11 Days Forbidden Kingdom Tour (Upper Mustang, Nepal)

Ten nights from Kathmandu into Upper Mustang, guided, riding enduro into a kingdom that was closed to outsiders until 1992.

Upper Mustang is the reason to book this. It was an independent Buddhist kingdom until 2008, sits in the rain shadow of the Himalaya as a high desert of eroded cliffs and cave dwellings, and still requires a restricted-area permit that takes a day to process.

Kathmandu opens it, with the airport pickup by the operator’s local crew and a welcome dinner with the guides. A flight to Pokhara follows, with the permit arranged and the bikes inspected. The ride then runs north to Lete on winding mountain roads with Annapurna and Dhaulagiri on either side, through forest and traditional villages, before the landscape turns to high desert. Lo Manthang comes next, the walled former capital, with two full days there for the monasteries and the old town. The return takes new trails to Lete and Tatopani and back to Pokhara.

The bike hire is included, delivered in partnership with a local crew; the full inclusions were not itemised on the operator’s page and are worth confirming at booking, along with whether the permit cost is covered. Altitude is a genuine consideration, since Lo Manthang sits above three and a half thousand metres and the approach goes higher. October to April is the season, since the monsoon between June and September makes the hill roads unpredictable. Eleven days with two full days at Lo Manthang is the right allocation: getting there is most of the work, and leaving without time to look round would waste it.