Exploring the Himalayan vastness of Mustang

Trek to Chhema Lake — It's worth hiking up to wondrous wild redoubts such as Chhema Lake (Image credit: Shinta Mani Mustang)

Bulwarked by colossal Himalayan peaks, Mustang is among the most remote and sparsely populated regions of Nepal. It was long an independent kingdom known as Lo, and remains "grounded in its own past", says Chandrahas Choudhury in Condé Nast Traveller. Encompassing the upper reaches of the Kali Gandaki river and the surrounding mountains – the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri massifs – this is an arid and sombre place, windy and stony. Merchants once carried wool and salt down from Tibet to India through this valley (by some measures, the world's deepest gorge). It is still "a stronghold of Tibetan culture" – but in such "monumental" surroundings, humans and their concerns feel like "an afterthought".

Tourism in Upper Mustang is strictly controlled by a permit system, but there's much to see in its lower reaches, where a new 29-room hotel, Shinta Mani Mustang, opened last year. A low-slung structure made from timber and stone, it sits above the regional capital, Jomsom (pop. 1,370), and has floor-to-ceiling windows affording views of the peak of Nilgiri. It's a good base for hikes to "serene" monasteries, and to villages such as Marpha, which has flagstoned streets lined with teahouses and shops that "buzz with life".

Among the most remarkable walking destinations near Jomsom is the tiny village of Lubra, where locals still espouse Bon, the pantheistic faith that predates Buddhism in Tibet. An ancient walnut tree, "gnarled and great-canopied", grows at its entrance, and above it stands a 12th century temple where Bon symbols appear alongside frescoes depicting Buddhist legends "rich in demons and serpents". It's also worth hiking up to wondrous wild redoubts such as Chhema Lake, a silent perch from which to contemplate the "unblinking stillness" of the icy peaks all around.