Arrival in Kathmandu. Transfer to the hotel and time to rest after the international flight.

Morning briefing with the Third Rock Adventures team to go over the itinerary, gear and permits. Afternoon visit to Boudhanath Stupa, one of the largest in the world and the spiritual heart of Kathmandu's Tibetan community. From there, the Pashupatinath Temple and its cremation ghats along the Bagmati river. Thamel for last-minute shopping.

Short domestic flight to Pokhara (800 m). The International Mountain Museum is worth a visit: good context on Nepal's ethnic groups and climbing history. Afternoon at the Shiva statue at Pumdikot (views blocked by clouds on our day), the World Peace Stupa and a walk along Phewa Lake. We caught a small religious ceremony on the shore.

Very early airport call, flights to Jomsom (2,700 m) are weather-dependent and almost never depart after 11am. Once assigned a spot on the first flight, it moves fast. The 25-minute flight over the Himalayas is spectacular. From Jomsom we visited the village of Thini on foot through the fields, then hiked to the sacred Dumba Lake. The landscape already feels different: arid, windswept, Far West energy. Jomsom is famous for its apples, dried, juiced or fresh, they're everywhere.

The Upper Mustang border is marked by a checkpoint and a set of statues. From here, a special restricted area permit is required. The dirt road continues at roughly 10–30 km/h. First stop: Kagbeni, a medieval village at the confluence of two rivers, with an ancient chörten at its entrance and a 600-year-old monastery. The landscape turns increasingly dramatic as you climb toward Sangboche (3,780 m). First cold night, the teahouses are not heated.

Morning visit to the cave-monastery of Chungsi, where Guru Rinpoche meditated in the 8th century. From there, the village of Ghiling and its ancient Gumba monastery. Then Ghami: dung drying on rooftops, women washing clothes at public fountains, more animals than people in the lanes. Arrived at Charang (3,580 m) in the late afternoon. In the evening, the guesthouse owner taught us to make Momo.

A full morning of monasteries before reaching the capital. The Red Gumba at Tsarang holds original 700-year-old murals painted with natural pigments, never restored. The Ghar Gumba, one of the oldest in Mustang at around 1,500 years, guards ancient prayer wheels said to contain sacred books. Then the Charang castle (14th century): dark, silent, slightly unstable and completely extraordinary. Inside: ceremonial masks, weapons... and the mummified hand of the architect the king had mutilated so he could never build anything as beautiful again. No display cases: the monks just hand things to you. Arrived at Lo Manthang (3,840 m) by afternoon.

A full day in and around the ancient capital. Morning visit to the Sija Jhong cave complex: five storeys carved into the rock, built 300 years ago as a hiding place during Tibetan raids. Up to 120 people once lived here: with a kitchen, prayer room and sleeping quarters. The Lo Nyifu monastery, cut into the cliff face nearby, dates to the 15th century. Afternoon free to wander Lo Manthang's alleys: a Himalayan mastiff guards the royal palace, a local artist sells hand-painted mandala from a small shop. Everything moves slowly here, and that's the whole point.

We begin retracing the route toward Lower Mustang. A stop at a dry riverbed where fossils erode out of the sediment. Then a detour to Luri Gompa (3,990 m), a 12th–14th century monastery built into a cliff face: beautiful, but the two-hour detour by jeep is a tough sell. Honest verdict: unless you're a real monastery devotee, it can be skipped. Back through Charang for lunch at the guesthouse where we learned to make Momo. Night at Ghami.

Stop in Marpha, one of the most photogenic villages in Mustang: stone houses without mortar, flat rooftops stacked with firewood, a single main lane lined with shops selling apple brandy and jam. From there, a long drive to Muktinath (3,800 m), a sharp change of atmosphere. After days of near-empty villages, this Hindu-Buddhist pilgrimage site is packed with Indian devotees. Afternoon hike toward Phedi through mountain scenery. A dog adopted us for the whole walk and refused to leave.

A long and at times brutal drive south, the road conditions between Mustang and Ghorepani are some of the worst of the trip. Mud, ruts, steep drops. Several vehicles ahead of us got stuck. Lunch stop in Tatopani. Reached Ghorepani by evening: population approximately five hotels and three houses, but the dining room was warm and the menu (burgers, pizza, noodles) felt like a revelation after ten days of fried rice and dal bhat.

4am alarm, headtorches on, 300 m of stone steps in the dark. Poon Hill (3,200 m) rewarded us, once the mist cleared, with a sweeping panorama of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. Back down for breakfast, then a long drive to Pokhara. First hot shower in ten days. We took the afternoon for ourselves: boat on Phewa Lake to the island temple (the one we missed at the start), a wander through the lakeside shops and dinner at OR2K.

Early airport call. Again, flights are weather-dependent and ours was the only one that departed that morning. Arrived in Kathmandu and went straight for crepes with Nutella and strawberries: a necessary decompression. Afternoon in Thamel, a quick pass through Durbar Square, a light visit to a newari restaurant for lunch. Dinner with our guide Surya, a good way to close the Nepal chapter.

The flight to Paro is notoriously scenic, clear days give views of Everest, though clouds blocked ours. The airport itself sets the tone: immaculate, architecturally traditional, felt like arriving somewhere that takes itself seriously. We skipped lunch entirely and went straight to the Paro Tsechu, a Buddhist mask dance festival. For the devout, watching it earns spiritual merit; for the first-time visitor, it's one of the most visually extraordinary things you'll see in the region. Each dancer's costume represents deities, saints or protective spirits. Afterwards, visited the Rinpung Dzong: a 17th-century fortress-monastery whose double function, administrative and monastic, is still very much active.

Taktsang, or Tiger's Nest, is one of those places that appears in so many photographs you half-expect to be disappointed in person. We weren't. The monastery clings to a sheer cliff at 3,120 m, built where Guru Rinpoche, according to legend, arrived riding a tiger to teach the locals a lesson in ego. Interior of the monastery: beautiful and surprisingly intimate. Afternoon: hot stone bath (traditional wooden tubs heated with river stones, like an outdoor onsen). Then a try at archery, Bhutan's national sport. Moved on to Thimphu for the night.

Thimphu is probably the only capital city in the world without a traffic light, a traffic officer directs vehicles by hand from a white booth in the central intersection, because locals voted to keep him instead of the signals. Morning visits to the traditional paper factory (sheets made one at a time from daphne bark), the local market (spices, incense, dried goods), the Choki Traditional Art School and a lunch of entirely traditional cuisine at the Folk Heritage Museum restaurant, served family-style at a large square table with unlimited refills. Worth noting: traditional Bhutanese food is almost entirely gluten-free by default. Afternoon coffee and a surprise gluten-free brownie at Ambient Café near the clock tower. Then a hike up to Dodeydra Monastery, where we spent the night in the monks' rooms.

Descended from the monastery in the morning. Lunch at Ku-Kham House in Punakha. Then the Chimi Lhakhang, the Fertility Temple dedicated to the 'Divine Madman' Drukpa Kunley: the road leading to it is lined with phallus murals of every scale and style imaginable. Inside, couples who haven't been able to conceive receive a wooden blessing. The Punakha Dzong, consecrated in 1637, is where every Bhutanese king has been crowned since 1907. Spent the night in a 150-year-old mud-and-plaster farmhouse homestay: the host cooked the entire dinner gluten-free, the highlight being an egg scrambled with cottage cheese, chilli and local cheese.

Morning hike to the Khamsum Yulley Namgyel Chorten: short but steep and hot, ending at a painted pagoda with a 360° view over the Punakha valley, the rice-paddy landscape felt like Guilin. Then a long drive back to Paro. Night at the Tashi Namgay Resort, our first hotel in Bhutan, where the rooms are very good.

Early flight from Paro to Kathmandu, again no Everest sighting. A rainy afternoon in Kathmandu: packed slowly, wandered out for dinner, then booked a private karaoke room for the group.

5am alarm. Long series of flights home via Istanbul. Had planned to study German on the plane. Did not study German.