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The Mardi Himal Trek takes you to the east of Annapurna Base Camp, virtually under the spectacular mountain Machhapuchhre. Also known as Mount Fishtail. As you trek along the ridge, you can look down at Annapurna Base Camp! It is almost too good to be true. But, you will see it is real with you own eyes.
Trekking to Mardi Himal will take you about 7 days. However, we can customize this itinerary for you. You can make this trek longer or even stitch it together with a different trek. For instance, the viewpoint of Poon Hill or even Annapurna Base Camp (ABC)!
Yes! Definitely. Mardii Himal is a great trekking destination in the Annapurna region. Immerse yourself in the beauty of nature and local culture. This trek provides a breathtaking panorama of the Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Machhapuchre, and Manaslu mountain ranges.
The trek goes through quiet stone built villages past wonderful rhododendron forests blooming in many different colors. The forest path continues until about 3,300 m when the trail takes on a rugged mountain setting with spectacular views of Mardi Himal, Machhapuchhre and Annapurna South. During the Mardi Himal Trek, you will eat and sleep in basic mountain lodges, runned by locals.
Yes! Actually, we encourage you to do so. You can make this trek unique and truly YOURS! Obviously, you don’t need to figure it all out by yourself. We are here for you. Do you want to speed up and make it extra challenging? Or, take it easy and slow? Just contact us. We will draft a tailored itinerary for you. Do you like it? Then we’ll make it happen.
We are looking forward to hearing from you.
– Govinda & Lilly
Welcome in Nepal! We will pick you up at the international airport in Kathmandu, and bring you to your hotel 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. We will introduce you 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
Your mountain guide picks you up at your hotel early morning. Together, you take the bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara. This takes about 6 hours.
breakfast – bus – hotel
From Pokhara, we drive to Phedi in about a half an hour. This is is the starting point of our trek! Today, we trek to Pothana (1,890 m). The trail is steep until Dhampus and then it is a pleasant easy walk up to Pothana, where we will be staying in a mountain lodge for the first night.
breakfast – private vehicle – lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
From Pothana, we walk up to a place called Pitam Deurali. Here we will turn off the main Annapurna Sanctuary trekking route and continue along a quiet trail through a dense forest of oak, maple, hemlock and rhododendron.
Tonight, we stay at one of the lodges in a clearing of the forest at Forest Camp, also known by the locals as Kokar. The lodges at Kokar are quite basic and there is no dining room. So, we will probably have our meals in the kitchen with the owner. In some ways, this is more like a homestay. It is a great opportunity to get to know this friendly family from Siding village.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
From Forest Camp, the trail to Low Camp takes us through the forest. However, as we ascend, the vegetation starts to change with more rhododendron. The trees are covered with moss, lichen and tree ferns. At Low Camp, there are just 2 basic lodges. If the weather is clear, the view from Low Camp is superb, with Mount Machhapuchhre visible up the valley.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
An hour or so above Low Camp, the trail breaks out above the tree line. And towards the west we can have a good view to Annapurna South and Hiunchuli. The trail continues along the Mardi Himal ridge, mainly on grass with some isolated rhododendron bushes along the way. Look out for the colourful Danphe pheasant on this section of the trail.
The lodge at High Camp is larger than lodges at Low Camp and Forest Camp, as this one has 8 rooms and a separate dining room with heater. The view from the lodge is superb to Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre (Fishtail).
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
The plan for today is to wake up early, to see sun rise over the mountains. After that, we will have early breakfast and walk up the ridge towards Mardi Himal Base Camp.
There is a well-established trail through the grass with a couple of steeper sections, however, overall not too challenging. Look out for the dzokpo (yak/cow crossbreds) grazing up here, as well as Danphe pheasant. In the summer, sheep and goats from lower villages are brought up to graze in this area so you will pass a number of herder’s huts along the way. After about 3 hours, we will reach Base Camp (4,250 m).
From Mardi Himal Base Camp, you can look into the Annapurna Sanctuary, and the panorama view is spectacular. You can see the south face of Annapurna and all of the peaks in the Sanctuary as well, such as Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre (Fishtail).
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
On the way down, we will take a different route. From Low Camp, we follow a trail that goes down to Siding village instead of going back down to Kokar.
Siding is a traditional Nepalese village and still very much away from the busier modern tourist treks. It is a wonderful cultural experience, finding out more about village life. In the evening, we will probably eat dal bhat with the family in their kitchen.
breakfast, lunch & dinner – mountain lodge
From Siding, we will pass the villages of Kalimati and Ghalel. Kalimati is mainly a Brahmin village with Ghalel and Siding mixed Brahmin and Gurung. At Lumre we will meet our driver who drives us back to the hotel in Pokhara.
breakfast & lunch – private vehicle – hotel
We take the bus back to Kathmandu. There, we will bring you back to your hotel.
breakfast – bus – hotel
If this is 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
Together, we set a goal and we'll do everything we can to make it happen!
Govinda & Lilly tailor these sample trips to your preferences and budget.
With memories that last a lifetime!
Our guests give us 5-star ratings on Tripadvisor.
Merel L07/04/2024Best organisation to book your hike We loved our 4-day trip to the Muldai Viewpoint and Poonhill! By Mountain People suggested to do the Muldai Viewpoint combined with Poonhill in 4 days. The hike to Muldai was a climb but doable for everyone with basic condition. We walked to the Muldai top practically on our own with amazing viewpoints during the hike. From the Poonhill viewpoint there were lots of other tourist but also a little bit more comfort so we loved the combination. Especially our guide Pratap made the trip unforgetable. He knows everything about the nature, birds and animals. By Mountain People helped us with the preparation and fixed everything for us. Permits, food, overnight homestays etc. Would recomment to everyone. Was the best four days of our trip to Nepal
Angela M17/03/2024Crafting Memories with By Mountain People in Annapurna When we decided to go to Nepal for our holidays, we knew we wanted to do a trekking in the Annapurna region, but we didnt know from where to start. That's when we met Govinda, who helped us with everything related to our trip, providing a personalised proposal for the 4 days we had, giving us all the information needed, and being a reliable and helpful point of contact during our whole journey before, during and after our trek. In the end we went for the Mulde peak trek, a less crowded route that exceded all expectations. Our guide Ganesh, was the best guide we could have wished for, always with a smile he knew every little secret of the Annapurna range, explaning not only the different routes, but also about the plants & animals present in the area, and about Nepal and its traditions. He was very caring and he made our experience unforgettable. We can only recommend to do a trekking with By Mountain People, they know what they are doing, accomodation and food was included in the total price and we didn't have to worry about anything. Having a guide in the Annapurnas is really an added value, and we can't wait to be back with a little extra time to do the Annapurna circuit next time. If you're looking to get most out of your experience in the Himalayas, and for a personalised and personal approach, then By Mountain People is the right party to team up with.
Jess M07/03/2024Keep your head in the clouds but your feet on the trail. The hard miles brought big smiles on this trip with By Mountain People. They were flexible, positive, and really just a joy to be with. Made for a fun and easy trip. I continue to recommend By Mountain People to both friends and family if they have a thought of doing a trek in Nepal. Many Thank You Guys!
Sean G18/02/2024Great people for a great adventure! I can't say enough about how well everything was orchestrated. Our guide and porter were wonderful and very friendly. Nepal is a beautiful country with very friendly people. It's been a few months now and I still think of the trekking almost daily. If I ever have another opportunity to hike in Nepal, I would be blessed! Thank you Govinda!
Anouk K10/12/2023Jiri - Everest Base Camp My friend and I booked a 20+ day trek with Lily & Govinda from mid-nov to begin-dec. We loved their personal approach in arranging the trip, from preparations and choosing which trek to go for, to regular check-ins during and a great feedback/debrief session afterwards! We started from Jiri instead of the popular way of flying to Lukla. That was a great experience and an absolute recommend to start lower if you have time!
eliza b19/11/2023Magnificent slow trek and bird watching to Khopra Danda! Magnificent trek!! In October 2023 the two of us did this beautiful trek organized by BMP. It all started 6 months earlier, when I was looking for a company that would put people first in organizing treks in Nepal. What a nice coincidence when I learned that Govinda, a former language student of mine, happened to be the owner of By Mountain People, an organization that had customized and small scale treks as its core business! We had very nice and informative preparative talks about our wishes. Being almost 70 years of age, we wanted to have sufficient possibilities to adapt our journey on the way, in case the altitude would cause problems. Also we wanted to visit places off the beaten track and see something of village life on the way. Govinda suggested the Khopra Danda trek with some extra days so we could shorten the daily walking distance. This was a very good advice and he organized it very well! We met Govinda again in Kathmandu before we started out. He introduced us to our guide Pratap Gurung. Pratap was really a very excellent guide!! His knowledge of the natural surroundings and especially of the birds were truly amazing!! He was very attentive to our wellbeing and patiently answered our many questions. He taught us so much about the different species and habitats of all the birds he would point out to us. His experience made that we always felt safe and well looked after. Also we learnt that Govinda stayed regularly in contact to ensure that everything went well. Following our 2 weeks of trekking, BMP also organized an extra 4 days visit to Chitwan National Park. Here we stayed in the nice Safari Club hotel. Her also we were very happy with our guide Yadav Duwadi He is a nice and calm guide with a lot of knowledge and very attentive. We absolutely recommend this “slow trekking” by BMP! Specially for senior travellers such as us, but also for everybody who wants to fully enjoy the beauty of the Himalayas. A guide such as Pratap Gurung was perfectly suited for this type of trekking. Thank you BMP!! Thijl and Linda
Gira_sv12/09/2023Tilicho Lake and Annapurna Circuit I went on a 19-day trek on the Annapurna Circuit. I had great communication with Lily and Govinda before arriving in Nepal and throughout my trip. They shared with me all the information that I needed. Ganesh, and a porter, Nima. Both of them were incredibly kind. They literally held my hand through the toughest parts of the trek and we also had lots of fun playing cards, sharing anecdotes and trying to learn each other’s languages. The Annapurna circuit itself is incredibly beautiful and diverse. Since I arrived at the end if the monsoon season there were still some rains and landslides which made the days at lower altitudes a little tricky but once we started to ascend the weather changed and we had wonderful views of the mountains on this range and visited several Tibetan towns and Gompas. Overall, I had a great experience with them I would take a trip again with them in a heartbeat. Thanks, Ganesh, Nima, Lily, and Govinda!
Explore5828402007330/07/2023Small but super professional trekking company! Wish we could go back already! Govinda and Lilly just went above and beyond for my friend and I!! Shortly before arriving in Nepal, I started experiencing knee pain. I got so worried about the trek, but they changed our itinerary without any fuss whatsoever. They got us the most caring and knowledgeable trekking guide Ganesh. And they checked in with me frequently during the trek, to check if I was doing ok and enjoying. After the trek they even organized a very nice jungle safari to Chitwan NP for us. Their great tips and flexible attitude before and during our trip made it a HUGE succes!! Govinda and Lily thank you so much for your patience and helpful advice. I will be back for sure!Jonatan D27/02/2020Otrolig resa i Nepal Vi hade en jättebra resa i Nepal! Govinda på By Mountain People var superhjälpsam med att tillgodese våra önskemål och att skräddarsy en resplan som passade oss perfekt. Han såg till att vi fick med alla våra önskemål. Vi hann med vandring i de fantastiska bergen samt en otrolig dag med fågelsådning strax utanför Kathmandu. Jag kan verkligen rekommendera By Mountain People om du vill ha en unik upplevelse!
Gabriel G22/02/2020Father and son Nepal trek By mountain people organised an incredible trip through Gokyo Lake and EBC. Everything ran smoothly, they took care of all the little details and genuinely care about you and your experience throughout. Handled everything with a smile and extreme professionalism - can not recommend them enough! Our amazing guide Ganesh is the reason we can look back on the trek successfully, he helped us at every step and is an all round great guy - be sure to ask for Ganesh he will make your trip unforgettable I cannot wait to book again:)
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