Upper Mustang Tiji Festival Trekking is a three-day ritual known as "The chasing of the Demons" that centers on the Tiji myth. The myth tells of a deity named Dorje Jono who must battle against his demon father to save the Kingdom of Mustang from destruction. The demon father wreaked havoc on Mustang by bringing a shortage of water (a highly precious resource in this very dry land) and causing many resulting disasters from famine to animal loss. Dorje Jono eventually beats the demon and banishes him from the land. Tiji is a celebration and reaffirmation of this myth and throughout the festival the various scenes of the myth will be enacted. It is of course timed to coincide with the end of the dry winter/spring season and will usher in the wetter monsoon season (the growing season for Mustang). Tiji comes from the word "ten che" meaing ‘the hope of Buddha Dharma prevailing in all worlds' and is effectively a spring renewal festival.
Three Days in Tiji Festival Trekking
Early in the afternoon, horns resounded, announcing the two twelve-foot copper dunchens, with their elephantine blurting, followed by two double-reeled horns, all accompanied by drum and cymbals.Next, an ancient and enormous tanka three stories high was unrolled down the entire south wall of the square. The thanka portrayed Padma Sambhava or (Guru Rimpoche) who brought this ceremony to Tibet in the 8th century."
At mid-afternoon, in high wind and blowing dust, eleven lamas in maroon and gold, wearing high red hats, came from the palace and took their places along the wall beneath the thanka, with Tashi Tenzing on the elevated seat just in the center.As the monks and lamas commence chanting, twelve more monks come from the palace in maroon and royal blue and glittering gold brocade, with cymbal-shaped hats decked with upright peacock plumes. Soon they withdraw, to be replaced by the masked dancers who" start the portrayal of the Tiji myth.Dorje Jono repels the demon through the power of his magical dancing — he dances fifty-two separate dances, one of them in ten different bodies, each with a different head. As the dances end, Dorje Jono kills the demon, after which his people are relieved of their plague of misfortunes, water becomes plentiful once more, and the balance and harmony of existence are restored.
On the second day of Tiji Festivals Trekking numbers of Loba have arrived from the outlying hamlets, and the small square is thronged with wild beautiful people, with all of the women and children, at least, in traditional dress.The King of Mustang, "wears a whole crown of tiny river pearls set off by dozens of large red coralline tones interspersed with matched ornaments of turquoise.The costumes and masks, the twelve-foot horns, the gold cups of wheat, the butter cakes, the snow peaks and wind and dust and sun, the mehti, snow leopard, snow pigeons, saligrams, the dying glacier and the desert ruins, the drunks and rajas and foreigners, the dogs and yaks. Tantra!
On the third day, Tiji Festival Trekking ends with the ceremonial destruction of the evil remains, represented by some long black yak hair and red torma cakes minced to a dark red gurry. The demons red remnants are set out on an old tiger skin, where-upon they are attacked by bow and arrow, slings, and the old guns. The poor devils remains are over- turned upon the ground, each time to a wild cannonade from the old muzzle-loaders and a wave of cheers and smoke.
Upon your arrival at the Tribhuvan intl. airport our representative welcomes you and transfer in your hotel in Kathmandu.At the evening you'll transfer for welcome dinner in one of the typical Nepalese restaurant in Kathmandu and briefing about your trip and overnight at Hotel.
After breakfast the day will start to our guided trip to cultural world heritage sites in Kathmandu valley; including visits to the pilgrimage sites of Hindus Pashupatinath temple, the world biggest Bouddhanath Stupa, visit Swoyambhunath Stupa also known as monkey temple and historical Kathmandu Durbar Square with temple, unique architectures and Kumari (living goddess) in central Kathmandu. Evening pre-trip discussion and introduce with our crews.
Early morning drive by tourist bus to Pokhara through the beautiful countryside to reach the Pokhara lakeside and transfer to the hotel and rest of the time explore around lakeside areas and overnight at hotel.
After breakfast morning flight to Jomsom, a super scenic flight of 20 minutes brings you at Jomsom, the district headquarter of Mustang. From Jomsom our trek continues on the gradual & windy path on the Kali Gandaki river bed for about 3 hrs and finally reaching at Ekley-bhatti village. After good stop here an hour of easy walk reaches you to Kagbeni, which lies at the bank of two rivers. Kagbeni, an interesting wind swept villages situated on the main age old Trans himalayan salt trade route to Tibet via Upper Mustang area.
What Type of Trek is This?
This is tea house trekking tour thus you will be eating ans sleeping at the tea houses during your trekking period.
A Day on Trek
Each morning after packing our bags and a healthy breakfast, we set off on the day’s walk. After walking for 3-4 hours we stop for lunch at around midday. The afternoon’s walk is generally shorter and we usually arrive at our destination in time for afternoon tea. The remainder of the afternoon can be spent exploring the village, doing a bit of washing or simply relaxing with a good book. On some days we will arrive at our destination by lunchtime and the entire afternoon will be free. After dinner, the evening will often be spent playing cards and reliving the day’s adventures, before retiring for a well-earned sleep.
Meals and Accommodation
In Kathmandu we use 2 star hotel to ensure a comfortable stay and relaxed environment before and after your trip. All breakfasts are included at the hotel in Kathmandu. Rooms are generally twin share - depending on group size and room availability, triple share may be offered to your request.
While on the trek, we provide good quality food in sufficient quantities from Tea Houses/Mt. lodges. We provide all meals on full board (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and tea & coffee) from the teahouse menu during the trekking period. Most of the accommodation is in guesthouses which are basic structures, generally with shared facilities but very comfortable. In some guesthouses, showers are available; where there are no showers; there are private facilities in which you can sponge bath.
Luggage while on Trekking
During trek your main luggage will be carried by porters or pack animals (usually yaks or cross breeds). You simply carry a day pack with water bottle, camera, sun-screen, spare jacket, etc. - a small load that allows full enjoyment of the trek. A trek bag is ideal for your main luggage, plus a small lockable bag for travel clothes or anything that you do not need during trek which you can leave at hotel’s locker room/safe deposit box in Kathmandu for free of charge. Weight allowance at Nepal’s domestic airlines is 15 Kgs, excess weight is chargeable at USD 1 or more per Kilo depending on sectors.
Ground Leader and Crew
1) Trained Nepali Trek leader (experienced and knowledgeable)
2) Sherpa Guide (handles the logistics and guides you and your team on the trek)
The Sherpa guide (commonly called Sirdar) will be accompanied by a crew of porters. On camping trek, there will be 2/3 porters for each members while on GAP and on Lodge trek 1 porter for 2 members.
Join a group or private Trip:
Our trips are available on both fixed departure and private basis. If you are looking for a group to join this trip please check our ‘departures’ link for availability, dates and price. If you would like to travel independently, or with your friends, families & colleagues you are invited to choose any of the trips at your convenient timeframe for any number of people (minimum 1 & maximum 100 at a time).
If you want to do something that is not included in our trip list we are ready to tailor a trip to suit your exact requirements. In short, we will make every effort to get you on the trip you want, when you want.
Group Size and Fixed Departure Date:
If you opt to join our ‘fixed departure trip’, you are likely to be joining people from different countries of any age group except minors. The size of group varies, minimum no of persons required to operate a trip is 2 the maximum is 15 people.
Personal Expenses
Personal expenses depend largely on the type of trek, duration and the trekking region.
If you are on Camping or Tea house trek all meals will be provided. You only need money for table drinks (alcoholic/non alcoholic beverages), snacks while walking (a few smaller shops are available along the trail in some areas) tips, souvenirs, hot shower (available in some places).
If you are on ‘GAP’ trek style you need to pay for all your meals. NPR 1000-1500 a day should be enough to cover your meals. We pay for your accommodation at mountain hut (tea house) along the trail and bear all the expenses of staff assigned by us.
Tips are appreciated by your support team after the trip. The amount depends on your budget and appreciation of their work. As a suggestion, we advise you to allocate 5 - 10% of the total tour cost as tips.
Flight and Transfers
You can choose any mode of transport to commute from Kathmandu to Pokhara. Please do check for piece difference. From Kathmandu, you take a 30 minutes scenic flight to Pokhara and by driving it will take 7 hours along the Prithvi Highway to Pkhara. The starting point of the trek is Nayapul. On your return, our car/bus shall pick you from Nayapul and drive to Pokhara. You can choose between flying or driving back from Pokhara to Kathmandu. We will arrange the transportation from your hotel to the airport (Kathmandu).
Communication and Electricity:
These days most of the trekking tourtes have an access of telephone and celle phone. There is electricity facility entire trekking trails in Nepal thus there won’t be any problem to re-charge your battery and cameras.If it is crucial for you to keep in contact with your family .
How do you find us in Kathmandu ?
You need to pass on your International flight details to us for a “meeting and greeting” service at airport. You just pass on the Customs and come out of the Terminal building where you will see someone standing with a placard with either ‘Adventure Magic Treks’ or your name written on it. Our airport representative or tour officer will greet you and welcome you with a garland.
Climate and Best Time to go .
The best seasons to trek in the Annapurna region are Autumn (from mid-September till November end) and Spring (from the beginning of March until mid-May). Temperatures will drop considerably as you trek higher everyday. The nights are cold (between -20 C to 5C) but the days are sunny and hot (between 10C to 30C). The mornings are usually clear, with clouds building up during the afternoon, disappearing at night. Trekking during the monsoon is not recommended, as the visibility during monsoon is limited. Trekking in the winter is possible; however, it is much colder than Autumn and Spring.
March, April, October and November are the most popular and favored months for traveling. Please choose the date that is convenient for you.
Itinerary Changes
The itineraries for each trip should be taken as a guideline only. Depending on the prevailing situation, you can modify it to some extent after consulting with your guide. However, the date of trek completion should always coincide with the original itinerary.
You should keep in mind that this is an adventure trip into the remotest region, where many unforeseen events may contribute to the need for a change in itinerary. In such cases, we or your guide will suggest the best alternative similar to your original.
Trek Duration
We ensure liability as per indicated itinerary and list of services. If the holiday is cut short or completed earlier than the projected period upon client’s wish, we shall not be responsible or make refund against unutilized days or services. Clients need to pay extra for Hotels/services incurred in Kathmandu or elsewhere in such cases.
Vaccinations
As vaccination requirements change frequently, we suggest you to consult your doctor at least 2 months prior to the beginning of your trip. We recommend protection against malaria, tetanus, typhoid, hepatitis and polio.
First Aid Kid
We supply a medical bag with standard medicines prescribed by trekking doctors. Since our staffs/guides are not qualified for suggesting medications to western clients, we would request you to use the medicines upon your own risk. It is safer and more reliable if you have your own medicine kit and not depend on what we have.
Altitude :
Altitude Sickness has the potential to affect all travelers from 2500m and higher our itinerary is planned in such a way that you make very gradual ascend, spending some days at a low elevation to build necessary acclimatization before walking up to Annapurna south base camp at 4130m (the highest point on this trek). When you are at high altitude, your body needs time to adjust to smaller quantities of oxygen in the air at 5500m/18,044ft; the air pressure is approximately half that of sea level, i.e. there is half the amount of oxygen.
Check out "Altitude illness" by Dr Jim Duff
Rescue and Evacuations
In case of a serious sickness or a casualty, which we believe will not happen; we will do everything to transfer you to the nearest hospital. Since you are entirely liable for all the expenses incurred in evacuation please make sure that it is covered by your insurance before assigning for it or be prepared to pay on your own after getting back to Kathmandu.
Insurance
Before joining a tour, we recommend you to take a travel insurance which should cover cancellation, medical expenses, helicopter evacuation and emergency repatriation.
Responsible Travel
Wonderful environment of the Himalayas is also an extremely fragile one. Increasing population density and numbers of trekkers threaten the very beauty of Nepal. At Adventure Magic Treks , we are extremely conscious about the environment and aim to minimize our impact as much as possible.
As deforestation is one of the greatest environmental threats, we do not have camp fires and use kerosene for cooking as an alternative fuel to wood. We also discourage trekkers from using wood-fuelled hot showers in lodges along the way. Many lodges, however, now provide solar hot showers, a far more eco-friendly alternative.
Garbage disposal is another major problem and some of the busier trails can, at times, appear strew with litter. Our staff members are well motivated towards eco-friendly practices. We carry out all our garbage, apart from that which can be safely and easily burnt at the campsite. Our aim is to help protect and preserve this beautiful environment for future generations of trekkers to enjoy.
Trip Extensions
In addition to your trek, we can organize extensions both within Nepal and other neighboring countries. You may want to try water rafting or a jungle safari in Nepal or Nepal Cultural Tour. You may as well take a trip to Tibet, India or Bhutan, whichever seems more appealing to you. Since the trek ends in Pokhara, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Nepal, it would be nice and relaxing for you to spend a day or two taking in the sights and sounds of this scenic city.
Social Responsibility
Adventure Magic Treks works with the motto ‘Development through Tourism’. Keeping in line with this motto, Adventure Magic Community Service Project was imagine to authorize deprived, marginalized, poor and minority section of Nepal.
Staff’s Care:
We ensure that all the porters and other staffs going into high altitude conditions are provided with adequate clothing and equipment. We are the first ever company to supply high-altitude porters with crampons. Therefore we are lifetime member of Keep.
Booking conditions:
Booking Procedure:
If you still have any questions regarding this trip, please feel free to contact us. We answer all enquiries within more or less then 12 hours. If you want to book a trip, you can e-mail us at info@adventuremagictreks.com or contact us straight by phone: +977-1-4410361