INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
INSIDE HIMALAYAS | NEPAL | TIBET | BHUTAN
A Road Trip to
MUSTANG
by Ynske Boersma
Night is falling in Lo Manthang. The
city’s elderly are walking their daily
round spinning the many prayer
wheels along the city walls, humming
om mane peme hum and carrying
pots of burning incense. The narrow
streets are occupied by sully cows,
driven forward by tough Tibetan ladies
slapping the cows’ buttocks. Then
a roaring sound comes near and a
bunch of horses enters the city gate
at top speed, almost running us over.
“The King’s horses,” a local monk tells
us proudly. “They come back to spend
the night in the Royal Palace’s stables.”
Lo Manthang is the walled capital of
Upper Mustang, in the north of Nepal.
The history of Mustang back to the end
of the 14th century, when a Tibetan
warlord called Ame Pal founded the
Buddhist Kingdom of Lo. Thanks to
its location alongside the Salt Route,
an old trade route connecting India
and Tibet, the kingdom would soon
flourish. But at the end of the 18th
century the kingdom was incorporated
into Nepal and slowly fell into oblivion,
hidden behind the mountain ranges of
the Himalaya.
Because of its location on an isolated
rugged plateau hidden behind snow-
capped Himalayan giants, and because
it managed to keep the Chinese outside
its borders over the past century,
Upper Mustang is considered to be
one of the best-preserved examples of
Tibetan culture in the world. Until 1992
it was forbidden for foreigners to enter
the area, and access is still restricted to
those willing to pay the permit to visit.
The rugged road to Upper Mustang. Photo: Ynske Boersma.
Our hostess preparing our food. Photo: Ynske Boersma.
“The jeep trip may be quicker than walking but it´s no less
adventurous as we discover when our vehicle crosses the
fast-flowing river through the valley, the water up to the
bonnet.”
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www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
www.insidehimalayas.com | By Royal Mountain Travel
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