Mardi Himal 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 will drive 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu to Pokhara today. The drive starts early morning after breakfast. You will be able to experience the rural surroundings of Nepal as you drive along the highway towards the destination today. Pokhara is the main gateway city to start the trekking adventure in the Annapurna region. We will be in Pokhara after around 6 hours of starting in Kathmandu. Wandering around the peaceful and beautiful atmosphere of Lakeside on the bank of Lake Fewa will be helpful in chasing off the tiredness of the long drive. It’s an easy and free time to roam around the streets.

The trekking adventure in the Mardi Himal region starts today after half hour’s drive to Dhampus Phedi. We start on a steep uphill trek at the very beginning of the trip. As the steep trail emerges to a village, the trail gets gradual uphill and heads ahead towards Dhampus village on the ridge. When we reach Dhampus, we stop for the lunch with view of the Annapurna panorama. A gentle uphill trail again leads us to Pothana for overnight stay.

We are going to get a beautiful experience of nature walk today. As we start trekking to Forest Camp, the trail mostly goes past forest where we can experience the diversity of Nepalese flora. Rhododendron, birch, hazelnut, and many other different types of plants make the forest look incredibly diverse and give a beautiful experience of walking in the woods. About 6 hours of walk to Forest camp today is a peaceful and beautiful time to enjoy the alluring charm of nature. We will also get to enjoy view of the mountains from along the trail.

The trek today takes us well above 3000 meters. Gaining about 1000 meters of elevation, the walk goes to the High Camp just below the majestic Mt. Fishtail and Mardi Himal. We see the change in the vegetation as we go higher. It turns more into coniferous woods changing from sub-tropical deciduous one of the lower elevation. Once we reach the High Camp, we can enjoy a breathtaking view of the Annapurna range of the mountains.

We will have an early morning today to hike to for a hiking trip to the Mardi Himal base camp. Mardi Himal base camp stands at the elevation of 4,500 meters above sea level just below the Mt. Fishtail. A challenging uphill walk early in the morning, before the break of dawn, takes us to the View Point to enjoy a spectacular sunrise over the Annapurna range. Later, the Mardi ridges walking to the base camp offers us a magnificent view of the mountains and the gorge below with the Annapurna base camp. Later, we walk back down to High Camp for the lunch. The round trip walk will be of about 5 hours. We still have 2 more hours of walk down to Low Camp to stay overnight.

We are on the last day of the trek today and need to cover only a short section of the trail on feet. It’s a steep downhill walk through forest to Sidding village before we get a jeep ride back to Pokhara. After lunch at Sidding, we drive on a four wheel jeep for about 2 hours to Pokhara. We will have time to laze around and relax in Pokhara.

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 Mardi Himal Base Camp 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 moderate trip in difficulty level.

Walking hours vary from day to day on this trip. You walk from 4-7 hours every day depending on the distance you cover. You can expect the walking hours to be around 5 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 Mardi Himal Base Camp is getting popular every day. You will find limited 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 basic but good enough for the comfort in the mountains. 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.