Mustang, long forbidden area has finally been opened for trekking. The Government of Nepal has decided to grant permission for a limited number of foreign visitors in summer and charges a hefty US$ 700 permit fee per person for 10 days. Mustang was a separate principality, ruled by the Raja of Mustang unttil 1951. Culturally, Mustang is more like Tibet than Nepal. The King of Mustang, locally known as Lo-Gyelbu , has always intermarried with the Tibetan aristocracy.

 The Capital, Lo Manthan is an old walled town still undisturbed and untouched by western civilization, and daily life is much as it has been over the centuries. Around Lo Manthan one can explore the nearby Namgyal Gompa, the village of Tenger and the Nyamook Gompa. Strange are the cave dwellings that are the villages of Guruk and Sija, cut into the surrounding cliff sides, inhabited even today.