Annapurna Circuit Trek

Your arrival in Kathmandu is the first day of the trip. We will welcome you at the arrival gate of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and transfer you to the trip hotel. You will have free time mostly on your own today. We will surely offer you necessary guidance on wandering around on your arrival time. We will also brief you about the entire adventure trip and answer your questions if you have any. Feel at comfort; relax and try to acclimate in the Nepalese atmosphere. Things may look and feel completely strange to you but that’s the beauty of a new place so find yourself at easy and slowly soak into the local ambience.

Kathmandu has a history of more than 2,000 years. We will take you for a tour of the historical, cultural and spiritual places in Kathmandu that are enlisted in the cultural heritage list. A guided visit to Swoyambhunath, Patan Durbar Square, Pashupatinath and Boudhanath will give you an understanding of the history, culture, spiritual practice and lifestyle of Kathmandu valley. It will be a good starter of the trip. An insightful day of exploring the cultural and historical wonders of Kathmandu will come to end after returning back to the hotel around late afternoon.

We are driving to the start point of the trek today. About 8 hours of drive takes us to Chamje village in the Marshyangdi river valley to stay overnight. The drive will introduce us with the rural atmosphere of Nepal that we are going to experience for few days from now.

It is the first day of walking adventure on the trip. We walk to Dharapani today. Exploring about the river valley surroundings as we trek towards the destination reveals us the beautiful nature and views. We traverse the trail through beautiful greenery and settlements that are unique to this area. The lower river valley surroundings and civilization experience today is a gentle introduction to the higher mountain one that we are expecting on this adventure. We stay overnight today at Dharapani.

We are on another beautiful day of walk through the mountain surroundings. The walk today takes us to Chame, a beautiful village town in the mountain that serves as the district headquarters for Manang. This place is also a beautiful overnight stay along the Annapurna Circuit trail. After walking through wonderfully beautiful surroundings, we eventually reach Chame to stay overnight.

We will walk to Pisang village today. Pisang is one of the incredible villages that give a rich cultural experience of Manang region. Walking through beautiful trail that meanders through the mountains brings us beautiful experience of the region. Our overnight stay today will be above 3,000 meters, our first on the trip. We can explore the beautiful Pisang village once we reach there.

The walking adventure around the Annapurna massif continues to Manang today. View of the mountains, beautiful nature, and wonderful landscape of the surroundings make our walk awesome. As we gain the elevation, we can feel the walk becoming more challenging. But the wonders that we get to experience along the trail makes the challenge feel easy. We reach Manang to stay overnight today.

We have an extra day here at Manang for acclimatization. We will go for a walk in the surroundings and explore the area.

Yak Kharka is the destination for our walk today. The elevation gain is gradual and challenging. Landscape change is awesome and the walk is certainly worthy to experience. We reach Yak Kharka with enough time left to explore the surroundings in the afternoon.

Walk to Thorong Phedi today to stayat the base of the Thorong La. It is comparatively short walking day but certainly challenging as the result of elevation gain. Staying at Thorong Phedi gives us ample time to acclimatize and rest for the challenging pass walk early morning tomorrow. As we start early tomorrow, staying at Phedi is the best idea so that we can rest enough.

It is the day today that will take us to the challenging yet beautiful Thorong La pass. We will be at the highest elevation on the trip when we reach the top of the pass. An early morning start before the break of the dawn challenges us with an uphill walk towards the pass that stands impressively at the elevation of 5,416 meters above sea level. The early morning walk towards the pass feels strenuous but it is surely worth going for it. When we eventually reach the pass, we will spend some good time at the pass before walking down towards Muktinath. Muktinath is the spiritual and beautiful place where we stay overnight today.

We are on the last day of the walking adventure on the trip. This walk brings us to the wonderful Kali Gandaki river valley. We walk all the way down to Kagbeni and further to Jomsom today. This region of lower Mustang offers us a beautiful sight of the area in addition to the gorgeous Kali Gandaki River valley. We stay overnight at Jomsom today.

We take an early morning flight to Pokhara today. About 20 minutes of flight along the Annapurna Mountains takes us to Pokhara. In addition to the walking adventure, we get to experience the mountains from the air as well. We will have a free and relaxing day in Pokhara today. We can find a relaxing massage, chilled beer, delicious food, and just a peaceful wandering around the lakeside.

We will drive back to Kathmandu today. There is an option of flying back with the payment of an extra flight cost.

As the last day on this beautiful adventure trip, we will drive you to the airport for your departure flight as per your flight schedule. If this is not your departure day, the service for this trip ends here. If you have extra days to spend in Nepal and need any other assistance, please do let us know. We will certainly help you in whatever way we can.

The walking adventure to the Annapurna Circuit goes through the trail that meanders up and down the mountains frequently. Although this is not an extremely difficult trip, you will certainly feel some challenges of walking in the high altitude during the trip. We would rate it as a difficult trip in difficulty level as you will be walking over a high mountain pass of Thorong La at the elevation of 5,416 meters above sea level.

Walking hours vary from day to day on this trip. You walk from 4-8 hours every day depending on the distance you cover. You can expect the walking hours to be around 6 hours on average.

Since it is walking adventure trip, you do not need any climbing skills, experience or equipment. However, you will need a high level of determination to traverse the mountain trail in the wilderness for several days. This is just a trekking trip, not a climbing adventure.

The walking route to the Annapurna Circuit is a well-trodden and popular trail. You will find enough teahouses along the trail where you normally spend the overnights. Teahouses along the route are basic lodges with accommodation and dining facilities where the trekkers spend overnight. These teahouses are comfortable but not super luxurious. The overnight places for each day are specified in the itinerary. However, your trip guide can change the overnight places on his/her sole discretion if s/he thinks it necessary for your comfort and better experience.

Dal Bhat is the staple food in the mountains. This combo of rice, lentil soup, vegetables, curry etc. is available everywhere you go. In addition to this Nepali food, you can enjoy momos, noodle soup (Thukpa), chowmein, pizza, sandwitch, Gurung bread, soup etc. along the trail. Options of vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods are also available. We highly recommend you to go for vegetarian food during the trek.

When you go for the walking adventure trip, you will pack two different bags – one big backpack that your porter will carry for you and the other, a small daypack for yourself to carry with necessary things that you need for the day. You can refer to our Things to Carry page for a complete guide on what you need to have when you are in the mountains.