Despite the low traffic of people, the second wave of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease has reached the highlands of both districts. According to the respective district’s health offices, the virus has reached 3,500 meters above sea level in Manang and 3,900 meters above sea level in Mustang district

MUSTANG, May 14: Mustang district which lies in the himalayan region and was unaffected by the first wave of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has witnessed a surge in infected patients from the second variant of the virus.

MYAGDI, March 31: The Beni-Jomsom road, which connects the Himalayan district Mustang with the national highway, will remain closed till Thursday.

MYAGDI, Jan 1: Hotels in Mustang that were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic have reopened after nine months. The fear of COVID-19 had led to the closure of hotels in the district since March.

MYAGDI, Dec 29: Hoteliers of Myagdi have demanded opening of tourist areas in Mustang district. COVID-19 pandemic and its risk of spreading led to the closure of all religious and tourist areas in Mustang since March. They have maintained that the areas have been closed despite the fact that they are resuming their business activities by following all safety measures.

POKHARA, Dec 13: It’s sad but true. People in some villages in Mustang have reached the decision to leave their ancestral land out of no choice. The terrains where they could easily grow valuable crops, fruits and vegetables have gone barren due to the lack of irrigation facilities. The locals of Lo Manthang, Dhakmar, Lo Ghekar and so on have expressed grief over the “apathy shown by the government”.

MYAGDI, Oct 9: Mekh Bahadur Nepal who has been trading mountain goats for the last three decades is returning from Mustang with no deals for this Dashian.

POKHARA, Oct 7: The state-owned Food Management and Trading Company (FMTC) is less likely to purchase and sell mountain goats this Dashain as farmers have tagged higher prices this year.

POKHARA, June 22: An elderly man has tested positive for Covid-19 in Mustang. According to the Gandaki Province Health Directorate, an 83-year-old male from Gharapjhong Rural Municipality tested positive for the virus. Previously, this himalayan district had no record of the Covid-19 infection. However,  after this senior citizen tested positive for Covid-19, the virus has now spread to all 11 districts in the province.

MUSTANG, March 7: The Titi Lake in Mustang looks mesmerizing these days. Otherwise not so clean, this lake has received this new look after a massive cleanliness drive jointly launched by Nepal Army, locals and other stakeholders for the past few years. Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) took the initiative for the change.

Nepal has a lot of majestic forests. They are all home to hundreds of animals, birds and plants. We have Chitwan National Park, Bardiya National Park and even some forested areas around Mustang. These forests and jungles are even home to extremely rare animals like the snow leopard and greater one-horned rhinoceros, which are found in parts of Russia, Afghanistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan.

THINI, MUSTANG, Jan 3: Over 57,000 foreigners have visited Mustang district in 2019. According to the chief of Jomsom Office of Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) Tulasi Dahal, a total of 57,565 foreigners arrived in Mustang in 2019.

POKHARA/MUSTANG, Dec 14: The mountain districts of the country have witnessed snowfall for the last two days, and the daily lives of locals have been hit as the temperatures have dipped significantly.

LO MANTHANG (MUSTANG), Oct 14: Despite the increasing flow of tourists every year and growing population, Lo Manthang, a rural municipality in Mustang district, is getting electricity for only an hour a day.

It’s already been a decade since the monarchy’s end in Nepal. Regardless of that fact, people in Mustang still have the king.

Samde Sherpa vividly remembers walking along the Annapurna Circuit as a 15-year-old. And ironically, he didn’t like it very much. The year was 2004 and he was accompanying his uncle who was acting as a trekking guide to a French team. “It was too much walking for me back then,” he recalls. However, after he returned home from the trip, he felt this sense of peace and calm like never before. And so, he decided he would go back to the hills and mountains as an adult.

POKHARA, Sept 13: Dengue patients have been found in all districts of the Gandaki Province except for the mountain district of Mustang. Although a dengue patient has been found in Mustang's neighboring district Manang, officials at the Western Regional Health Directorate said the patient had reached there from another district.

GALESHWAR, Sept 11: Vehicular movement along the Beni-Jomsom road section has come to a standstill for the past four days.

Bidhata has been showcasing the theme of architectural beauty intertwined with history, culture and religion of Mustang since, her visit to Mustang few years ago. Before, that she consistently used leaves as her major motif in her painting, comparing their characteristics with life in general.

POKHARA, August 11: Nepal Tourism Board Pokhara office is to support building tourism-friendly infrastructure in the Jomsom Mukti area of Mustang district. Considering a large number of domestic as well as Indian tourists visiting the area, the road from Rani Pauwa to the Muktinath temple will be made disabled-friendly, said the manager of the office Surya Thapaliya.

POKHARA, Aug 7: Rains are not frequent in Mustang. The Himalayan ranges are known for sparse rainfalls.

KATHMANDU, July 30: An Indian national, who had gone on a pilgrimage to Muktinath temple in Mustang, died due to high altitude sickness on Monday.

KASKI, July 15: The Gandaki state government has provided relief support to the farmers of Mustang, who lost their cattle due to heavy snowfall and subsequent cold last winter.

Thini, June 20: Construction of a road stretching from Thini of Gharpajhong rural municipality in Mustang to the Tilicho Lake has begun here. The lake is located at the highest altitude- 4,919 meter.

POKHARA, June 6: Chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), Kamal Thapa, has informed that his party was launching a national campaign to make the people aware and exert pressure on the government.

POKHARA/MUSTANG, May 26: Having lost almost all of their cattle due to severe weather as well as dearth of fodder and grass in February and March, farmers in Mustang are left with no resources to resume farming. Their request for help from the government bodies has largely gone unheeded. Neither the provincial nor the central government has allocated adequate budget to support the affected farmers.

Manang, Mustang, Annapurna Base Camp and the likes are some popular travel destinations in Nepal. With the numbers of travelers, domestic and international, surging in the recent years, the travel industry has never been busier. And with better roads being built and facilities for accommodation opening up, it seems like there is no place that’s inaccessible anymore.

POKHARA, May 16: Last Thursday, high altitude sickness hit an Italian national Marco Roccufrancufco Morelia and two Nepali guides at Sairbung peak of Mustang. Although the authorities concerned were aware of their plight, a rescue helicopter did not reach to rescue them on time. When the helicopter arrived at the spot next day, Morelia, 68, had already succumbed to the sickness. Although police blamed bad weather for delaying the rescue, specific procedures that delay the rescue cannot be overlooked.

MUSTANG, May 13: The inflow of tourists to Mustang is rising. Hotels are packed, and tourist destinations including religious one like Muktinath temple are flooded by visitors.

POKHARA, May 10: An Italian tourist died in Mustang on Friday morning. The deceased has been identified as Marco Roccufrancufoc Morelio, 68, according to the Gandaki State Police Office, Pokhara.

MUSTANG, May 4: Lack of a bridge over the Kaligandaki River has made life difficult for the residents of several villages in Mustang district.

A hasty push for endorsement of the ‘nuclear bill’ in the parliament is being made amidst rumors of the discovery of uranium mines near trans-Himalayan terrain of Lo Mangthang of Mustang district. In fact, Office of Investment Board’s website claims that “a large deposit of uranium has been discovered in Upper Mustang region of Nepal... spread over an area 10 km long and 3 km wide and could be of highest grade.

POKHARA, March 14: It has been revealed that not a single animal which perished during a heavy snowfall in Mustang few days ago was insured.

MUSTANG, March 12: Thorong La (pass) that connects Manang and Mustang has mesmerized trekkers for years. However, the pass is restricted whenever snowfall in the region is heavy.

MUSTANG, March 10: Hundreds of sheep and mountain goat died in upper Mustang after the recent heavy snowfall. At least 450 sheep and mountain goats died in Chumjung of Lomanthang Rural Municipality alone as some were buried under the thick snow and many others starved to death when the snow covered the grass in the meadows.

MUSTANG, Feb 23: With the objective of attracting adventure sports lovers from around the world, Himalyan Ski Trek is starting skiing training course on the slopes of the Himalayas in Mustang district from Saturday.

POKHARA / MUSTANG, Feb 11: Thick layers of snow frozen hard due to drop in temperature following heavy snowfall during the past week have made life increasingly difficult in various Himalayan districts of the country.

THINI, Jan 26: A fresh snowfall in Mustang has caused the temperature to further plummet affecting the life. The snowfall coupled with rain has thrown the normal life out of gear, bringing transportation services to a halt. The District Police Office, Mustang, said almost all parts of the district including Jomsom, Muktinath, Lomanthang and Lete have received the snowfall.

POKHARA/MUSTANG, Jan 24: The debris of caved land accompanied by broken trees temporarily blocked the flow of the Kaligandaki River in Mustang on Wednesday. However, the river has returned to its natural flow after a short halt.

MUSTANG, Jan 10: Continuous snowfall since the last few days in Mustang has hard-hit people’s life. Even cattle have been bearing the brunt. However, farmers say that they are happy as snowfall is expected to bring back the moisture of the soil triggering better yield for their crops.

MUSTANG, Dec 5: The Chhoser-Korala road section linking the Jomsom in Mustang district to Korala, the transit point on the Nepal-China border in Mustang has been upgraded.

MUSTANG, Nov 30: Tourist hub Jomsom bazaar of Mustang district dealt with a massive fire early Thursday morning.

KATHMANDU, Nov 26: Investment Board Nepal (IBN) has decided to issue survey licenses for building two solar power plants -- one of 150 MW in Lomanthang of Mustang district and the other of 125 MW in Chilime of Rasuwa district -- to Dolma Fund Management, a European developer.

MYAGDI, Nov 20: The Beni-Jomsom road stretch linking Mustang via northern belt of Myagdi district is closing eight hours a day.

KATHMANDU, Nov 4: Taragaon Lecture Series-6 was organized on Thursday at Taragaon Museum, Bouddha. Taragaon Lecture Series is the initiation of Saraf Foundation for Himalayan Traditions and Culture. Taragaon Lecture Series-6 is also a follow- on from the first lecture series launched in 2015.

MUSTANG, Nov 3: Every day, thousands of domestic and international pilgrims throng Muktinath, the famous religious shrine in Mustang. In recent years, this place has evolved as one of the most preferred destinations for travelers. Various dignitaries such as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have reached this site to see its mesmerizing beauty.

POKHARA, Oct 25: Mustang, one of the popular tourist hubs of Nepal, is witnessing a significantly high number of domestic tourists this season. On Tuesday alone, almost 4,000 tourists arrived at Jomsom. Utilizing their Dashain holidays, nature lovers from across the country have reached the mountainous district to view its mesmerizing beauty.

MUSTANG, Oct 15: Youths of Mustang are busy preparing dried apple slices. As dried apples fetch good price during off season, many farmers prefer to slice apples and dry them for future use rather than sell them at lower price during flush season.

Cover Photo: A flock of people struggling to get through at Indrachowk in the peak hour of Dashain. Photo Shahin Sunuwar Rasaili /Republica

POKHARA, Oct 2: Gangster Samirman Singh Basnet, the mastermind in the murder of then chairman of the Federation of Constructors Association of Nepal (FCAN) Sharad Kumar Gauchan, has been transferred to Mustang prison from Nakkhu jail in Lalitpur.