Classic Annapurna Circuit Trek

On this day you arrive to Kathmandu and we transfer you to your accommodation. There is no plan set aside for the day but you can feel free to explore the surrounding to get hang of Nepalese culture and tradition. Overnight in Kathmandu .

The best way to explore Kathmandu city is by visiting its monument and that is what you will do in the first half today. Kathmandu is known as the city of temples and UNESCO world heritage site and these age old heritages are worth every buck. Meanwhile, when you are sightseeing these monuments our back office team will prepare all necessary permits for you Annapurna circuit trek. Later in the day, after seeing around, you will do last minute shopping for your trek if necessary. Overnight in Kathmandu.

We embark on the national highway as early as possible. Depending on the package of your choice, you will board either a private vehicle or a bus. However, in case of a bus, you will be transferred to a smaller vehicle after Besi sahar. The road of the first half is black topped and travels along rivers and showcases pretty lush green forests. Whereas, the second half of the road is more of a off road experience. Nevertheless, this slightly over 8 hours of on road experience will be very new to you if this is your first ever visit to Nepal. The bus will stop frequently in between, allowing you ample amount of time to catch something to eat as well as use the bathroom. Overnight in Khudi.

Khudi is a small village ideally located by the Marshyangdi river. Just in case, you can as well enjoy natural hot springs, not one of the best but good enough. On this day, you will ascend around 1000 plus meters and in order to do that you will mostly walk uphill. The lush green forest of pine and orchid is home to some rare species of birds. People often claim to have sighted leopards on this very section of the trail. It is as well advised to keep your eyes open for leopards and some rare birds. Upon arriving in Sirung you will accommodate in a teahouse. Overnight in Sirung.

Immediately after leaving Sirung you start climbing through rice terrace and further on barren cliff. At times you will walk through dense forest, small waterfalls and intriguing villages but all the time by the Marshyangdi river. The ascent is slow and gradual until syange and from syange onwards and until Jagat the trail becomes steep. And, the final climb of around 45 minutes from Jagat to Chamje becomes a challenge. Jagat is one of the impressive villages you will see on the trail, located at the foot of one huge waterfall. Overnight in Chamje.

Soon after leaving the village of Chamje, following the river, you will walk on the trail with mountain walls rising above 500 meters. Even today, the trail will be a roller coaster ride and will have to go through a lot of ups and downs. This very day we enter manang region walking through the forests of bamboos, corn and barley. After few tough inclines you reach Tal which is also the entry village point to Manang district and a busy town. Tal has hefty amount of teahouses and we usually stop here for our lunch. After stopping for much needed break in Tal, you once again embark on the same trail left behind and overcome some steep incline until Dharapani. Overnight at Dharapani.

Comparatively, today will be technical as well a strenuous but you will walk through one of the most beautiful pine forests. Be careful as you walk on landslide prone area which you will come across on this very day. Since the trail is steep, it is advised to take your time to cover the distance. Meanwhile, do not forget to look towards the north for beautiful views of Lamjung Himal, Annapurna I and Annapurna IV. After walking for around 6, the stone and mud plastered gates of Chame welcomes you. From the gate you will see the beautiful village of Chame where you will call it a night.

We make 600m ascents from Chame to Pisang within 4-6 hours. The first couple of hours we walk on crisply pine scented trail. We go past the deserted village of Bhartang where trekkers stop by for tea. Further down the trail, we go past apple orchard and furthermore the memorial of Japanese trekker who died in the avalanche trying to cross Thorung La. With the transitory view of Manaslu, Annapurna II, Himchuli and Ngadi Chuli, we make our way through Tibetan communities and beautiful manis; prayer apparatus of Buddhist followers and fields of Buckwheat. Overnight in Pisang.

Today we leave early in the morning after breakfast, to ascent 600 meters through a mediocre difficult trail. From the very first day Marsyangdi river never leaves the trail and does the same for this day. We start strolling on a relatively flat ground in the beginning and then gradually climb upwards. The first noticeable village on this day is Humde - the only village in Manang with airport. After crossing Humde the landscape gets more barren but the views get better. The views of Annapurna III and IV on one hand, and the barren cliffs on the other is captivating. We usually stop for lunch in Mungi. one and half hours easy uphill walk after lunch we make it to Manang. We traverse through various terrain and through the fields of buckwheat, barley and potato and pine. On this day we make our way through remarkable Kani’s (gate) to rustic settlements of Tibetan community namely Manange. Overnight in Manang.

Today is set aside as acclimatization where we will rest and adapt to the altitude. We have an opportunity to walk around and observe the life and culture of Manang-pa; people of Manang, explore the archaic monasteries and thangka’s that dates back to some 500 years, we would also hike short for a glacial lake named Gangapurna. Manang also has hotels and restaurants, which would cater fix for your desires to have coffee and bakery.

The hike gets strenuous from this day onwards because of the altitude and kicking in of thin air and it is advised to drink more water. On this day we ascent somewhere around 500 meters and we do not descend at all but we make our way through one of the most amazing view of Annapurna on our south. We reach Khangsar by 2 and half hour and immediately after Khangsar we climb a sheer uphill to Yak Kharka. We walk through Tengi; the last permanently inhabited village in Manang and make our way through pastures and miniature forest of Juniper, roses and barberry to Yak Kharka. We stay overnight at Yak kharka and enjoy yak cheese and dishes made out of Yak.

From what looks like an old cowboy town of Yak Kharka we get ready for strenuous hike of 600+ meters, which includes some steep and sheer trails up and down hill. The first initial climb of two and half hours is painstaking but however the surreal view of the surrounding, blue ships and wild Yaks will help you forget all that. Furthermore we keep inclining through narrow and barren trails exposed to the slopes and crossing the wooden bridge we make to Thorung phedi. There are very few pine plants towards the Yak Kharka end but towards the Thorung high camp the land is more barren and the only plant seen is silver birch. Thorung phedi is a valley, which is not inhabited year around but offers a very uncanny view of surrounding cliffs and mountains in the Annapurna. We hike uphill further for an hour until we reach Thorung High pass where we rest for the night and acclimatize before we ascent to Thorung-La pass.

We rise and shine early and head out of Thorung Phedi for the longest day of Annapurna circuit trek. Furthermore, this is the most difficult section of the trek but equally beautiful that helps us forget all the slogging and hard work. Most of the day’s walk is sheer and uphill, on barren cliffs with wild Yaks. The initial climb from Thorung Phedi connects with Thorung high camp and further around 3 hours of uphill, we would reach Thorung la. The main idea behind starting the day early is to make sure that we cross Thorung – La pass before the sun is up and at its best. We ascent 650+ meters to Thorung – la which is one of the highest passes in the world, from where the view of the mountains in the periphery is as well of the premier quality. From Thorung – La we make a sheer drop 1600 meters toward the holy shrine of Muktinath.

From Muktinath we further descend down to Jharkot and watch Kagbeni from the ridge and make our way towards Jomsom. We take jeep track all the way to Jomsom; a beautiful mountain settlement placed on the laps of Nilgiri Mountain. Jomsom also has an air strip which serves the entire region on everyday basis. Further down on jeep track dodging it time and again we reach Marpha. Marpha is famous for its apple orchards and apple brandy distillery and also homes one of the oldest distilleries in the country. Marpha is the center of Thakali community, which is famous for making apple cider and apple pie amongst trekkers.

We start early on this day and we trek easy jeep trail along one of the major tributaries Kaligandaki. We stroll through 2 remarkable settlements of Tukuche and Larjung until we reach Kalopani. On this day we make a transition from arid landscape to lush green knolls.

We further head downward and majority of the trail include unfrequented jeep track. From Ghasa we enter the district of Myagdi from Mustang. The inevitable attraction of this section in Annapurna circuit trek is the 3rd largest waterfall named Rupse, in Dana. Finally we make it to Tatopani which mean hot water; this place holds one of the best natural hot springs. Usually trekkers are found enjoying this natural hot springs after a long aching trip.

Since most of the walking has to be don on the newly opened jeep track and on a very rugged trail, we opt to take bus. The bus through the off road from this point onward is very thrilling and not very dangerous. We reach Beni in around 1 and half hours and make transfer to another bus to Pokhara. The road from Beni to Pokhara is relatively very good and black topped. The coiled and hilly terrain ride will take around 4 hours before dropping us at the Pokhara - Baglung buspark. Overnight in Pokhara

Another day on road but better and broader. The bus ride takes around 7 hours to Kathmandu. The bus traverses through beautiful lush green hills and views of mountains (only in season). Once we reach Kathmandu we transfer you to your accommodation and hence officially come to an end of Annapurna circuit trek.

Approximately 3 hours before the scheduled flight, a representative from the Crown Earth treks will take you to the airport.