FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: The Road to Mustang

We made it to Shinta Mani Mustang!

My favourite line lately seems to be:

“We made it.”

And this time, we really did.

Getting to Shinta Mani Mustang from Rwanda has been an adventure in itself. The plan had been simple enough...fly from Pokhara to Jomsom. But as suspected, the haze hanging over Pokhara meant flights were not operating. The irony? It was actually clear in Jomsom. Unfortunately that doesn’t help much when the plane can’t take off from the other end. So it was time for yet another Plan B.

Fortunately the Shinta Mani team had anticipated this possibility and had already arranged a jeep, driver and guide to be on standby. The call to activate the backup plan came at 8am and we began the five-to-six-hour drive to Jomsom instead.

The route follows the Kali Gandaki Valley, the deepest valley in the world, running between the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountain ranges. Under normal circumstances the scenery is meant to be spectacular. Unfortunately, thanks to the lingering haze, much of that grandeur remained hidden behind a dusty grey veil.

Still, the journey itself felt significant. Mustang sits in a remote corner of Nepal that for centuries was an isolated Himalayan kingdom, closed to outsiders until the 1990s. Even the name carries a certain poetry. The Tibetan translation of Mustang is the “Plain of Aspiration”.

Breakfast options were suprisingly good! Included a juice bar, made to order eggs station, waffles and more!

Nice change!

Some of the many interesting things available

Perhaps stupidly optimistic at 0620am at the airport

Those little planes were to be our transport if the haze cleared

It was not to be. So jeep it is!

Started off well with roads in good condition

Our view was mostly like this...

Not sure if you can see the massive hives. Hives of Himalayan giant honey bee that produce hallucinogenic honey! Popular with Korean tourists apparently

Second highest bungee jump in the world. Um...no thanks

Tried marsala tea. Really nice!

The road was narrow and not in great conditions in many parts mainly due to landslides in the monsoon season...total distance covered was only 160km but taking 5 hours plus! You get the picture

Weird things along the way like fake yak that you can pictures on

I don't know what this waterfall is called

I'm not sure I trust the bridges...this was one of the better ones

Deepest valley in the world

Finally clear enough that we could at least make out some of the mountain

By around 2pm we finally arrived in Jomsom. From there it was a short drive uphill to our home for the next five nights: Shinta Mani Mustang.

Perched high above the town at an altitude of around 2,850 metres, the lodge overlooks the broad valley floor and the windswept landscape of the region. Even through the haze it felt remote and otherworldly. Staff in colourful uniforms welcomed us warmly, offering cool towels and a mug of warm apple cider before escorting us to lunch.

The resort itself is fully all-inclusive — meals, activities, laundry, spa treatments and massages are all included. It is, frankly, a dangerous concept for people who enjoy spa treatments as much as we do, and also a driver into making the reservation!

Lunch was excellent, and during the meal we were introduced to Rishab, our personal “Adventure Butler”, who would be curating our activities during our stay. We liked Rishab immediately. Particularly when he casually mentioned that our first spa and massage session had already been booked for 3:30pm. Excellent initiative.

The spa area turned out to be spectacular. We were shown to a private room complete with hot bath, steam room, sauna and cold shower. Robes, towels and disposable underwear were thoughtfully provided before our treatments. The massage itself was an hour long and fully customised to our preferences. There was even a private shower in the treatment room afterwards if needed.

Not a bad way to recover from two days of travel chaos.

Yay we made it! The resort driveway

One seriously good warm apple cider, rum was optional

A seriously good cocktail. All included!

Lunch was tasty. This was one of many courses

I suspect they've made this chocolate lava cake many times...so good

Our beautiful room. Shame the views are not clear

You can just make out the mountain in the background

Bathroom with a view

Himalayan salt bricks. Yes for real. Same one we use for our food, except these bricks are for the bath!

Spa time!

Our private space. Hot pool, steam room, sauna, shower

Next! Massage room

Later in the afternoon we attended a short briefing with the lodge manager about the activities available during our stay. Rishab had already prepared a suggested program for us and explained that he would brief us day by day so we wouldn’t feel overwhelmed by the options. The schedule had also been designed with altitude in mind, activities reaching higher elevations would come later in the week once we had more time to acclimatise.

After that it was time for dinner, which once again was excellent. There was a theme every night and we loved the concept!

More importantly, we were finally here. After Rwanda, rerouted flights, visa chaos, lost laptops and a dusty Himalayan road trip, we had made it to Mustang. And the adventure was only just beginning.

A map of the region so we could understand where we were and where we were going to visit

Rupak, in charge of our meals, and explaining the menu. Mustang was once part of the trade route between Nepal, India, & Tibet

The table decorations were items they used to trade! Salt, lentils, copperware. The rocks were "signposts" that they used to help each other with direction