Mini Annapurna Trek

Arrive Kathmandu, transfer and check in at hotel. After a short rest assemble at the lobby for a briefing by our local Tour Leader on the entire itinerary. Evening free or group dinner.

We leave Kathmandu early in the morning and drive towards Pokhara. After leaving Kathmandu valley we follow the river to Mugling. We then continue to Besisahar where we begin our trek. From here we walk down to the river and cross to the east side to avoid the current construction of a new road. Our trail undulates above the river and for about 2 hours walking through quite country side with rice paddies and villages we finally meet the main trail at Bhulebule.

Today our trail leads to Chyamje, after where we cross the suspension bridge and climb through the oak forest. The trail then emerges into a level valley where ‘Tal’, the next village is situated at the foot of a grand waterfall (1700m). Crossing the river a couple of times we reach the village of Dharapani at 1943m.

Beyond this village we continue our climb over a spur to Bagarchap, at 2164m. The name of this village means ‘butcher’s place’ and, although Buddhist, the people of this region do hunt animals. Continuing we follow the trail through the green forest to Dhanagyu and climb to Temang, where we have lunch alongwith magnificent views of Manaslu and Peak 29. The trail then descends towards the fir and pine forests to Koto and Chame (2713m),the administrative centre of the Manang district.

We now experience a dramatic change of scenery. Leaving the forest and vegetation of the alpine region behind, we enter the upper district of Manang, known as Nyeshang. At first our trail follows the river closely through a huge canyon before coming to Brathang at 2919m. The trail then follows the steep narrow valley through the deep forest which offers fine views of the Annapurna II. We cross the river where the curved rock face of Paungda Danda rises nearly 1500m from the riverbank, and climb to the village of Pisang at 3,185m.

There are 2 options today. The energetic can take the high route to Manang via the villages of Gyaru and Ngawal which offers a wonderful walk with great views across of the Annapurna. We drop down to the main trail just before Braga and continue on the main trail to Manang. The second option is to take the shorter main trail to Manang which climbs a low pass into the valley below Pisang Peak. As we continue up the valley, it becomes increasingly barren, and eventually we reach Braga, a picturesque village dominated by a large ancient gompa. Passing carved mani walls we arrive at the village of Manang at 3351m. The longer walk takes approximately 8-9 hours and respectively the shorter walk takes 5-6 hours.

We spend this day around Manang acclimatising to the high altitude. Most people climb the hill behind Manang to enjoy the magnificent views of the whole Annapurna range and the enormous icefall that crashes and rumbles down from Gangapurna. This part of the trek is where we are closest to the mountains. Across the valley the huge bulk of Gangapurna and the Annapurna tower way above us- the sunset and sunrise over this great amphitheatre is one of the most beautiful experience one could always cherish in their memories of Nepal.

Leaving Manang we head towards the base of the Thorong La. We climb out of Marsyangdi valley and turn northwest up the valley of Jarsang Khola. We are above the forests now and pass through dry, alpine country, with shrub juniper and occasional clumps of birch. We spend tonight at a lodge in Yak Kharka. We will reach the lodge by lunchtime and in the afternoon we will have an acclimatisation walk into the surrounding hills. Please ! Look out for the Blue Sheep that inhabit this cold, windy spot.

Another short day to aid acclimatisation. The scenery becomes more wild as we continue ascending the valley. At one point we descend to cross the Jarsang Khola, and traverse a scree slope to the lone teahouses at Phedi at the foot of the Thorong La (4,400m).Thorong Phedi can be very cold and windy. In the afternoon we can go for a walk up to Thorong High Camp which is the last lodge and is about an hour above Phedi.

A long day as we leave Phedi very early the next morning for the climb to the pass. The first part of the ascent is very steep, but it eases somewhat as we approach the top, although the altitude still makes the going tough. Eventually, after numerous false summits, we reach the pass itself at 5416m. Ahead there is a magnificent panorama of snow-capped peaks extending northwards into Tibet, and looking back we can see several of the main peaks of the Annapurna. Directly in front of us is the great chasm of the Kali Gandaki, 2,500m. It’s a very long descend that begins gently and becomes steeper, as we follow a series of switch-backs down to the grassy slopes, before easing off to a gentle descent to Muktinath (3802m).

Today is the last day of the trek as we head towards Jomosom. It is an easy trail
passing through the settlement of Jharkot (3550m) down to the Kali Gandaki Valley. The wind blown rock formations surrounding us are reminiscent of Tibet. The last part of our walk takes us along the rocky Kali Gandaki to the town of Jomsom.

We take a flight to Jomsom to Pokhara.

A free day in Kathmandu for individual sightseeing. Recommended are the Monkey temple also known as Swayambhunath, the largest Buddhist stupa at Boudhanath and the Hindu temple at Pashupatinath.

Final departure, Transfer to airport.