Mustang – The Forbidden Kingdom
A superb holiday in the fascinating Kingdom of Mustang in Nepal,
with Secret Tiji Festival and beautiful walks.
Sign up now for this festival trip in September
North of the Annapurnas and off-limits to travellers until the early ‘90s, the ancient and mysterious Kingdom of Mustang is geographically and culturally a part of Tibet, we take a journey on foot through the highlights of this captivating region on this lodge based trekking holiday. Mustang prospered in the 15th century, when its strategic location enabled it to dominate the salt trade between Tibet and Nepal. Its distinctive, white-painted villages, Tibetan monasteries and impressive wayside inns, a legacy of hundreds of years of cross-border trading, make Mustang a place apart, unlike anywhere else in Nepal. The landscape is different here, too - eroded conglomerate cliffs coloured by striking earth pigments in variations of red, yellow, brown and blue, with a backdrop of the distant snow-capped peaks of the Annapurnas and Dhaulagiri. With the gradual encroachment of the jeep road into Mustang, we now have the opportunity to change and improve the way we run this amazing 2.5-week adventure holiday. After a flight to Jomsom, we drive from Kagbeni to Lo Manthang, but underway we have a lot of excursions and spend 4 days there, exploring amongst its brightly painted houses and secret alleyways. This approach with the excursion allowing us to see all of Mustang's important villages, chortens and distinctive scenery.
The Festival
The Tiji festival is a three-day ritual known as "The chasing of the Demons" and it is centered around the Tiji myth. Tiji tells the story of a deity named Dorje Jono who must battle against his demon father to save the Kingdom of Mustang from destruction. The demon father wreaks havoc on Mustang by creating a water shortage which, in this extremely arid land, is the most precious life-sustaining resource. Dorje Jono eventually defeats the demon and banishes him from the land. This festival is celebrated annually for three days marking the beginning of the harvest season with a belief to chase away the demons. In this festival, people chant prayers and dance. We can see the monks dressed in the traditional wear performing the traditional dances. The red, yellow and blue colored dresses and the colorful flags make the whole environment vivid and vibrant.
It is believe that people of Lo Manthang started to celebrate the Jiji festival from 15 century on the time of Lama Lowo Khenchen, one of the greatest Buddhist teacher and son of King Amgon Sangpo. During the three-day masked dance Tiji festival in Lo Monthang, upper Mustang, the chosen monk representing Dorge Shunu reveals his various forms and an ancient Thangka painting of Guru Rimpoche Padmasambhava is being displayed as the beating of drums and chanting fill the air of Lo Manthang.
In the days approaching Tiji, the trails from the surrounding villages to Lo Manthang are packed with local people and mule caravans and some driving on Jeep now a days to participate and celebrated their most waited annual festival. This program is especially designed where you can trek in the beautiful landscapes of the Upper Mustang and attend the heart whelming Tiji festival. You can walk along the beautiful and unique landscapes of Upper Mustang with the spectacular views of the snow capped mountains all the time and be a part of this vivid and lively festival, seats are limited. Thus hurry up and reserve your place to witness this Tiji festival in Lo Monthang upper Mustang in June.
Notes:
* This program is based on a simple hotel accommodation in Kathmandu, but you can up-grade it on your own costs, and of course we can share our favorites.
* Please note that if you booking alone that you might have to pay a single room fee in case you can’t share the room with an other group-member or in case there is no group-member of the same gender or when you prefer the single room.
* The Mustang Tour looks maybe more expensive, but we’ve to include the requested permits for entering Upper Mustang: Annapurna Conservation fee ($40/person) and Upper Mustang Restricted Area fee ($500/person, per 10-days).
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