Often known as “Heart of Upper Mustang”, Lo Manthang has been one of the major attraction for tourists since it was opened for the outsiders in 1992. It is a restricted trekking trail in Nepal and is also popular as “The Last Forbidden Kingdom”. To get here, you will need a special permit from the Government of Nepal which your tour company like (Asian Journey) might take care of. It is situated at the north of the Himalayas and just out onto the Tibet Plateau. Lo Manthang was the walled capital of the Kingdom of Lo from its founding in 1380, consisting of city walls and many still standing structures. This naturally blessed village is absolutely untouched by modernizations. While the world is moving on its pace and changing rapidly towards development, it seems like Lo Manthang has stood still and the people living here called Lobas are still happy with what they have. The history and cultures of this place expose itself by the magnificent sculptures and landscapes. This secret kingdom consists of one of the finest Buddhist Monasteries in the world along with the richest surviving collection of 15th century Buddhist Mandalas in the world.
Here at Lo Manthang, you can see the horses running freely across the fields, rivers, and routes. The entire area of Upper Mustang offers you awesome landscape views that are quite similar to Tibetan Plateau along with excellent views of snow capped Himalayas across the Nepal-Tibet border. At the southern walls of the city, there is only one entrance to Lo through which only King, Queen and Kempo(Guru) can ride and the rest of the people have to walk through it in order to, pay respect to Chenring (The Buddha of compassion). There are four major monasteries and shrines which are Jampa Lhakahnag (from 14th century, red bricked oldest monastery), Thubchen Gompa (from late 15th century, red assembly hall), Chodey Gompa (the present main city gompa) and the Chorang Gompa (popular as New Gompa).
The present king of this kingdom is Jigme Palbar Bista who is the 25th descendant of Ame Pal. He is popular as Lo Gyalbu among the locals and lives at four story palace at Lo. In present days, the king is involved in few ceremonial roles only yet, is respected and loved by all the Mustangi people. This village mainly has houses made of white washed clays. You can observe the Tibetan culture mixed with Nepalese traditions and languages.
Though it was opened for Foreigner since 1992, people visiting Lo Manthang is very limited with just over 2000 visitors in 2008. There are around one thousand Lobos at around 180 houses within the walls of the village. You can get here trekking at Nayapul after 1:30 minutes drive from Pokhara or at Jomsom after 25 minutes mountain flight from Pokhara. If you choose Asian Journey to be your tour company to this extraordinary kingdom, then we can arrange the trek as per your wish and requirements. The main route to get here is to leave the Kagbeni, trek or drive and finally land on Lo Manthang.
