Annapurna Circuit Trek - 13 Days

At your arrival to Nepal our representative will welcome you at the terminal point and take you to your hotel. You will be briefed about the Annapurna circuit trekking details either on the day of your arrival or the very next day, which ever suits you best. In the briefing you will also be introduced to your guide. We will take you to Besisahar and then to Bahaundanda on our vehicle, and we will start our Annapurna Circuit trek.

Bahun is a word derived from Bhramin caste who are the local residents of Bahundanda village, and literal meaning of Danda is ridge. Today we trek from Bahundanda to Chyamje for 6 hours, which starts with downhill across the paddy field. View of mountains and snow capped Himalaya is mesmerizing. Lunch break on the side of the river gives great view of waterfall. During your trekking around Annapurna, many waterfalls and a few unavoidable roads are great excuses to make new friends trekking in the same region towards Manaslu circuit, Manang trek or Narphu Valley trek.

Chyamje is a small village in front of a beautiful waterfall. After breakfast we start our trekking towards Bagarchhap for about 6 hours. Today we split with the folks who are taking the Manaslu circuit trek from a place called Dharapani and this is where you will see Mt. Manaslu. After walking 30 minutes from Bagarchhap, we can get to Danaque; so if you are interested to walk further, you can keep walking to Danaque (deepest gorge of Kaligandaki). Bagarchhap is small village and peaceful in comparison to Danaque.

Chame is headquartering Manang district. You will see many government offices and a few good hotels in this destination. Trekking from Bagarchhap to Chame passes across the jungle, waterfall and a few small villages. View of the mountains like Manaslu and part of Annapurna is magnificent. Lamjung Himal seen from Chame village is mesmerizing. Hot spring at Chame can be one of the attractions of your choice; hot springs can be reached after crossing the river that we have followed all day along.

Trek from Chame to Pisang takes about 5 hours. Most of today’s walk will be by the road, but the scenery of forest, river morphology, villages and wideness of the valley will look amazing. There are lower and upper Pisang; we will stay at lower Pisang and if you are interested you can request your guide to walk to upper Pisang for a side trip. Upper pisang is just opposite to lower Pisang and has a monastery. View of Pisang peak and part of Annapurna looks magnificent from this destination.

Gradual walk from Pisang to Manang has two options. One goes via Nagwol which is smart idea for avoiding the road but you need to walk uphill to get to Nagwol village and descend to Manang. If you choose to take the road to go to Manang it is an easy trail, and wide open river valley looks great. Places like Humde (has airport), Braka (has a historic Monastery) are historic and beautiful. If you choose the ridge walk to avoid the road for today’s trek, make sure you have enough snacks, but be happy that you will get unreal view of valley and the majestic Annapurna at once.

Today is acclimatization day, which means you will hike up to certain height and come back down to sleep at the lower altitude. There are plenty of options for the side trip at Manang. Monastery at the top of the ridge will give a great view of Manang village and surrounding mountain range. If you walk across the river, you will get to Gangapurna Lake. If you want to continue walking uphill from Gangapurna Lake; you will get to a great view point and yak shed. Walking around the village in the afternoon is the best way to witness some local activities and meet some friendly people.

Ledar is 1 more hour’s walk from Yak kharka, which is a great view point for Thorongla Phedi. The view of sunset and sunrise is awesome from this small village. We choose Ledar for our destination to avoid the crowd at Yak kharka and to have a shorter walk to High camp on the next trekking day. Manag to Ledar will take approximately 6 hours.

After breakfast at Ledar we start our trekking adventure in high altitude. Walk slow and steady to save energy. Ledar has a great view of river valley and surrounding mountains. After crossing the river via suspension bridge, we will pass by a rock fall zone where your guide will assist you to walk carefully. After passing the rocky zone you will get to a small village right at the bottom of big rock, this is Phedi. After two hours of walking up from Phedi you will get to High camp for Thorong La Pass. High camp has only one tea house, so do not expect the best accommodation. Nature is in the leading role at this point and the rest has to be compromised.

We will start our trek early morning after breakfast arranged by your guide. Walking up to the Thorong La pass is not difficult and it’s not steep uphill, but at the altitude above 4000 meters it is always hard to walk. Go slow, follow your guide and let your guide know if anything is abnormal. After 2 hours of walking you will get to the top of Thorong La pass. Descend is really easy in comparison to what you have climbed earlier. Walking downhill gives you amazing view of the river valley, and new mountains come into sight; Mt Dhaulagiri (8164 meters), Nilgiri, Dhampus peak and a few others. Once you get to Base camp on the other side of the pass the trail goes flat all the way to Muktinath. Muktinath has a beautiful Hindu and Buddhist temple. Dry landscape of Muktinath resembles you of Tibet, Muktinath lies in the Mustang region of Nepal.

Muktinath to Jomsom is an easy walk on the flat terrain. The deserted landscape passing through villages like Jharkot is beautiful. View of Dhaulagiri Himal and villages like Kagbeni will take your breath away. Jomosom is one of the biggest villages you will see during the entire trekking of APC. There is an option to fly out to Pokhara from the airport at Jomsom.

Tatopani is famous for its hot springs. Dipping your tired feet after days of walking relaxes your muscles and makes you comfortable. An hour’s drive from Jomsom to Tatopani is basically easy, which makes this a chilled rest day at the end of your trek. Have fun and enjoy the last day with your whole trekking team; guides, porters and fellow trekkers.

Driving back to Pokhara will take around 7 hours. Once you get back to Pokhara the city vibe will catch you, enjoy the return to civilization after 12 days of trekking in the Mountains of Annapurna. Pokhara is a beautiful city with lake, we will have your hotel near to the Phewa lake. As being near to lake you can go boating across the lake to lake house or a small island with temple of Godess Barahi. Night life in Pokhara is nice with number of pubs and clubs. Make sure you enjoy moderately though, to get up early to catch the bus to Kathmandu.