Jomsom and Muktinath — walking the deepest gorge on earth

Eight days from apple orchards into Tibetan high desert, to a temple sacred to Hindus and Buddhists alike — and one of the few treks that works in monsoon.

By Prakash Tamang · 7 min read · Updated 1 August 2026

The Kali Gandaki runs between Dhaulagiri at 8,167 m and Annapurna I at 8,091 m, about thirty-eight kilometres apart. Measured from the peaks on either side, it is the deepest gorge on the planet, and you walk straight up the middle of it.

The trek climbs from green, subtropical valley into arid, wind-scoured Tibetan plateau country in a couple of days — one of the fastest landscape transitions anywhere in Nepal. At the top is Muktinath at about 3,760 m, a temple complex sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists and a major pilgrimage site.

Because it sits in the Annapurna rain shadow, it also works when the rest of the country is under monsoon cloud.

The transition

You start in farmland and forest around Beni or Tatopani, with hot springs, banana and orange trees, and a river the colour of milky tea. Within two days the vegetation thins, the valley widens, and the colour drains out of the landscape into ochre, grey and white.

Marpha is the hinge. A whitewashed Thakali village of narrow flagged lanes and flat roofs, famous across Nepal for its apples — apple brandy, apple pie, dried apple. It is the last comfortable green place and the food is the best on the trek.

Above Marpha you are on the plateau proper: Jomsom, Kagbeni with its ruined fort and its gateway into Upper Mustang, and then the climb to Muktinath. Thakali food throughout, which is the finest regional cooking in Nepal and reason enough on its own.

Muktinath

The temple sits at about 3,760 m and matters enormously to two religions. Hindus know it as Mukti Kshetra, a place of liberation and one of the 108 Divya Desams; Buddhists know it as Chumig Gyatsa and associate it with Padmasambhava.

There are 108 water spouts in an arc behind the main temple, fed by glacial melt, and pilgrims bathe under all of them in sequence in genuinely freezing water. There is also a small flame fed by natural gas seeping from the rock, burning alongside water — the combination is what made the site sacred in the first place. Most of the people around you will have arrived by jeep or on a motorbike and are not interested in your trek. That is worth remembering. You are a visitor at somebody's pilgrimage, not the main event.

The road, and how to deal with it

A road now runs up the Kali Gandaki to Muktinath and jeeps use it. This is the honest weakness of the trek and the reason some people write it off.

The answer is routing. There are older trails and side paths on the opposite bank for much of the way, and a good itinerary keeps you on them. Ask any operator how many days you spend walking on the jeep track — the answer separates a thoughtful trip from a lazy one.

You can also shorten it sensibly: fly or drive one leg and walk the other. Plenty of people walk up and fly out from Jomsom, which is a spectacular twenty-minute flight through the gorge when the weather allows.

Monsoon, and why this is the answer

From roughly Marpha upward you are in the rain shadow, so July and August here are dry and warm while Pokhara is under water. If your holiday is locked to a northern summer, this and Upper Mustang are the two treks we will recommend without hedging.

The catch is getting there. The lower approach and the roads in from Pokhara are affected by monsoon landslides, and flights are unreliable. Build spare days.

It is also the busiest pilgrimage season, so Muktinath itself will be full of people. Whether that is a drawback or the entire point depends on what you came for.

Walk it with us

Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.

Jomsom Muktinath Trek8 days · 3,760 mRs 127,200 · See dates →Upper Mustang — Lo Manthang10 days · 3,840 mRs 253,300 · See dates →Annapurna Circuit & Thorong La12 days · 5,416 mRs 167,400 · See dates →

Questions we get asked

How hard is it?

Moderate. Eight days, a maximum of about 3,760 m, no passes and no technical ground. The wind and the sun tire people more than the climbing does.

Can I do it as part of the Annapurna Circuit?

It is the second half of the Circuit — you arrive at Muktinath over Thorong La and walk down. Done on its own, you walk up instead, which is a gentler trip with the same scenery.

Is the Jomsom flight reliable?

It is weather-dependent and cancels often, usually because of wind. Treat it as a bonus rather than a plan and keep a spare day if you are connecting to an international flight.

Do I need a special permit?

The standard Annapurna Conservation Area permit covers this route. Only Upper Mustang, north of Kagbeni, needs the expensive restricted-area permit.

Is the food really that good?

Thakali dal bhat is the best version of Nepal's national dish and this is where it comes from. Add Marpha apple products and it is the best-eating trek in the country.