The walled city of Lo Manthang

On the treacherous high-altitude trail to Lo Manthang, the walled city that is the capital of Upper Mustang province in Nepal and whose denizens are true custodians of a vanishing culture and way of life.

 

A view of Lo Manthang.

A Loba, or resident of Lo, in Tsarang.

A Khampa man in Gelling. The Khampa were originally fearsome warriors who held out the longest against the Chinese advance into Tibet.

On the Jomsom-to-Kagbeni trek, which is along the riverbed of the Kali Gandaki.

The Kali Gandaki flowing through a narrow gorge at the bottom of the sky caves.

The Choede gompa, one of the three beautiful gompas in Lo Manthang.

The Tsarang gompa. It houses priceless murals in reasonably good condition.

The Ghar gompa, an example of the fusion of Buddhism and the Bon faith.

A lone chorten (temple) on the way to Lo Manthang.

The earthy hues of mud sculptures near Chuksang village (2,965 m).

The bridge across the Kali Gandaki en route to Kagbeni.

Buddhist prayer stones in Chuksang.

A mural outside a gompa.

The Mani wall (which is a wall faced with stone slabs that have a Buddhist prayer or mantra inscribed on them) at Ghami, on the way to Lo Manthang.

Buckwheat fields and apple orchards in Mustang.

The sky caves near Tsaile. Situated on a 155-foot-high cliff, the caves had artefacts of the pre-Buddhist Bon culture, besides human skulls and bones and animal remains.

Grinding herbs in Lo Manthang.

Monks playing chess at the Choede gompa in Lo Manthang.

In Lo Manthang, a town that has just 800 residents.

The Muktinath shrine.

Inside the Chosar caves, once the home of monks. Relics from a Bon past were found here alongside Buddhist artefacts.

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The Chosar caves in Upper Mustang in Nepal, near the Tibetan border.