Annapurna Base Camp Trek

Today is the day of your arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal. As soon as you come out of the Kathmandu airport, you will find our representative waiting for you in the waiting area right outside the arrival lounge. You will be warmly greeted and welcomed by the representative and led to the vehicle. Our vehicle will take you to the trip hotel, most of the time in Thamel, that is 20-30 minutes drive, depending upon traffic, from the airport.
After you check into the hotel, you can take relaxing time on your own as there are no activities scheduled for today, except our trip briefing meeting. We will let you know about the briefing timing upon your arrival.

Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel. We come to take your for a wonderful cultural heritage tour of Kathmandu valley. As part of the tour, we are going to visit four of the UNESCO Heritage monuments in Kathmandu valley. The places we visit today are incredible mixture of culture, history, spirituality, art and stories. Overnight in Hote.

Swoyambhunath
Believed to have been created on its own, this Budhhist stupa is the oldest of all the monuments in Kathmandu valley. Standing atop a small hillock, Swoyambunath, known as monkey temple amongst tourists, provides a fascinating view of the valley, surrounding hills and snow-capped mountain at the distance on a clear day.

Patan Durbar Square
One of the three medieval palace squares, Patan Durbar Square holds its medieval art and architectural grandeur. Amazing skill of the artisans is evident in each and every building that stands in the square. The square comprises of medieval palace, temples and museum.

Pashupatinath
This site is the most sacred Hindu temple area in the country. But, as the temple is strictly a Hindu only area, non-Hindu tourists go there to watch the unique Hindu cremation rituals on the bank of River Bagmati. The death rites of Hindu family there are so engrossing and heart-touching which make you feel the moment. It’s not any kind of intrusion in being there and watching somebody being cremated in an open ground. It’s a great cultural experience.

Boudhanath
This giant Buddhist stupa is considered as the biggest one in the world. This small square with giant shrine has a powerful presence of the spiritual vibrations. It’s an important pilgrimage site for the people following Tibetan Buddhism.

We take early morning breakfast and get ready to drive to Pokhara. Situated 200 kilometers west of Kathmandu, Pokhara is a blessed city with beauty of nature and is the gateway to Annapurna region trekking. We drive along the highway that passes through several beautiful towns and runs along the river in most of the parts. The peaceful rural setting of Nepal looks fascinating during the drive. About 7 hours on the road brings us beautiful rural views along the highway before reaching Pokhara. Once we reach Pokhara, we can take leisurely wanderings around the serene lakeside.

We are going to start the first day of the trekking part of our journey. We drive for about one and half hour to Nayapul where the trekking starts from. We are embarking a five hours day walk to Tikhedhunga. Our walk today is fairly easy as it doesn’t involve any extreme uphill or downhill walking, rather it goes on a dirt road on most of the stretch. Initially, we walk along Modi Khola, a river that comes from the Annapurna sanctuary, until Birethanti where we cross it over a bridge. After checking into the Annapurna Conservation Area Project office for trekking in the region, we head left towards our destination.

About five hours of gentle dirt road walking, including lunch break in between, takes us to a small settlement of Tikhedhunga nestled on the foothills just below Ulleri village.

We wake up for a refreshing morning breeze and take our breakfast. Later, we get ready for two hours of steep uphill step walking to Ulleri. The Section tests our stamina early in the morning for two hours. When we reach Ulleri after two hours of challenging strive, we get the first view of snow-capped mountain for the day. The trail now onwards becomes fairly easier in terms of its steepness. We trek past Banthanti to enter a forest of rhododendron and birch trees and proceed towards Ghorepani. We eventually arrive to Ghorepani after about seven hours of trail navigation. A breathtaking view of the Himalayas from Ghorepani makes us forget all the tiredness of trekking.

We have a very early morning start today as we are hiking to Poon Hill for a sunrise and more spectacular view of mountains. We carry flash lights; keep ourselves warm enough for the morning temperature and start hiking up towards Poon Hill through rhododendron forest. When we reach the top of the hill, we are astounded by the panoramic view of the mountains in Annapurna and Dhaulagiri mountain range. We enjoy the enthralling views and wait for another wonder, sunrise over the mountains, to take our breath away. The magical sunrise over the Himalayas fills us with the energy and zeal to go for the adventure walk of the day.

We descend back to the lodge at Ghorepani for breakfast. Later, we check out the lodge to walk to Tadapani for about another five hours. The trail passes through forest, pasture, and winds up and down the hill with thrilling adventure before reaching Tadapani.

We enjoy our breakfast with the view of mountains like Annapurna south, Fishtail and Hiunchuli. Later, we get ready to trek to Sinuwa via Chhomrong village along the Annapurna sanctuary trail. We start descending through a forest and then emerge to an open lawn before descending further to a river. We cross the river over a suspension bridge and start a steep uphill walk that, after sometimes, becomes fairly easier. The final section of the trail is much flatter, actually gradual uphill until we reach Chhomrong village, a typical Gurung village in the region. We walk even further down to Chhomrong Khola and up to Sinuwa for overnight stay.

Our walk for the day goes to Deurali, a small and beautiful settlement nestled amidst the Himalayas. The trail passes through bamboo forest and goes higher but with frequent involvement of ascent and descent. We reach Deurali after walking through forested part and ascending after a descent to a glacial river.

We get ready for the day walk after breakfast and start walking towards Annapurna Base Camp. We reach Machhapuchhre Base Camp and walk even further to Annapurna Base Camp. While at the impressive base camp, we are surrounded by the mighty Himalayan peaks that take our breath away. We enjoy the moment of being at the spectacular place on earth.

We wake up for a lovely morning at the base camp. We enjoy the privilege of spending the incredible moments of life amidst the mighty Himalayas. The breathtaking peaks and the aura that they are radiating fill us with energy that can vibrate through our body, mind and soul. Although the moments there tempt to stay there longer, we have to make a return trip. So, after breakfast, we start trekking down to Bamboo. The walk all the way down to Bamboo goes on the same trail that we took to go the base camp.

On the trek today, we trek to Jhinu Danda via Chhomrong village. We traverse the same trail as before to Chhomrong and then we stay to the trail that descends to Jhinu Danda. A steep descent takes us to the destination today. Once we check into the lodge, we may like to go for a relaxing natural hot spring bath on the bank of Modi Khola, the glacial river that comes from the Annapurna Sanctuary. About fifteen minutes of walk down to the river bank takes us for a soothing hot spring bath. Later, we return back to the lodges and spend relaxing time.

It’s the final day of walk on this journey. We start the trek and descend steeply to a river to cross it and climb for a bit before beginning on a fairly gentle trail. We walk past New Bridge, Kyumi and eventually reach Birethanti to check out at the Annapurna Conservation Area. We walk further to Nayapul. We get on a vehicle that is there to pick us up and take to Pokhara. After about one and half hour, we will be back at beautiful city civilization of Pokhara.

Early in the morning, after breakfast, we get on the bus to drive back to Kathmandu. About seven hours of overland journey takes us back to Kathmandu. Once we are in Kathmandu, we go to hotel and spend the whole day at leisure on our own. Finding relieving massage, good food, souvenir shopping, and wandering around can keep you busy for the day.

A farewell dinner is scheduled for this evening. We will let you know the departure time for dinner once we reach Kathmandu.

The final day of the trip, we drive you to airport for your scheduled flight homebound or other destination. We will pick you up 3 hours prior to your flight schedule.