Nepal, Mustang and Everest by Air

Nine nights in Nepal by small plane and helicopter, from the temples and stupas of Kathmandu to the high valleys of Lower Mustang. A morning flight over Everest Base Camp, tea in the workshop where the carvers restore Kathmandu's rescued woodwork, candlelit ārati at a shrine few visitors see, morning chants with the monks of Syang and a consultation with an 11th-generation Amchi.

Length: Nine nights
Pace: Three stays
Style: Mountains, walking, culture, helicopter
Route: Kathmandu to Pokhara and Lower Mustang

KathmanduThree nights
Pokhara and Lower MustangFive nights
KathmanduOne night

The white dome and gilded spire of Boudhanath stupa, hung with prayer flags.

Days 1 to 4 · three nights

Kathmandu

Met on arrival. Durbar Square and the house of the Kumari, Swayambhunath, Patan and Boudhanath, and on a Sunday or Tuesday a walk at dawn to Pashupatinath past the ghats and forest shrines. Tea with Vijay Shrestha, grandson of the founder, in the hotel's workshop, where master carvers return rescued wood to form, and on a Monday evening ārati by candlelight at a 150-year-old shrine rarely seen by visitors. One morning by helicopter over Everest Base Camp, with a stop at Kala Patthar and breakfast at Kongde, at 13,943 feet.

Where you stay

The Dwarika's Hotel

The Dwarika's is built around courtyards framed by carved beams and lattice windows rescued from the Kathmandu Valley since the 1950s, and artisans still restore them in its own workshop. Rooms have terracotta floors and handwoven dhaka, and Krishnarpan serves a course-by-course menu drawn from six organic farms.

A wide river valley with terraced fields below bare brown slopes and snow peaks.

Days 4 to 9 · five nights

Pokhara and Lower Mustang

A flight to Pokhara for a night by the lake, then an early flight to Jomsom. The monks at their morning chants in the gompa at Syang, a Thakali meal in Marpha cooked by Mrs Kamala among the painted monasteries and apple orchards, walks to Jharkot and Jhong, Kagbeni and Kag Chode monastery by bike or jeep, Chhyama Lake beneath Nilgiri, Thini village and a valley trek with a picnic. At the lodge, a private consultation with Tsewang Gyurme Gurung, an 11th-generation Amchi, whose prescriptions shape the spa's herbs, poultices and oils.

Where you stay

Shinta Mani Mustang

Shinta Mani Mustang is set on the hillside above Jomsom, designed by Bill Bensley in local stone, slate and wood beneath the Nilgiri mountains. Suites face the snow-capped peaks through floor-to-ceiling windows, stays are all-inclusive, and treatments are designed by an 11th-generation Amchi.

The tiered roofs of a pagoda temple silhouetted against a pale sky.

Days 9 to 10 · one night

Kathmandu

Flights back to Kathmandu by way of Pokhara, with an afternoon in Bhaktapur and a last night in the city, with dinner at Krishnarpan, course by course from six organic farms.

Where you stay

The Dwarika's Hotel

The Dwarika's holds the biggest collection of Newari wood art in the world, gathered by its founder and carried on by his grandson. Heritage rooms and suites open onto quiet courtyards, and the Royal Suite rises over three levels to a private rooftop terrace.

Arranged on request

The restoration workshop

At The Dwarika's, tea with the founder's grandson in the workshop where master carvers restore the rescued Newari woodwork that makes up the hotel.

Ārati at a shrine few see

On Monday evenings, 6:00 to 7:00 p.m., ārati by candlelight at a 150-year-old shrine rarely seen by visitors, then sel roti and tea.

An 11th-generation Amchi

At Shinta Mani Mustang, a private consultation with Tsewang Gyurme Gurung, a practitioner of SoRig healing, who prescribes the herbs, poultices and oils for the spa.

Morning chants at Syang

The monks at their morning chants and meditation in the village gompa at Syang, and a Thakali meal in Marpha cooked by Mrs Kamala.

Subject to availability.

Ways to make it yours

A private helicopter to Lo Manthang in Upper Mustang, the walled capital of the old Kingdom of Lo, for its Royal Palace, built more than 600 years ago.
The pilgrimage site of Muktinath from Jomsom, for its 108 sacred fountains.
Two nights at Dwarika's Sanctuary in Dhulikhel, an hour east of Kathmandu.

This is a sample. The hotels, the pace and the order are where we start, not where we finish: every journey is designed around the people taking it.

Made around you

Most travel is bought. This is designed.

Before anything is booked, we talk: who is travelling, how you like to spend a morning, and the hotel preferences below the obvious, from the kind of bath you like to the time you wake and how much daylight you need in a room. You see options where options matter and clean recommendations where they don't.

The same person remains your point of contact from the first reply to the trip after next. No handovers. No team.