15-Day Mustang and Poon Hill Trek Nepal

15 Days, Muktinath to Poon Hill

Days 1 to 3  |  Kathmandu

Arrive in Kathmandu and spend two full days in the valley, visiting Swayambhunath, Pashupatinath, Boudhanath, the Durbar Squares, and the medieval town of Kirtipur, for some cultural background before the mountains.

Days 4 to 7  |  Pokhara, Jomsom, and Muktinath

Drive 200 kilometers west to Pokhara, then take the mountain flight to Jomsom up the Kali Gandaki corridor, between the summits of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. Trek north through the ancient walled town of Kagbeni to Muktinath, the highest point of the trek, where the eternal flame burns on water and the 108 water spouts of the main temple have run cold and clear for centuries.

Days 8 to 10  |  The Kali Gandaki Gorge

Descend south past twisted rock formations to Marpha, the whitewashed Thakali town known across Nepal for its apple orchards and apple brandy. Continue through Tukuche, the old Thakali trading center, into the narrowing gorge, where the canyon walls close in and Dhaulagiri and Nilgiri rise overhead. Reach the hot springs at Tatopani, where the pools on the riverbank are very welcome after the walk down the Kali Gandaki.

Days 11 to 12  |  Ghorepani and Poon Hill

Climb steeply southeast from the valley floor to Ghorepani at 2,874 meters, the traditional stop for watering horses on the old salt trade route. On Day 12, get up before dawn and walk the last 45 minutes to Poon Hill at 3,210 meters for the sunrise, as Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I through IV, Machhapuchhre, Hiunchuli, and the ridges of the Annapurna range turn orange and then white. It is the most celebrated sunrise viewpoint in Nepal.

Days 13 to 15  |  Return to Pokhara and Kathmandu

Descend the stone staircases to Birethanti and return to Pokhara by the afternoon for a final celebration dinner by the lake. Drive or fly back to Kathmandu for the last night and your international departure.

Day by Day

Days 1 to 2  Arrival in Kathmandu  Sacred Sites and the Briefing

Our team meets you at Tribhuvan International Airport with a traditional Sherpa welcome and takes you to your hotel. The briefing covers the full route: the mountain flight, acclimatizing for the altitude at Muktinath, the descent through the gorge, and the climb to Poon Hill. The evening is free in Thamel.

Day Two is a full tour of the Kathmandu Valley's most important sites. At Swayambhunath, on its hilltop, the stupa's painted eyes have looked over the city since the 5th century. Pashupatinath on the Bagmati River is Nepal's most sacred Hindu complex, and its riverside cremation ghats have been in use for centuries. Boudhanath is the great white stupa at the heart of the Tibetan Buddhist community. Patan Durbar Square has the finest medieval Newari architecture in the valley. Kirtipur is one of the oldest settlements in the valley and held out against unification under Prithvi Narayan Shah until his third attack.

Stay: Kathmandu Hotel

Day 3  Kathmandu to Pokhara  The Drive West

Drive 200 kilometers west from Kathmandu to Pokhara along the Prithvi Highway, which follows the Trishuli and Marsyangdi rivers through the Himalayan foothills to Nepal's second city. Pokhara sits at 800 meters beside Phewa Lake, with the Annapurna massif and the sacred Fish Tail peak, Machhapuchhre, rising above the water. The afternoon is for settling in and the evening for the lakeside, with its restaurants and the mountains reflected in the water, and for getting ready for tomorrow morning's Jomsom flight.

Stay: Pokhara Hotel

Days 4 to 7  Jomsom to Muktinath  Into the High Rain Shadow

The Jomsom flight is one of the best short mountain flights in Nepal. The plane follows the Kali Gandaki corridor north, between the flanks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, close enough that you can see the glaciers and upper ridges clearly from the window, before landing on the airstrip at Jomsom at 2,720 meters. It flies in the morning because the Kali Gandaki wind, which funnels up the gorge from the south every afternoon with enough force to flatten a camp in an hour, makes afternoon flying impractical. Early starts matter here.

From Jomsom the trail heads north through Mustang country: dry, windswept rain shadow land that gets very little monsoon rain and looks more like the Tibetan plateau than Nepal's green hills. The ancient walled town of Kagbeni sits where the Kali Gandaki and Jhong rivers meet, with its medieval mud-brick buildings and narrow alleys largely intact. Kagbeni marks the boundary of Upper Mustang, and the trail north continues to Lo Manthang for those with the restricted area permit. This itinerary turns east toward Muktinath.

Muktinath Temple at 3,800 meters is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Himalaya, holy to both Hindus and Buddhists. For Hindus it is one of the 108 Divya Desams, the sacred Vishnu shrines, and Vaishnava pilgrims travel very long distances to bathe under its 108 water spouts, each carved as a cow's head, as an act of purification. For Buddhists it is one of the 24 Tantric pilgrimage sites of the Himalayan region, associated with the Dakini Yogmaya. The natural flame on the surface of the spring inside the Jwala Mai shrine is fed by underground methane and has burned continuously for as long as the site has been in use. Fire and water together in one sacred place are at the heart of what makes Muktinath unusual even among Himalayan shrines.

Stay: Best Available Mountain Lodges

Days 8 to 10  Marpha to Tatopani  The World's Deepest Gorge

The descent south from Muktinath follows the Kali Gandaki downstream, and the country changes quickly. Within a day the high rain shadow of Mustang gives way to a milder landscape, the rock twisting into layered sedimentary columns and the first plants appearing on the lower slopes. Marpha is the first real stop: a whitewashed town of flat-roofed houses along a central lane, with apple orchards on the slopes above and a strong reputation for the apple brandy and other apple products the Thakali families here have made and traded for generations. It is one of the best-preserved examples of traditional Thakali architecture in the valley.

Tukuche, farther south, was the most important trading center on the Kali Gandaki route, where Tibetan salt caravans from the north met grain traders coming up from the south. The Thakali people of this valley grew wealthy on that trade, and Tukuche's buildings show it: large courtyard houses, community granaries, and a town laid out as much for commerce as for farming. The salt trade mostly ended when other routes opened in the 20th century, but the Thakali communities and their buildings remain.

South of Tukuche the gorge narrows sharply. Here the Kali Gandaki cuts through the deepest canyon on earth: the river at roughly 2,500 meters, Dhaulagiri's summit at 8,167 meters above it to the west, and Annapurna I at 8,091 meters to the east. The vertical interval between river and peaks is over 5,500 meters, more than three times the depth of the Grand Canyon. Walking the narrow section with both massifs showing above the canyon walls, the scale is hard to take in. Tatopani, at the southern end of the gorge, sits at roughly 1,190 meters, and its hot spring pools on the riverbank have welcomed tired trekkers for as long as the trail has been in use. The Rupse Chhahara waterfall on the way, dropping in a single long cascade above the trail, is the best lunch stop on the southern section.

Stay: Traditional Mountain Lodges

Days 11 to 12  Ghorepani and Poon Hill  The Sunrise

The climb from Tatopani to Ghorepani gains nearly 1,700 meters through some of the finest rhododendron forest in the Annapurna Conservation Area: huge trees with trunks as wide as your armspan, red and pink blossoms in spring, and a forest floor deep in moss and leaf litter. Ghorepani, at 2,874 meters, takes its name from the Nepali words for horse and water. It was the stop on the old Jomsom trade route where pack animals were watered before or after the high section. Today it is a trekking hub, but the rhododendron forest around it is the same one the salt caravans walked through.

On Day 12 you leave for Poon Hill before dawn, a 45-minute climb through the forest by flashlight, to reach the viewpoint as the sky starts to lighten. Poon Hill at 3,210 meters looks north and northwest over the full Annapurna range: Dhaulagiri I at 8,167 meters to the far west, then Tukuche Peak, Nilgiri, Annapurna I through IV across the northern arc, Hiunchuli, and Machhapuchhre, the Fish Tail, to the east. The sun rises behind the eastern ridges, and the light moves west across the peaks over about twenty minutes, from the first orange on Annapurna I to full light on Dhaulagiri. On a clear morning it is one of the most complete panoramas of the central Himalaya you can reach without technical climbing.

Stay: Mountain Lodges

Days 13 to 15  Return to Pokhara and Kathmandu

Descend from Ghorepani down the stone staircases to Hile and Birethanti, where the trail meets the road at the edge of the Annapurna Conservation Area. You are back in Pokhara by the afternoon for the lake, the celebration dinner, and the pleasure of low altitude after ten days in the high country. On Day 14, drive or fly back to Kathmandu for a last evening in the city, with time for a final walk and meal in Thamel. International departure is on Day 15 or the following morning.

Stay: Pokhara Luxury Hotel then Kathmandu Hotel

The Sherpa Standard

Every SherpaHolidays trip is fully supported. Here is what that means on this one.

Accommodation and Meals

• Kathmandu and Pokhara: Premium hotels at the start and end of the trip.
• Mountain Lodges: Courtyard lodges throughout the trek, chosen by us for their location and local hospitality.
• Full Board on Trek: All meals on the trekking days: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
• Welcome and Farewell: A traditional welcome when you arrive and a farewell dinner in Pokhara.

Leadership and Logistics

• Lead Guide: A dedicated English-speaking Sherpa guide who knows the Kali Gandaki region and the Muktinath pilgrimage tradition well.
• Sherpa Porters: Professional porters to carry all heavy luggage on the trek.
• Acclimatization Schedule: Careful altitude gain and daily health checks through the Muktinath section.

Transport and Logistics

• Jomsom Flight: The mountain flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, one of the most scenic short flights in Nepal.
• Private Transfers: All airport pickups and drops, and the drive between Kathmandu and Pokhara.
• Permits and Fees: ACAP entry fees, all trekking permits, and monument entry fees.

What Is Not Included

• International airfare to and from Kathmandu
• Nepal entry visa fees
• Lunch and dinner while in Kathmandu
• Specialized trekking clothing, boots, and personal medications
• Comprehensive travel insurance, which is a condition of every booking. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment, emergency evacuation, trip cancellation and interruption, and repatriation. We can recommend providers.
• Tips for guides and porters
• Single supplement (for those taking a private room)

Five Highlights

The Muktinath Flame

Inside the Jwala Mai shrine at Muktinath, a natural flame burns on the surface of a spring fed by underground methane seeping through a rock fissure. Fire and water have been together here, without a break, for as long as the site has been in religious use. Hindus count Muktinath among the 108 sacred Vishnu shrines, and Buddhists identify it as one of the 24 Tantric power places of the Himalayan world. The 108 water spouts of the main temple complex have run cold and clear through the pilgrim seasons for centuries.

The Kali Gandaki Gorge

The Kali Gandaki cuts between Dhaulagiri I at 8,167 meters and Annapurna I at 8,091 meters, with the river running at roughly 2,500 meters, far below their summits. The vertical interval is more than 5,500 meters, over three times the depth of the Grand Canyon, which makes this the deepest gorge on the planet by some measures. In the narrow section of the canyon you walk with both massifs above the walls on either side, and the scale is hard to take in.

Poon Hill at Sunrise

The viewpoint at 3,210 meters looks north and northwest over the whole Annapurna range: Dhaulagiri, Tukuche, Nilgiri, Annapurna I through IV, Hiunchuli, and Machhapuchhre in a single open arc. The sun rises behind the eastern ridges, and over about twenty minutes the light moves west across the peaks, from the first orange on Annapurna I to full light on Dhaulagiri. It is the most celebrated sunrise in Nepal.

Marpha and the Thakali Heritage

The whitewashed town of Marpha is one of the best-preserved examples of traditional Thakali architecture in the Kali Gandaki valley: flat-roofed mud-brick houses along a central paved lane, apple orchards on the terraces above, and families who have made apple brandy from those orchards for generations. The Thakali built the wealth of the upper Kali Gandaki on the salt trade between Tibet and the southern hills, which ran through Tukuche and Marpha for centuries until other routes replaced it. The architecture and the community are still here.

The Jomsom Mountain Flight

The early morning flight from Pokhara to Jomsom follows the Kali Gandaki corridor north between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, close enough to both massifs that you can see the glaciers and upper ridges from the window. It only flies in the morning, because the valley wind builds through the afternoon until it is too strong to fly safely, and it grounds aircraft by midday. It is one of the most dramatic short flights in commercial aviation, and a very different way into the high country than walking up from the south.