Mustang (kingdom)

Mustang(from Tibetan Mun Tan (Wylie smon-thang) which means fertile plain) is the former Kingdom of Lo and now part of Nepal, in the north-central part of that country, bordering the People's Republic of China on the Tibetan plateau between the Nepalese provinces of Dolpo and Manang. The Kingdom of Lo, the traditional Mustang region, and "Upper Mustang" are one and the same, comprising the northern two-thirds of the present-day Nepalese Mustang District, and are well marked by official "Mustang" border signs just north of Kagbeni where a police post checks permits for non-Nepalese seeking to enter the region, and at Gyu La (pass) east of Kagbeni.
Life in Mustang revolves around tourism, animal husbandry and trade. Except for a nine km portion from Chhusang to Syangboche (just south of Ghiling (Geling)) as of August 2010, it is bisected by a new road linking it to the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to the north and to the rest of Nepal to the south. Plans call for the final nine km portion to be completed in just a few years' time, which will provide, with a high point of 4660 m at Kora La on the Mustang-TAR border, the lowest drivable corridor through the Himalayas linking the Tibetan Plateau via Nepal to the tropical Indian plains. (The easiest and only widely used road corridor, from Kathmandu to Lhasa via the Arniko Rajmarg (or Arniko Highway), traverses a 5125 m pass.)


Geography
The main hydrographic feature of Mustang is the Kali Gandaki River. The river runs southward towards Nepal Terai, bisecting Mustang. Routes paralleling the river once served as a major trade route between Tibet and India, especially for salt. Part of the river valley in the southern Mustang District forms by some measures the deepest gorge in the world. Traditional Mustang (the Lo Kingdom) is 53 km north-south at its longest and 60 km east - west at its widest, and ranges from a low point of 2750 m above sea level on the Kali Gandaki River just north of Kagbeni to 6700 m (Khamjung Himal, a peak in southeast Mustang.)

Tourism
Even though foreign visitors have been allowed to the region since 1992, tourism to Upper Mustang is regulated. Foreigners need to obtain a special permit to enter, which costs US$50 per day per person. Most tourists travel by foot over largely the same trade route used in the 15th century. Over a thousand western trekkers now visit each year, with over 2,000 in 2008, with October being the peak month, followed by August. On August 27, 2010, local youth leaders in Mustang threatened to bar tourists beginning October 1, 2010 due to the refusal of the Nepalese government to provide any of the $50 per day fee to the local economy[5]