Around Annapurna Trek

Our staff will meet you at the airport, and transfer you to your hotel in Kathmandu. Your guide is available to help with anything from last minute equipment advice or rental to helping confirm return flights, handling problems with luggage or suggesting places to see, shop or eat in Kathmandu. There will be a late afternoon briefing session at which time our senior staff will explain arrangements, logistics, and schedules for the coming trek. Overnight at local Western style hotel.

Meals: Dinner

An extra day in Kathmandu is very helpful for overcoming jet-lag, acquiring necessary permits and beginning your appreciation of Nepali culture and customs. Included is a tour by vehicle of Kathmandu and some of the surrounding sites, including Swayambhunath, Boddhanath, Patan, and the Old Bazaar. The remainder of the day is free at your leisure.

Meals: Breakfast

Leave your hotel by minibus for the 6-8 hour trip to Dumre or your trailhead. If the skies are clear, you may have an excellent view of-the peaks ranging from Ganesh in the north-east to Dhaulagiri west of Annapurna. En-route, turn off into a more primitive road and travel several miles to Besi Sahar where your actual trekking begins. You’ll arrive at the trailhead by late mid-day. Staff carry most gear and handle cooking and camp chores, but you can help if you like.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After long walk through Besi Sahar Baazar, the trail drops to a stream on a rock staircase. It is a long walk with several ups and down, across the rice paddies and subtropical forest, past a Denish educational project to Khudi. Khudi is the first Gurung village on the trek. Most of the people in the wide river valley below Khudi are Brahmans and Chetris, although there are a few Gurung villages in the side valleys and slopes above the River. The trail winds around to the police check-post, then makes a short, steep climb to Bhahun Danda (literally, Brahmin's ridge) where the vistas really begin to unfold. Draw nearer to the great Annapurna range while still enjoying the proximity of the river.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Begin passing between the massifs of Annapurna and Manaslu,seeing the first signs of the drier climate in the area. The valley walls are now much steeper, although Tal itself, meaning "lake," sits in a rather flat valley on the site of a prehistoric lake. Camp near Tal at 5,600'.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

At this point you are at nearly 8,500’ and your campsite is in a beautiful meadow. The area around is Buddhist rather than Hindu, and you’ll encounter your first Gompa, or Tibetan Buddhist temple.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Villages, dwellings, and vegetation are sparser as you pass near the base of Lamjung Himal. Cheme is the governmental seat of the Manang district, and here you will find a bank, many shops, and local electricity, still a rarity in the Himalayas. Camp at 8,900'.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This is a dramatic transition day between the rich forests of the lowlands and the dry, arid, desert-like plains of Manang. You follow along an old trade route where you are likely to be passed by yak caravans loaded with wood. Pissang (10,800') is a small village with several trekking lodges clustered below the gompa. You are now in the heart of the Manang region. The Manang are traders, many of whom have traveled widely in Asia and beyond.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

The pace slows, owing both to the high altitude and the remarkable beauty of the area. Manang (11,650') itself is a good-size village that sits across from a glacial lake formed by water from Gangapurna and Annapurna III. There is also a Himalayan Rescue Association post here, specializing in the treatment of altitude sickness.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today is a free day in and around Manang for local exploration and acclimatization. It is important to acclimatize in preparation for the crossing of the Thorung La. Possible side trips include a short walk across to a large glacial lake, the waters of the Annapurna trapped behind a rocky moraine, or a longer walk up to Khangsar, below Tilicho Peak and Lake Tilicho Tal.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This is the beginning of your climb over the Thorung La and possibly one of the best days for photography. Today you cross a tributary below a falls northwest of Manang and climb up to Tengi (11,950’). You then climb gradually to the Jargeng Khola, cross small tributaries and hike along attractive meadows with occasional birch groves. Look for herds of blue sheep, which may descend for water. Overnight at camp in Leddar. (13,7000')

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Today you cross the Thorung La (17,700'). From Leddar, you climb and descend to a river then climb upstream to reach the riverbed. You then traverse to the base of an important moraine and continue along terrain that is less steep, finally reaching the Thorung La Pass. You see a sudden transition from one major Himalayan valley to another making the scenery absolutely breathtaking. Extraordinarily vigorous members of your party may wish to climb up to around 19,000' from the pass to gain exceptional views of the surrounding peaks. After a long, hard day, descend to camp near the temple of Muktinath - well down the west side of the pass at around 12,500'.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Still in the dry zone you enter the Kali Gandaki Valley and begin your trek south between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri. The walking is now much easier, as you are usually descending. Camp near 9,200' at Kagbeni. You may want to explore the town's namesake, a fortress that seems to block the entire valley with its mass. From here, the king used to control passage up and down the valley and across the junction of the two rivers, the Kali Gandaki, and the Jhong Khola.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Passing through Jomsom, you continue along the west bank of the Kali Gandaki to Marpha (8,750'), site of fruit farms and a very attractive village. There is a STOL airstrip at Jomsom that we use as a staging point for treks into the remote region of Mustang (north of Kagbeni). Marpha is the point from which mountaineers begin the crossing over Dhampus Pass into the Dhaulagiri range.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Continue the descent down along the Thak Khola River. High winds develop as the day progresses so it is best to get an early start today.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Tatopani is something of a Himalayan health spa with hot spring baths you may wish to enjoy after a day in the hot dusty winds.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

You climb up out of the Kali Gandaki Valley and re-enter the lush forests of midland Nepal. Your campsite at 9,350' offers good views of Dhaulagiri to the west.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This is another day of spectacular mountain viewing as you cross a high ridge. Camp at 6,600'.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

A somewhat up and down path brings you to the very attractive site of Dhampus (5,700') where you again may have a good view of the peaks in the Annapurna.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Return to Pokhara and the world of vehicles and electricity. Your final night will be near the Phewa Tal, the largest lake in Nepal. There is good swimming and the relative luxury of showers.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

This extra day allows us to provide for bad weather or other delays along the trek route. If there are no delays, this will be an extra free day in Pokhara.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Return to Kathmandu by road, reaching your hotel around 3 p.m. Enjoy this evening and the following day with further exploration, shopping and visiting with new friends.

Meals: Breakfast

Today is a free day in Kathmandu. This would not only be a good day to do last minute gift buying, but also to visit the ancient city of Bhaktapur. Explore the city at your leisure.

Meals: Breakfast

Transfer to the airport for onward flight.

Meals: Breakfast