I’ve been blown away by this amazing trip report from Ian Stubbs who has travelled with Far Frontiers Travel six times over the past 14 years!

“Before I tell of my amazing trip I would just like to say why I use Far Frontiers Travel.  I first travelled with them to Bhutan in 2005, it was very much ‘off the grid’ in those days, TV only arrived in 1999, the internet was very rare, and after a six or seven day trek I’d only seen one tourist at a distance.

In the years since I have gone back to Nepal five times, Bhutan (twice), Tibet (twice) and Upper Mustang. This year I came up with Iran. Fiona had everything set in place but, with two weeks to go and Tehran being slow with my visa approval, we spoke and the outcome was that I said ‘please send me home!’ (Nepal). 

Within only two days (amazing), flights were changed, hotels booked, internal flights sorted, guides and 4×4 vehicles arranged. I couldn’t have been happier.

A bit about my Upper Mustang trip:  Two internal flights from Kathmandu and you arrive in Jomsom (known as the windy valley) – a land of ancient monasteries, cave dwellings and sites of global religious importance.  Moving into Upper Mustang you are in the land of Indiana Jones, wonderful vistas and soaring mountains.

I stayed in Lo Mantang for two nights where life is more like Tibet than even Tibet. I always have targets when on holiday and, this time, I was looking for fossils of a type only found in the holy Kali Gandaki River. I visited the cave dwellings nearby, it was pure ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ as they date so far back there is virtually no knowledge of them.  I also returned with some prayer beads which are on one of my shelves dedicated to the Himalayas.

Given the short timescale, the way my trip was sorted is why I’ve said many times to Fiona, fellow travellers and friends that she is the best of the best!!

Ian Stubbs, Nepal with Mustang, October 2019