Nepal, up the Kali Gandaki, in the gorge between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri: two of the highest mountains on earth, standing about twenty miles apart with the river running between them. You start in Kathmandu, fly to Pokhara, and go north to Jomsom at nine thousand feet.
Jomsom is where the hotel is. Shinta Mani Mustang is twenty-nine suites of stacked Baglung stone standing alone in the valley, and in July, Robb Report’s panel of travel advisers put it at number one on the 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels on Earth. Singita Kwitonda came second. The Park Hyatt Tokyo came fourth. It is owned and run by the Sherpa family, who are our partners in Nepal, and designed by Bill Bensley. You have four nights in it.
Beyond it is Upper Mustang, a Buddhist kingdom until 2008 that admitted no foreigner at all until 1992. You go up for Tiji, three days of masked dance in the walled city of Lo Manthang. Between the road days there are slow ones: Sowa Rigpa medicine and treatments facing the Nilgiri range, artisans and villages, and a valley that looks more like Tibet than anywhere in Nepal.
"The best hotel in the world is a twenty-nine room house of stacked stone at nine thousand feet in Nepal."
Led by Adam & Vanessa Lambert
This expedition is led by Managing Director Adam Lambert and Chief Experience Officer Vanessa Lambert—the team who built West Zephyr on 15 years of creating transformational adventure experiences worldwide.
Adam leads trip development and guest experience, curating the destinations, partners, and people that make each expedition unforgettable. Vanessa shapes the journey's transformational arc, ensuring every moment lands with intention and presence.
What You'll Experience
- Tiji, three days of masked dance in the walled city of Lo Manthang
- Upper Mustang, a Buddhist kingdom until 2008 and closed to foreigners until 1992
- Four nights at Shinta Mani Mustang, number one on Robb Report's 50 Greatest Hotels on Earth
- Sowa Rigpa Tibetan medicine, spa treatments facing the Nilgiri range
- Ride the Kali Gandaki road by Royal Enfield, or take the jeep. Your call, daily
- Kathmandu at both ends, at Dwarika's, with a sound bath before you fly home
- Eighteen travelers, two hosts, one continuous journey
Day by Day
Kathmandu
Arrive, and stay at Dwarika's.
International arrival into Kathmandu and a night at Dwarika’s, the heritage hotel built around a rescued collection of Newari woodcarving. Nothing is asked of you on day one.
Pokhara, then north to Jomsom
Fly to Pokhara. Ride or drive the Kali Gandaki, lunch at Tatopani.
A short flight to Pokhara, then the road north up the Kali Gandaki between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. There is a Royal Enfield waiting if you want one, and a jeep if you do not. Lunch at Tatopani. By evening you are at nine thousand feet in Jomsom, checking into Shinta Mani Mustang.
Jomsom
The lodge, and the valley around it.
A day built around the property and its programming. Sowa Rigpa consultation, treatments in a spa that opens onto the Nilgiri range, and short excursions into the villages nearby. Ride if you want to ride.
Into Upper Mustang
North through the restricted area to Lo Manthang.
Permits in hand, north into Upper Mustang. The landscape stops being Nepal and starts being the Tibetan plateau: red cliffs, cave dwellings cut into the rock, whitewashed villages under prayer flags.
Tiji, day one
The festival begins in the walled city.
Tiji opens in the square below the royal palace. Monks of the Choedhe monastery dance the story of a deity subduing a demon that brought drought to the kingdom. It is a rite for the coming season, not a performance.
Tiji, day two
The dances continue, and the city fills.
The second day draws the whole valley in. Between dances there is time for the monastery, the old walls, and the streets of a city that has been lived in continuously since the fourteenth century.
Back to Jomsom
South again, down the valley.
The road back, ridden or driven, with the mountains in front of you the whole way rather than behind. Back to Shinta Mani Mustang for the last nights.
Integration
Mountain wellness, artisans, and nothing scheduled hard.
The day the trip is designed around rather than the one it is sold on. Treatments, a Tibetan medicine session, artisan and cultural visits in the valley, and enough unstructured time to notice where you have been.
Kathmandu
Fly south, sightseeing, and a sound bath.
Fly Jomsom to Pokhara and connect to Kathmandu. Half a day in the old city, then a sound bath, then dinner at Dwarika’s.
Home
International departure.
Departures from Kathmandu.
This isn't a generic expedition. It's a curated journey where the people who built West Zephyr travel alongside you—bringing years of insight into what makes adventure meaningful.
The Curation Runs Deep
Adam and Vanessa have spent years building relationships with world-class partners, guides, and lodges across the globe. Those relationships inform every element of this itinerary—the routes, the accommodations, the moments that most travelers never find. You're not getting a catalog trip; you're getting one shaped by people who've done this hundreds of times.
The Group Is the Experience
Every person on this expedition is intentionally selected. You're not joining a busload of strangers—you're stepping into a small group of curious, accomplished people who travel for meaning as much as adventure. The destination is extraordinary, but the real magic is who you experience it with.
You Travel with the Vision, Not Just the Brand
Most companies send staff. On Founders' Trips, Adam and Vanessa are there—sharing meals, joining excursions, present for the conversations that happen when remarkable people explore together. Our expert local partners handle every operational detail so you (and we) can simply be present.
Words From the Journey
"This trip was absolutely life-changing. Vanessa and Adam are a stellar team who are passionate about cultivating community and connection within the framework of every experience they offer. They are highly skilled at facilitating small groups: from periodic de-briefs and check-ins to seamlessly orchestrating the daily activities, I felt as if the entire trip was curated with the utmost care and the best intent for everyone to have the time of their lives. I highly recommend this trip — or any other! If you are on the fence, don't be! Go!"
"If you are looking for an opportunity to challenge yourself physically and mentally, then a West Zephyr trek is for you. While you go through said challenge, you are provided with luxurious accommodations, local cuisine, expert trail guides who also provide plenty of history of the area, and an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals."
"Words to describe this trip include: magical, transformational, stunning, physically and emotionally challenging, delicious, incredibly well organized, and just what I needed! Adam and Vanessa are a great team to lead a trip like this. It was very challenging, and yet I felt safe and capable the entire time. They did a great job creating that environment, from the preparatory exercises to holding space for our fears and growth during the trip. Truly awesome, in so many ways! Also, it's a great value for the money!"
"It was way more amazing than I could have even imagined and I had some pretty high expectations but when you are in the group aura it’s this kind of sacred energy you can not replicate yourself so if you want to accelerate your experience and tap into some deep energy that you haven’t felt before, this will definitely be for you."
"This trip was one of the best, if not the best, vacations that I have ever had the pleasure of enjoying. Vanessa and Adam are amazing hosts — caring and compassionate, attending to the needs of all guests. They somehow manage to make sure that groups with vastly different needs, skills and abilities stay happy, engaged and motivated. My wife and I will absolutely attend future trips with Adam and Vanessa!"
"An absolutely EPIC trip beginning to end. Adam and Vanessa continue to curate the finest travel experiences.... If you haven't joined them on one of these amazing journeys you are completely missing out. I challenge anyone to beat their combination of destinations, attention to detail and cultural immersion. Thank you!!!"
"This adventure was everything we hoped it would be, and more! Great accommodations, fabulous food, amazing guides who shared their knowledge of the people, culture, and great travel companions. The trip was physically and mentally challenging, but incredibly fun and rewarding — Vanessa and Adam made sure everyone felt safe and also provided opportunities to grow and rise to the challenges of the trek. This has been one of the most amazing and rewarding trips we have ever taken, and we'd do it all over again — not to be missed!"
"This trek was unforgettable. We pushed ourselves to limits we couldn't imagine and are so ever grateful for this beautiful journey. The coaches did everything to ensure every one of us was comfortable, happy and taken care of. The lodges are just incredible to arrive at after a day's hike for relaxation, warm food, and great company. Highly recommended!"
"I highly recommend this trip. It is special. Words cannot do it justice. It's a very personal journey, but one you take with love and support from coaches, guides, and fellow travelers. The hiking is challenging, the accommodations and food are wonderful, the scenery is spectacular. But that really doesn't even scratch the surface. It's something you just have to experience for yourself, and you should."
"The experience was above and beyond my expectations there was so much warmth and love and expansion and so many cool things that pushed out of our comfort zones and expanded us and brought us together as a group. I am leaving with a full heart and many women that I can now call friends."
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Tiji is a three-day Buddhist festival held each spring in Lo Manthang, the walled capital of Upper Mustang. Monks of the Choedhe monastery perform masked dances telling the story of a deity who subdues a demon bringing drought and ruin to the kingdom, and the rite is understood to turn the season toward rain and harvest.
It is one of the few festivals of its kind still held where it began, for the people it began for. The dances take place in the square beneath the royal palace, the whole valley comes in for it, and the dates are set by the Tibetan lunar calendar, which is why the trip is built around them rather than the other way round. Tiji 2027 falls at the end of May.
May 2027, timed to Tiji. We are locking the exact dates with our partners in Nepal now, and the priority list gets them before they go on the site.
No, and plenty do not. Two jeeps travel with the group the whole way, which is how the luggage moves regardless, so choosing the jeep costs you nothing and you can change your mind any morning. Riders go with three guides spaced along the group, front, middle and back.
Worth saying plainly: three of the ten days involve the road at all. The rest are the lodge, the festival, the villages and Kathmandu.
The hotel you stay in at Jomsom, and as of July 2026 the highest ranked in the world. Robb Report’s Travel Masters, a panel of luxury travel advisers, put it first on the 50 Greatest Luxury Hotels on Earth, ahead of Singita Kwitonda in Rwanda, Hope Lodge in Scotland and the Park Hyatt Tokyo.
It is twenty-nine suites of stacked Baglung stone, owned and run by Nepal’s Sherpa Hospitality Group, designed by Bill Bensley and opened in 2023, standing alone in the Kali Gandaki valley at nine thousand feet with the Nilgiri range filling the windows. You have four nights here.
Sherpa Hospitality Group, a family company in Kathmandu, and the owners of Shinta Mani Mustang rather than a booking agent for it. Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa founded it as a trekking outfit in 1988 and named it Thamserku, after a mountain he had summited the year before. It runs fourteen lodges across the Everest, Annapurna and Manang regions alongside the Mustang property.
His wife, Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, became the first Nepali woman to summit Everest on 22 April 1993, and died on the descent. Their son Namgyal runs the company today and serves as vice president of the foundation in her name. When people say the best hotel in the world is in Nepal, this is the family who built it.
More than you would expect at nine thousand feet. Shinta Mani Mustang runs a full wellness programme built on Sowa Rigpa, the Tibetan medical tradition: consultation and pulse reading, herbal compress and oil treatments, acupuncture and cupping, in a spa that opens onto the Nilgiri range. There is a heated indoor pool, a library, a bar, and a restaurant looking straight at the mountains.
Beyond the property, the days are filled with short excursions into the valley: Marpha and Lubra villages, the monastery at Muktinath, local artisans and craftspeople. Two of the ten days are given to this deliberately.
Pricing lands with the final dates. The priority list gets the number first, along with a booking window before booking opens publicly.
Eighteen travelers, plus Adam and Vanessa, who host the departure end to end. Founders’ Trips are the ones we lead ourselves.
Accommodation throughout, the ride or the jeep, guides, permits for the Upper Mustang restricted area, internal flights within Nepal, and most meals. International airfare, visas, tips and insurance sit outside. The full inclusions list ships with the pricing.
Festival photographs by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Lodge photography courtesy of Shinta Mani Mustang and Sherpa Hospitality Group.
- Deposit: 25% at booking (non-refundable)
- 121+ days before departure: 75% refund
- 91–120 days: 50% refund
- 61–90 days: 25% refund
- 60 days or less: No refund
Transfers to another person or departure date may be possible with a $300 fee. View our full Terms of Service.
Yes — travel medical coverage is required. You must have a minimum of $150,000 USD combined coverage for medical emergencies, evacuation, and repatriation. This protects you if you're injured or become seriously ill abroad. Many premium credit cards and some health insurance plans include this coverage—check your existing policies before purchasing.
We strongly recommend trip cancellation and interruption insurance equal to your trip cost. This covers you if a legitimate emergency (illness, injury, death in family, etc.) forces you to cancel or return home early.
For maximum flexibility, consider Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) coverage. CFAR is the only policy that reimburses voluntary cancellations—if you simply change your mind or have personal concerns about traveling. CFAR must be purchased within 14-21 days of your deposit to qualify.
Proof of medical coverage is required 30 days before departure and verified on Day 1 of your trip.
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