Annapurna Circuit Trek – 12 Days

A member of our team will be waiting at Tribhuvan International Airport to drive you to your hotel. After the flight, take a few hours to rest and drink plenty of water.

Later your guide comes by to go through the twelve days ahead, including the Thorong La crossing, check your gear and take your passport details for the ACAP permit and TIMS card. Warm layers and good gloves matter on this trip, because the pass is above 5,400 m.

If you’re missing anything, Thamel’s shops can help this afternoon. Have an early dinner before tomorrow’s drive west.

In the morning a tourist bus takes you out of Kathmandu on the main highway west, which follows the Trishuli River through a long, green gorge. At Dumre you turn north into the valley of the Marsyangdi, the river that will lead you most of the way to the pass.

Besisahar, the headquarters of Lamjung district, is about 180 km from Kathmandu and the bus takes 6–7 hours with stops. At 760 m it’s warm, busy and full of jeeps heading up the valley.

Enjoy the hot shower and the wide menu tonight. From tomorrow, lodges get simpler as you climb.

A shared jeep takes you up the narrow Marsyangdi valley on a rough mountain road. You pass waterfalls dropping off the cliffs, the village of Tal on a wide, flat stretch of riverbed, and Dharapani, where the trail from the Manaslu Circuit joins the valley.

The 65 km to Chame take about six hours in fair weather and longer after rain, when landslides can slow the road. Expect dust, bumps and a few stops while the driver waits for traffic coming the other way.

Chame, at about 2,670 m, is the headquarters of Manang district. Pine forest covers the slopes, and on a clear evening Annapurna II shows high above the village.

Your first full walking day follows the Marsyangdi through pine forest to Bhratang, known for its apple orchards. Soon after, the valley bends around Paungda Danda, a vast curved slab of bare rock rising from the river and one of the best-known landmarks of the circuit.

The path climbs gently through more forest to Dhukur Pokhari and on to Upper Pisang (3,250 m), an old village of stone houses built up the hillside below Pisang Peak. Across the valley, Annapurna II fills the view.

This is the highest you’ve slept so far. Walk around the village in the afternoon, visit the little monastery and drink plenty.

You take the upper trail today, which is harder than the valley route but far more rewarding. A steep climb of about 400 m brings you to Ghyaru, where Annapurna II, III and IV line up across the valley in one long wall of snow and ice.

The path then traverses the hillside to Ngawal, another old village of flat-roofed stone houses, prayer flags and mani walls, before dropping gently through fields and juniper towards Braka and its old monastery.

Manang is the main town of the upper valley, with lodges, bakeries and a medical centre that specialises in altitude sickness. Gangapurna (7,455 m) and its glacier rise right above the town, and Chulu East (6,584 m) stands to the north. It’s a long day, 6–7 hours, and a good one for acclimatization.

A rest day in Manang is the most important part of the plan. You hike up in the morning and come back down to sleep, which is the safest way to get used to the height.

Your guide picks the hike to suit the group. The shorter option climbs to a viewpoint above the turquoise glacial lake below Gangapurna. The longer one climbs about 1,000 m towards the Ice Lake, at about 4,600 m, with views across the whole Annapurna range.

In the afternoon, rest, eat well and visit the altitude clinic if you have any questions about how you feel. From tomorrow you’ll be above 4,000 m for three nights.

The trail leaves the last villages behind and climbs gently through Gunsang and Yak Kharka, across yak pastures and juniper slopes. Behind you, Gangapurna and Annapurna III stay in view most of the morning.

It’s a short day by design, 4–5 hours, to give your body time to adjust. Ledar (4,200 m) is a small group of lodges in a high, grassy valley, and you’ll arrive around lunchtime.

Spend the afternoon resting and drinking plenty. A short walk above the lodges is fine, as long as you come back down to sleep.

After crossing the river on a small bridge, the path runs along a steep, loose slope high above the water. Your guide will ask you to keep moving through this section and not stop, as stones can fall from above.

You reach Thorong Phedi (4,540 m) in a few hours. From there a steep climb of about an hour takes you to Thorong High Camp (4,880 m), a group of lodges on the slope below the pass.

It’s a big jump in height, so take the climb slowly. If anyone feels unwell, your guide may keep the group at Phedi for the night instead. Eat a good dinner and get to bed early.

You leave High Camp at around 4 or 5 in the morning with headlamps on, because the wind on the pass usually gets strong a few hours after sunrise. The trail climbs steadily over moraine and, often, snow, past several rises that look like the top but aren’t.

After 2–3 hours you reach the prayer flags of the Thorong La at 5,416 m. It’s cold and windy, so take your photos and start down.

The descent to Muktinath is steep and long, more than 1,600 m, with the brown hills of Mustang ahead and Dhaulagiri on the skyline. Muktinath, at 3,762 m, is sacred to Hindus and Buddhists alike. Buddhists call it Chumig Gyatsa, “hundred waters”, for the 108 water spouts in the temple garden. It’s a 7–9 hour day.

A long ride in a shared jeep takes you down to Jomsom, the headquarters of Mustang district, and then along the Kali Gandaki, which flows between Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) on one side and Annapurna I (8,091 m) on the other. Between these two giants, the river runs more than 5,500 m below the summit of Annapurna I, which is why the gorge is often called one of the deepest in the world.

The road follows an old trade route between Tibet and India, through Tatopani and Beni, and on to Pokhara. Allow 9–10 hours, with stops.

If you’d rather fly, morning flights from Jomsom to Pokhara are possible at extra cost, weather permitting.

Your last ride is the tourist bus back to Kathmandu, about 200 km along the Trishuli valley, and it takes up most of the day.

In the evening, join us for a farewell dinner to celebrate crossing the Thorong La.

Our driver takes you to Tribhuvan International Airport after breakfast, in good time for your flight home.

If you have more time, ask us about Chitwan National Park, a Kathmandu heritage tour or the Poon Hill sunrise trek.