A Rider's Guide to Upper Mustang Permits

Upper Mustang — the stretch north of Kagbeni toward Lo Manthang — is a restricted area, which means a standard TIMS card and Annapurna Conservation Area entry are not enough on their own. The restricted-area permit is issued separately, is priced per day, and has historically required a minimum group size and a licensed trekking or travel agency to apply on your behalf — individual riders cannot usually walk up and buy one themselves.

That agency requirement is the part first-time organisers underestimate. Build in lead time before the trip to get paperwork through an agency, not the day before you leave Kathmandu, since permits are issued in Kathmandu or Pokhara and not at a checkpoint in Mustang itself.

Below Kagbeni, the rules are simpler: an Annapurna Conservation Area Project entry permit and a TIMS card cover the ride as far as Muktinath and Jomsom, and those can be arranged directly without an agency. Carry printed copies, not just photos on a phone — checkpoints along the route do ask to see them, and a dead battery at a checkpoint in the wind is not where you want to discover you only had a screenshot.

Because permit rules and rates change, treat anything you read — including this — as a starting point for a call to an agency or ACAP directly before you commit dates, not a final quote.