- Send a message
- +31 687 54 2250
The Annapurna Base Camp Trek is a walking journey into the Annapurna Sanctuary. It is a natural amphitheater of the world’s highest Himalayan peaks.
With this trek, you get the chance to visit beautiful high mountains in a quite short time frame. You don’t climb very high. Yet, you will be surrounded by the high peaks of Annapurna and spectacular glaciers.
This is a 10-day trek to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC). It is one of the classic treks in the famous Annapurna region.
ABC is located in a high glacial valley, lying 40 km directly north of Pokhara. This oval-shaped valley is surrounded by high mountains, known as the Annapurna Sanctuary.
There is only 1 way to approach the valley, on foot via a narrow gorge between the mountains of Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre. This makes it a true wilderness destination.
Base camp itself is a picturesque valley, where you can enjoy stunning views of the surrounding Himalayan peaks. Because of the high mountains on all sides, ABC receives only 7 hours of sunlight a day, mid-summer.
This is a place of natural beauty and tranquility, where you can experience the raw power of the mountains and connect with the natural world in a profound way.
This route to ABC offers a unique combination of heights and depths. This enables you to see an extraordinary variety of ecosystems in a relative short period of time.
The south-facing slopes are covered in lush tropical jungles, including rhododendron trees and huge bamboo plants. The north-facing slopes are in the rain shadow, and have a both drier and colder climate. This is quite similar to that of the Tibetan plateau.
One the way from ABC, you will stop at Jhinu Danda. This place is ah-mazing, since you can take a dip in a natural hot spring. (PS To make it a bit more spectacular, the hot spring is right next to a wild river with frrreezing cold water. You’ll see. 🙂 )
The ABC trek offers stunning views of world’s tallest Himalayas. Many of the peaks are over 7,000 m. These peaks are most noteworthy:
Welcome in Nepal! We will pick you up at the international airport in Kathmandu, and bring you to your hotel. This is located in the backpackers area of Thamel.
airport transfer – hotel
After a good night of sleep and hopefully beating the jetlag, we will meet again for a pre-trip meeting. You will be introduced to your mountain guide and we will discuss the itinerary. If you have any questions or requests, please let us know.
Note: please, make sure you bring your passport to the meeting, along with your travel insurance policy. Carry both the original policy and a copy for us. We wil also request you to clear the due balance, if any.
What’s next? You can use this day to adjust to the different timezone, altitude and climate. Also, you can prepare yourself for your trek and do some last shoppings at one of the many outdoor gear shops around your hotel.
breakfast – hotel
Early morning, your mountain guide picks you up from your hotel. Together, you take the bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara. This takes about 6 hours.
breakfast – bus – hotel
Option: To save time, you can opt for a 30-minute flight to Pokhara, instead of taking the bus. This would give you the opportunity to explore this peaceful city by the lake. Contact us for more details.
From Pokhara, we will drive to the starting point of the trek in Nayapul.
After a short 15-minute walk along the banks of the Modi Khola, we reach Birethanti (1,015 m). This is a large village with many shops and teahouses. From here, the trail continues through the village and follows the northern bank of the Bhurungdi Khola. The trail climbs steadily up the side of the valley to Hille (1,495 m). After a short climb, we reach Tikhedhunga (1,570 m).
Today’s walk is relatively short and easy, a prelude to the trekking experience in the Annapurna region.
breakfast – private vehicle – lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
We move on towards the steep climb to Ulleri (2,070 m), a large Magar village. From this point, the trail ascends more gently through fine forests of oak and rhododendrons towards Banthanti (2,250 m). From there we trek towards Nangethanti (2,460 m). About one hour later, we arrive at Ghorepani (2,840 m) where we spend the night.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
Early morning, if possible an hour before sunrise, we start a 1 hour hike up to Poon Hill (3,210 m). This is a great place for a brilliant mountain range spectacle. This vantage point provides an stunning panorama view of the sunrise over the high Himalayas. We will spend about an hour here, before we return to Ghorepani for our breakfast.
After breakfast, we pack our bags again and set off for a climb along ridges, and through pine and rhododendron forests to Deurali (2,960 m). After that, we descend to Banthanti and then Tadapani.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
The day starts with a steep downhill walk through rhododendron forests and descend through the forests. As we approach Gurjung, which is the village of the Gurung people, the trail eases. Then there’s only an easy walk left to Chhomrong (2,140 m).
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
Leaving Chhomrong, the trail descends on a stone staircase and crosses the Chhomrong Khola river on a swaying suspension bridge. On the other side of the river a climb leads us through small settlements and the upper Modi Valley. From here, we can see beneath us the village of Doban with our lodge for tonight.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
From Doban, the trail crosses a stream and avalanche chute, then climbs across a landslide. In the forest is a small temple where local people leave offerings of flowers, cloths or leaves. We climb past a cascade over a rock platform and pass a trailside temple decorated with Shiva tridents and flowers.
Then, there’s only one more hour of trekking left for today. We follow a rocky trail, up a steep ravine to Hinku Cave and across the remnants of a glacier till we reach Deorali (3,140 m).
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
Today the trail climbs to Machhapuchhre Base Camp. This actually isn’t really a base camp, since climbing the mountain is not allowed. This area is totally surrounded by mountains and known as the Annapurna Sanctuary.
From Machhapuchhre Base Camp it is 2 more hours of trekking to reach Annapurna Base Camp (4,130 m). We hope to have clear weather, because this place has very much rewarding unobstructed views of the surrounding mountains. It is spectacular!
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
Today we follow the same trail down and descend 1,700 meters to the bank of Modi Khola to Bamboo (2,345 m). Here are a few lodges where we will stay tonight.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
Today we follow the same trail back till Chhomrong. Once we have passed Khuldighar, the trail continues through rhododendron and bamboo fields. From Chhomrong the trail descends very steeply to Jhinu hot spring where you can take a bath in a delightful natural hot spring, located in a narrow jungle valley right next to a raging river.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
From Jhinu hot spring we walk along the right side of Modi Khola river to Birethanti. This part of the trek can be considered as one of the easiest and most relaxing walks of the entire route. We reach Nayapul from where a 1 hour drive will take us back to the hotel Pokhara.
breakfast & lunch – private vehicle – hotel
Today, we take the bus back to Kathmandu. And there, we will bring you to your hotel in Thamel.
breakfast – bus – hotel
Option: To save time, you can opt for a 30-minute flight to Kathmandu, instead of taking the bus. This would give you the opportunity to explore the city. Contact us for more details.
If it’s the final day of your holiday in Nepal, we will bring you back to the international airport. Goodbye friends! We hope that we will meet each other again in the future.
breakfast – airport transfer
Tailored according to your own preferences and budget
With Govinda & Lilly in English or Dutch.
Experience the REAL Nepal in a way that benefits Nepalis.
Click on our photo below to chat on WhatsApp