Hi there,

I have been riding Nepal and in particular West Nepal (Mustang / Upper Mustang / Annapurna Region / Pokaraha to Jomsom) extensively over the past few years; the last time 3 month ago.

The permission fee of 500 USD / person for 10 days (every additional day post 10 days will be charged extra) is mainly used to support the community and region of Upper Mustang - at least that's how it should be.

With elevation rising from 827 meters above mean sea level in Pokarah up to 3710 meters a.m.s.l in Muktinath you will have to pay close attention to your acclimatization (which is advisable post 2500 meters a.m.s.l). Hence jamming it into a 6 day trip does not only not make any sense but also is a potential health hazard and one to be taken seriously. Altitude sickness is seriously no joke if it gets out of hand and if one doesn't know how to attend to it.

If you are after experiencing the riding in the area, Mustang offers equally good tracks , single tracks and mountain "roads". The landscape is very similar to Upper Mustang and people are used to tourists to a certain extend. In all the years riding in this area we have not once had a bad experience.

I would strongly suggest to look at riding from Pokarah up into the area around Jomsom ; this should take you a full day. Stay at a nice B&B there. One that I can strongly recommend is the Dutch Bakery (run by Patrick / Dutch and Purna / Nepali) which is around 20 min from Jomsom and is a lot less "tourist". From there you can ride out in the morning and explore the area. Have a look at Titi Lake and ride up to Kagbeni. The landscape is stunning and the ride is epic fun.

If you really want to spend the 500 USD permit for Upper Mustang you should at least have 10 days in Upper Mustang (which means you need to add at least 3 days at the start of the trip and 2 at the end). It's amazing up there and surely one of the best remote areas to ride in. Mustang though doesn't fall much short of that as well.

Hope that gives you some insight.