Upper Mustang Motorbike Tour

After arrive in Kathmandu International Airport. Adventure Connexion representative welcome/hello, is probably the first thing you’ll hear when arriving in the capital of Nepal with its chaotic traffic and busyness of people everywhere. We’ll be staying in Thamel in a beautiful boutique hotel, which feels like a quiet oasis in the middle of all chaos. Thamel is the area where most tourists stay and where sightseeing and shops are in the neighbourhood.

While the special permits for Upper Mustang will be finalized for us today, we can spend the day sightseeing Kathmandu. The Pashupatinath temple, the holiest temple for Hindus where cremations take place along the river and the Swayambhunath temple also known as the “Monkey Temple” are on the program. Before dinner we’ll have the tour briefing so everybody knows what to expect.

Today we get up early to get the morning flight to Pokhara, which takes about half an hour. In Pokhara we stay in a lovely hotel close to the lakeside and here we’ll receive our motorcycles. When done with all the paperwork for getting the bikes and had lunch we’ll go for a ride in the surroundings to get used to the bikes and the left-hand side traffic and ride out of Pokhara up to Sarangkot for a beautiful view of the spectacular Annapurnas. Once back in Pokhara, the evening is set-aside for the final check and packing of bags because tomorrow we are on the way! Last minute questions are answered over dinner and drinks and the excitement builds before hitting the road tomorrow

Starting early and with the Himalayas on the back-ground - on a clear day you can see from Dhaulagiri to the west. We’ll pass Nepal’s longest suspension bridge at Kusma on our way up. After lunch we soon say goodbye to the pavement at Beni and hit the dirt. Adventure Connexion team and riders along the Kali Gandaki river for a couple of hours before arriving at Lete, a village that looks like one in the Alps and will stay in a guesthouse

Today we will ride through the world’s deepest gorge which is more than 8000m deep! Dhaulagiri (8167m) is on your left and Annapurna I (8091m) is on your right. The terrain is tough at times as we climb over rocky slopes and cross through waterfalls. At Jomson we’ll have a brake, and get our first permit checked in Kagebeni and then on to Chhuksang!. Today our destination will be Chhuksang. Overnight at the place

Adventure Connexion serve breakfast to our riders then we head north as the road climbs higher until we reach the Dojori La Pass. Don’t forget to look back once in while, because the views on the Annapurnas will literally take your breath away. Then on to the toughest sections on this tour and we might need to give each other a hand. It goes steep up, loose rocks and vertical cliffs. You might get vertigo!. We continue on, admire the view at each of the high-passes (4000 m) before descending down to beautiful Ghami -a village which has managed to cultivate apple orchards in the dry climate and has incredible apple pie. When on time we make a short loop to the coloured mountains of Dhakmar. Breath taking!

Deeper and deeper Adventure Connexion team ride into Buddhist region. Passing Nepal’s longest Mani-wall just north of Ghami, through the village Tsarang from where we’ll ride up to Ghar Gumba, one of the oldest monastery in the area (8th century). Then on towards the ancient walled city of Lo Manthang. We’ll climb up the last pass and might encounter some fesh-fesh, the talk powder sand. So it might get dusty! But then looking down into the valley, seeing Lo-Manthang, the ancient walled city. Finally we made it

Today you can have a resting day either a short ride in the surroundings where are many sights of interest. Some of the most fascinating are the caves at Chosur. These caves are carved high into the cliffs and are a labyrinth of small rooms and tunnels. Even up to 5 floors and 85 rooms! We then take the long way home via several small villages along the east of the river to Lo-Manthang. In the afternoon Adventure Connexion will have a guided tour through the town and visit the three monasteries in Lo-Manthang by one of the monks

We can take a slow morning and get ready to descent again. We say goodbye to Lo-Manthang, Upper Mustang and start our journey back. The Annapurnas grow in size as we ride towards the Himalayas and drop from the Tibetan plateau. We’ll visit Tsarang shortly. It’s home to the King’s winter palace and one of the regions largest functioning monasteries. After a coffee break we descend further, pass the steep roads at Samar again and luckily we go downhill this time. We’ll pass the town of Geling which we bypassed on the way north, and will stay a bit south of it in a very basic guest-house.

No trip to Mustang would be complete without a visit to the ancient Hindu city of Muktinath. There is a sacred Hindu temple that pilgrims from all across the sub continent try to visit at least once during their lives. The temple houses an ancient shrine surrounded by 108 water fountains fed by glacial water. To cleanse your sins, you must run through each of the water fountains and then take a dip in each of the two pools. We’ll be ending up the day in the charming town Kaghbeni, the gateway to Upper Mustang.

Down we go! From nearly 3000m we drop to 1200m at Tatopani where the taste of the cold beer and a dip in the hot springs awaits, after a long day avoiding busses, pilgrims, hikers and pot-holes.

We will leave the Mustang behind us today and head back to Kathmandu. After lunch we go on and ride to Bandipur. A gem of a village on top of a mountain and former hub on trading routes. We’ll be staying in a guesthouse with a beautiful view on those mighty Himalayas. The Newari town of Bandipur is one of central Nepal's hidden gems. It combines traditional village architecture, epic Himalayan views

It’s time for the last stretch and it’s all tarmac to Kathmandu. The traffic will get busier the closer we approach the city. Cars, busses, scooters, motorcycles, people everywhere! But we take our time to get into town back to our hotel where we started our adventure 2 weeks ago. In the evening Adventure Connexion will host last dinner together with chill out environment. It’s the last night of the Motorbike tour to Mustang.

You may have time to take care of any last minute shopping or sightseeing, as time permits. We hope that you have enjoyed your journey!. Adventure Connexion representative will transfer you to the airport approximately 3 hours ahead of your flight time. We bid you farewell and hope to see you in Nepal again soon!