and to make ourselves comfy for the afternoon entertainment! Again the dancing was enthralling. J made a bunch of videos and I took a heap of photos – let's hope they all came out OK. By 7pm the main event had finished and then many of the schools of Upper Mustang had their dance competition. We retired and shared our cake and Port (thanks very much Steve) with Bill and Eileen as the party raged on in the centre of town.

Day 5

Pema invited us to his shop as we were planning to leave today. We had initially not planned in buying anything but I started to dig around under the counter and found a couple of beautiful objects – I'm afraid that you'll have to see them to believe them!

Anyway, the main festival was now over and the next 2 days were meant to be schools programs. As we didn't know how long it would take for us to walk back we decided to err on the side of caution and bail out now – I reckon we'll be back soon enough to watch the entire festival!! (Stay tuned for more details if you're interested!!)

So we headed off taking a high trail out of Lo Manthang that provided more great views of Upper Mustang and after crossing a couple of passes we dropped down to Ghar Gompa (3942m) near Lo Gekar (which means pure virtue of Lo). This gompa is by far the oldest in Mustang at 1,300 years. The image of Guru Rinpoche inside is said to have been made by him as a self-portrait (if that is the right term). There is a small side chamber with a couple of tall statues, one on horse back and the other on a yak. Unfortunately the lama was away in Kathmandu so we couldn't get much information.

Day 6

The next day was an easy walk back to Ghemi past Dhakmar (3750m) and the bright red crags that rise above the village. The family in Ghemi welcomed us again with open arms and we had an enjoyable evening chatting about the festival.

Day 7

Again we retraced our steps to Shyangbochen were we found a small, cosy tea house with new mattresses in a couple of rooms. Weather was beginning to turn during the day and by the evening heavy cloud lay around us.

Day 8

Pema had been telling us about a small gompa in a cave at the bottom of on of the canyons that lead to the Kali Gandaki, and today we paid it a visit. A quick walk down into the canyon brought us to a cave about 30m deep. Inside some chortens had been built and a small path led around the back past a number of stalagmites that had been weathered/made (?) into images of Buddhist deities. Certainly the locals believe the images to be entirely natural as a group of men were leaving when we arrived. To say that they were in high spirits is an understatement, apparently a visit to this gompa bestows very good luck. Which I happen to believe, as over the next few days we had some more incredible luck. A steep climb back up to the main trail left everyone heaving for breath but it wasn't far back to the tea house in Samar, the place we had stayed on our first night.

Day 9

I had planned to visit a number of villages that we had rushed past on the way up. But the weather had been bad now for a couple of days and I was getting concerned about being able to fly out. Even though we had a spare buffer day in Jomsom, if there was a long waiting list we might find ourselves stuck for 3 or 4 days (not unknown here). J went really well down hill and we got to our proposed campsite at Chhuksang, by midday. However, the lodge owner was a bit unpleasant and we found out that a large group was also coming down to use the same site. In a moment we had decided to push on to Kagbeni and miss the surrounding villages.

Next time we'll try again. The walk down the valley, into the wind was tough. Gusts of over 100km per hour blasted us with fine dust. At one point J was hit by a flying rock from a landslide. She was lucky it only hit her arm. We arrived at 4pm in Kagbeni and seriously needed a beer. The lodge was again empty and we were lucky to get the best room with piping hot shower. J was revived and I was relieved.

Day 10

We made quick walk down to Jomsom, managed to confirm flights for a day earlier than we had booked and crashed out. The following morning saw us fly to Pokhara for breakfast and then into Kathmandu by lunchtime.

I hope you've enjoyed our missives, we'll almost certainly be going back as next year will be the last Teeji festival before the road to China is connected with the roads in Nepal. We'll need a short acclimatization trek beforehand, but if you're interested in coming to Mustang next April/May 2007 then send us a line.

Robin