Trip overview
A trek to the Tiji Festival in Upper Mustang combines an adventurous journey through Nepal’s high desert landscapes with the chance to witness one of the most unique cultural events in the region. The Tiji Festival trek takes you deep into the former kingdom of Lo, offering stunning Himalayan views, centuries-old monasteries, and an immersion in Tibetan Buddhist traditions centered around the Tiji Festival in Lo Manthang.
The Upper Mustang Trek takes you into the remote and culturally rich region of Upper Mustang, often referred to as the “Last Forbidden Kingdom.” Known for its arid landscapes, centuries-old monasteries, and unique Tibetan culture, this trek offers a different Himalayan experience. Here’s a typical 12-day itinerary:
Tiji Festival Trek Overview
- Duration: 15–17 days (including travel to and from Kathmandu)
- Difficulty: Moderate to challenging
- Highest Point: Lo La Pass (3,950m)
- Best Time: Spring (April to May) to coincide with the Tiji Festival
- Permit Requirements: Restricted Area Permit (USD 500 for 10 days) and Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP)
Highlights of the Tiji Festival
- Unique Tibetan Culture: The Upper Mustang’s rich culture, influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, is showcased in the Tiji Festival’s rituals and dances.
- Ancient Architecture: Lo Manthang’s fortified walls, palaces, and centuries-old monasteries provide insight into Mustang’s history.
- Stunning Landscapes: Mustang’s high desert, deep valleys, and snow-capped peaks offer a unique, surreal Himalayan experience.
- Mystical Tiji Festival: The festival itself is a highlight, with vibrant cham dances, traditional Tibetan costumes, and prayers for peace and prosperity.
Important Tips for the Tiji Festival Trek
- Booking: Due to high demand during the Tiji Festival, book permits, accommodations, and flights in advance.
- Acclimatization: Although there are no extreme altitudes, take the itinerary seriously for acclimatization.
- Weather: The spring season (April to May) is ideal for trekking and attending the Tiji Festival, with stable weather and clear skies.
- Tiji Festival will be 3 days starting 14th May and ending 16th May 2025
The Tiji Festival Trek is a truly special experience. It offers an in-depth look into the Mustang region’s spiritual life, set against a backdrop of spectacular landscapes and Himalayan peaks.
Short Itinerary
TIJI FESTIVAL ITINERARY 2025
May 07, Day 1: Fly from Kathmandu to Pokhara (823m) Take a short flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara and enjoy the day exploring this beautiful lakeside city, preparing for the trek.
May 08, Day 2: Fly from Pokhara to Jomsom (2,720m) and Trek to Kagbeni (2,810m) Flight Duration: 20 minutes, Trek Duration: 3–4 hours, Fly to Jomsom, the gateway to Upper Mustang. From Jomsom, start trekking along the Kali Gandaki River valley to Kagbeni, a charming village at the entrance to Upper Mustang.
May 09, Day 3: Kagbeni to Chele (3,050m)Trek Duration: 5–6 hours, Description: Enter the restricted area of Upper Mustang. Trek through narrow gorges, ancient caves, and barren landscapes, passing small villages and reaching Chele.
May 10, Day 4: Chele to Syangboche (3,800m) Trek Duration: 6–7 hours. Cross several passes, including Taklam La (3,624m), with views of Tilicho Peak and Yakawa Kang. Pass through villages like Samar and descend into Syangboche.
May 11, Day 5: Syangboche to Ghami (3,520m) Trek Duration: 5–6 hours, Continue through desert-like terrain and cross the Yamda La (3,850m). Pass through picturesque villages, barley fields, and mani walls to reach Ghami.
May 12, Day 6: Ghami to Tsarang (3,560m) Trek Duration: 4–5 hours, Description: Cross the Ghami La Pass and trek along one of the longest mani walls in Nepal. The trail descends to Tsarang, a village with an ancient palace and red gompa (Buddhist monastery).
May 13, Day 7: Tsarang to Lo Manthang (3,840m) Trek Duration: 4–5 hours, Trek through arid landscapes and cross the Lo La Pass (3,950m). Descend into the walled city of Lo Manthang, the capital of the former Kingdom of Mustang, known for its ancient palaces and monasteries.
May 14/15/16 Day 8-10: Tiji Festival in Lo Manthang, Spend three days in Lo Manthang, fully immersed in the Tiji Festival. Watch monks in colorful costumes and masks perform sacred cham dances that depict the victory of good over evil. Visit local monasteries, explore the ancient city, and interact with locals.
May 17, Day 11: Lo Manthang to Dhakmar (3,810m) Trek Duration: 6–7 hours, Begin the return journey via an alternate route. Trek through colorful landscapes, passing the Ghar Gompa, one of the oldest monasteries in Mustang, and reach Dhakmar.
May 18, Day 12: Dhakmar to Ghiling (3,806m) Trek Duration: 5–6 hours, Continue descending along the rugged trails, enjoying views of unique rock formations and red cliffs. Reach the traditional village of Ghiling.
May 19, Day 13: Ghiling to Chhuksang (2,920m) Trek Duration: 5–6 hours, Trek back through familiar trails, descending steadily with views of Nilgiri and other peaks. Reach the riverside village of Chhuksang.
May 20, Day 14: Chhuksang to Jomsom (2,720m) Trek Duration: 6–7 hours, the final day of trekking takes you back to Jomsom. Enjoy the beautiful scenery along the Kali Gandaki River before reaching Jomsom.
May 21, Day 15: Fly from Jomsom to Pokhara and Return to Kathmandu, Fly back to Pokhara from Jomsom, then continue to Kathmandu, concluding your journey.
Included
- Kathmandu to Pokhara and Pokhara to Kathmandu by Tourist bus
- Both way flight tickets Pokhara / jomsom / pokhara
- TIM’s card permit, ACAP permit, and Uper Mustang special trekking permit
- Water purification drop or tablets for safe drinking water
- Two night hotel in Pokhara
- Company T-shirt as a Souvenirs, and duffle bag if needed
- Government licensed holder, fluent English Speaking Familiar Himalaya view Treks guide, 1 assistant guide if Group sizes is more than 10 trekkers) one guide lead up to 10 trekkers.
- Strong local Porters for Carry trekker’s luggage, One porter every 2 trekkers, Porter carry maximum 20 Kg. 10 Kg per trekkers.
- All meals (Breakfast, lunch, and dinner) during your Upper Mustang Trek with 14 nights Hotel Accommodation
- Cost Includes Guides and porters meals, accommodation, Salary, insurance, transportation, and needed equipment for the Trekking
- Seasonal fresh fruits every day during Mustang Trek
- Local government, taxes, including official Service Charge
- Oximeter to measure Pulse and oxygen level
- Trip completion Certificate
Not Included
- Hotel accommodation and meals In Kathmandu and Pokhara
- Personal expense (shopping, snacks, boil bottle water, hot (tea, coffee) and cold drinks, hot shower, alcohol, Wi-Fi, telephone call, battery charge fee during the Mustang Trek)
- Personal clothing and trekking gear
- Personal travel insurance including evacuation coverage (compulsory) up to 6000m)
- Additional costs if delays flights and outside the itinerary
- All the costs and expenses which are not mentioned in includes list.
- Tips for guide and porters in end of the treks
Quick Enquiry
Trips Reviews
Nicholas M2024-04-13Wonderful Company for Families We just completed 13 days in Nepal, 8 of which was spent trekking to Annapurna Base Camp with our 10 and 13 year old daughters. We had a wonderful experience, from the instant communication with owner Simbir to all of my emails, to the trek itself with our guide and porters Dal Bahadur Gurung, Anil Gurung, and Manoj. The crew was fantastic, with not only helping us carry our gear but also making us comfortable once we reached our nightly tea house. Can the trip be done cheaper, apparently so if you are willing to go through the work to secure permits, carry your own gear and are prepared to be turned away at full tea houses. However, if you’re new to trekking, or like us and want to do it with children who aren’t yet ready to carry heavy packs, I highly recommend Himalaya View Treks.Andrias_Suganda2024-04-13Trek the EBC with Peace and Certainty! Himalaya View Treks simply shows the high mileage and professionalism for trekking and all related activities in Nepal. They will help and assist you before-during-after the activities to make sure you’re fully aware as well as safe and sound back to your homeland. For me personally, I did an EBC trek in April 2024 and it would be challenging without experienced guide and all support system provided by this company. Well done!Ellioteaglesham2024-04-13Amazing experience for EBC trek🏔️ would absolutely recommend this company to do your trekking with in Nepal. From the moment we messaged simbir, he was so helpful with any questions/worries we had. Everything was so smooth from the moment we landed in Kathmandu. Our guide Ram was amazing on our trek to EBC, always making sure we were happy. Will definitely use again when we return to Nepal, thank you for everything guys✨✨David Schrader2024-04-10Amazing Experience! My partner and I went on the 12 day EBC tour, and our experience was amazing! We chose Himalaya View Treks because they hire local guides and porters. It was tough dealing with the altitude and the long days, but our guide Prayash and porter Ram made sure we were taken care of at all steps along the way, from taking care of our accommodation and meals to taking care of our health and comfort. They also helped us to sort our flights to and from Lukla which is a headache in the best of circumstances. We are very grateful to Himalaya View Treks for our experience!Edoardo L2024-03-23Would 100% recommend We had a fantastic time on the 8-day Annapurna Circuit trek with Himalaya View Treks. The tour covered the most scenic and interesting parts of the circuit given the limited time we had, and the views were just unforgettable. Sofi, our guide, was very friendly and knowledgeable, and allowed us to adapt the pace (and any side treks) based on our abilities and interests. He also turned out to be a pretty good chess player. Our porter was also phenomenal: we couldn’t have made it up to Thorong La without either of them. The whole trip was very well organised and everything ran smoothly.Tatum R2024-03-23Wonderful Annapurna Circuit Trek! My husband and I did a shortened 7 day Annapurna Circuit starting in Kathmandu and finishing in Pokhara with Himalaya View Treks and we were very pleased with how it went. The tour was a reasonable price and everything ran like clockwork from the moment we were picked up from Kathmandu airport by our guide Suraj. Suraj sorted out all of our needs and made sure we were comfortable - he explained upcoming options for routes/accomm, he sorted our rooms (always aiming to get us ones with good views and private toilet where possible) and put our food orders in at the tea houses. Suraj was very calm and collected and we felt we were in good hands the whole way! We also loved the trek itself and the views were spectacular! We definitely recommend!yuliu x2024-03-11Great EBC + Gokyo Valley trek My EBC + Gokyo Valley trek in Feb-March 2024 (17 days) was amazing, thanks to Bisha, our guide. His deep knowledge of the area and mastery of the routes made the journey smooth and safe. Bisha's insights into the culture and nature of the region added a fascinating touch to the experience. He shared interesting details about the surroundings and provided historical context, making the trek even more enjoyable. When my friend needed a helicopter unexpectedly, Bisha connected his company, they swiftly arranged it, In conclusion, I highly recommend Himalaya View Treks & Bisha as a guide for the EBC + Gokyo Valley trek.Dan H2024-02-205 Star EBC Trek You are well taken care of right from landing in Nepal to departing. The route is well thought out and the experience is great. Our guide Ram and our porter Gurung were both phenomenal and really made the trip. Would highly reccomend for anyone interested in accomplishing EBC!sifat r2024-02-15EBC trek during monsoon For a clumsy solo trekker like me, Sofiji, my guide, was perfect. A mighty, smiling, cute and hearty young fellow, who was very worried seeing me suffering from high altitude sickness and telling me, 'please don't die!' 😁😁 Trekkers usually don't choose monsoon for EBC trek but I am glad that I chose monsoon for going there. Though completing the trek in 9 days was exhausting and tiresome, I will cherish my memories of those 9 days as long as I live.Jenny P2024-02-14Wonderful trek in the ABC We had wonderful experiences trekking in the ABC! Many thanks to our warm-hearted guide Sofi Tamang and porter Anil Gurung, who kindly lent us their crampons!
Hayley2024-04-10would absolutely recommend this company to do your trekking with in Nepal. From the moment we messaged simbir, he was so helpful with any questions/worries we had. Everything was so smooth from the moment we landed in Kathmandu. Our guide Ram was amazing on our trek to EBC, always making sure we were happy. Will definitely use again when we return to Nepal, thank you for everything guys✨✨Shermel2024-03-18Embarked on a 9 days EBC trek with Sofi and Jivan, our guide and porter. They were both very reliable during the course of the trek and kept the atmosphere lively even when we were high up in the mountains. Highly recommended!Olga Poltavskaya2024-01-05We used the services of a porter guide from the company on the Annapurna base camp trek. Rahul was truly amazing! so helpful and easy! We really appreciated his looking after us, helping pick the best accommodation and break spots along the way, making sure we are warm and positive. Would strongly recommend Rahul for those trekkers who look for a devoted and switched on porter guide.Mateusz Malzacher2023-12-19We had a fantastic 3 passes hike thanks to the guidance, expertise and professionalism of Bishal Rai. He was a great trip partner, providing local knowledge and a sense of humor along the way. He even pointed out all the peak names to us many times due to our forgetfulness. Thank you and highly recommend Himalaya View Treks and guide, Bishal Rai.Alejandro Espigares2023-12-01Realicé el trek del Campo Base Everest y todo fue increíble. Yo lo hice en solitario junto a mi guía Suraj y lo recomiendo 100%, muy atento y es un experto del terreno, sabe en todo momento como actuar si te encuentras mal o cansado y buscar una nueva ruta. La agencia me dio mucha seguridad en todo momento y me sentí acompañado en todo momento. Lo volvería a contratar una y mil veces. Gracias!!!A Expen5ive2023-11-22Our Guide Rahul made sure that it was a pleasant Trek from start to finish. Very knowledgeable about the areas and always puts the safety and wellbeing of us first. When you book your Trek make sure you ask for Rahul.Patrick Thumm2023-11-21Meine Frau und ich haben uns für eine „kurze“ Tour im Himalaya interessiert. Über das Internet sind wir auf Himalayan View Treks gestoßen. Sie haben die 8 Tage Annapurna Short Trek Tour angeboten. Die Kommunikation im Vorfeld per Mail mit Simbir lief super. Er konnte uns vorab alle Informationen geben. Auch eine individuelle Anpassung der Tour (z. B. per Flugzeug zurück) wäre möglich gewesen. Obwohl wir zunächst ein paar Tage in Kathmandu verbracht haben, wurden wir bei Ankunft von unserem Guide abgeholt und zum Hotel gebracht. So sind wir entspannt angekommen. An Tag 1 der Tour wurden wir früh morgens vom Hotel von unserem Guide (D. B.) und unserem Porter (Manoj) abgeholt. Tag 2-7 sind wir von Chame über Pisang, Manang, Ledar, High Camp über den Thorong La Pass nach Muktinath gewandert. Insgesamt waren es ca. 80km, 4.100m nach oben und 3.100m nach unten zu wandern. Tag 8 ging dann per Jeep zurück nach Pokhara. Trotz der für unsere Verhältnisse langen Strecke ging die Tour super zu laufen. Das lag vor allem auch an unserem Guide und Porter! D. B. hat sich stets nach unserem Wohlbefinden erkundet. Jeden Abend gab es einen kurzen Tagesrückblick und Lagebesprechung für den kommenden Tag. So konnten wir währenddessen noch entscheiden, ob wir an einem Tag etwas weiter laufen, um am darauffolgenden Tag etwas weniger machen müssen. Er ging da sehr gut auf uns ein. Manoj hat unseren schweren Rucksack getragen und wir konnten uns so ganz aufs Trekking konzentrieren. Darüber waren wir sehr dankbar. Auch er hat sich immer um uns gekümmert (are you ok? 😉) D.B. hat uns über den gesamten Trek viel Wissen über das Land und die Berge vermittelt. Außerdem konnte er uns viele interessante Bergsteiger Geschichten erzählen. Wir hatten 8 unbeschreibliche Tage! Unsere anfänglich Angst und Sorge, es nicht zu schaffen wurde uns durch den professionellen Umgang komplett genommen. Vielen Dank dafür!Daniel Weller2023-10-17Just returned home from a fantastic adventure holiday on the EBC trek. Himalaya View Treks couldn't of been more helpful from choosing and booking our trek before we arrived through to dropping us back to the airport once we had finished , nothing was too much trouble. Before coming to Nepal me and my dad was unsure if we needed a guide however we are now so pleased that we decided to get one. Sobit our guide made the experience so much better as he took care of all the arrangements and organising leaving us to concentrate on the trek and enjoy the scenery without any stress. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Himalaya View Treks and would request Sobit as a guide as he was brilliant!!!!Patrik Penzeš2023-10-05Great experience! Our guide Bishal became our friend in short time and made the trekking easier. I am grateful to both Bishal and Simbir for this experience. I strogly recommend Manaslu circuit trek with Bishal from himalaya view treks!
