Upper Mustang Alternative Trek – everything great

We traveled in a group of three (my wife, her father and me) by trekking from north of Jomsom to Lo Manthang to visit the Tiji festival. The way back ended in Muktinath.
We did a variation of the normal route to accommodate additional visits and stayed a couple of days longer in Mustang.

The planning of our changes before our arrival in was very smooth and the company was flexible to fulfill our wishes. Additional costs (i.e. for a third porter) were responsible.
When we arrived in Kathmandu we were welcomed by the chef’s wife and driven to our hotel.

We meet the guide for the trek itself in Pokhara the night before the departure to Mustang. He went through the route with us and clarified open questions.
The team (guide + 3 porter) was very friendly and helpful for the entire trip. The routes we took were safe, though one needs to be aware that some spots can be challenging.

The tour itself was physically demanding but rewarded with stunning views and great impressions of the country.

The only problem we had was our guest house in Lo Manthang which insisted that we need to eat there, despite that the food was rather mediocre and there were plenty of others with better food. In general, the tea houses can be a bit basic, especially if the busy Tiji festival is happening, NAT tried to get us the best rooms they could, but with limited availability, there were often none.