Annapurna Circuit

Some of the main highlights of the circuit are

A. The 5416m high Thorang La Pass

Except for the danger of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), crossing 5416m high Thorang La pass is technically easy and wonderful experience. For your information, the highest hill around valley Phulchoki is only 2782m.

B. Mustang’s desert landscape

No place anywhere in Nepal resembles Mustangs’ desert Landscape which is due to the fact that it lies behind the Annapurna range which blocks the rain. This also means that travel to Mustang during monsoon is possible although the road from Beni won’t be good during that period.

C. The traditional settlements & greener landscape of Manang

While road access has modernized Mustang, Manang retains much of its traditional character thanks to absence of Road. Manang is also eye pleasingly green.

D. Wonderful Mountain view

This is of course expected of every mountain circuit. The circuit offer view of Annapurna range consisting of Annapurna, Machhapuchhre, and the blue Nirgiri among others, the Dhaulagiri Range and the Manaslu Range.

E. The wide Kali Gandaki River

The Kali Gandaki Gorgelying between the Annapurna Range &Daulagiri range theoretically happens to be the world’s deepest gorge. Although the above fact is hardly noticeable the Kali Ganadaki river valley with its very wide river bed draws attraction

F. Moderately difficult trails with good Fooding & Lodging facilities

The Annapurna Circuit is a very popular trekking route. It was opened to foreigners in 1977AD. Being popular trekking route, there are network of Hotels & Guest houses all along the main trail.

The route difficulty is moderate as the trails follow the valleys except if you intend to visit Lake Tilicho. Chances of getting lost are low. For most of the circuit, settlements can be reached in not more than 3-4 hrs.

G. Muktinath Temple

If you are religiously inclined, the journey ends at Muktinath Temple. Taking bath in 108 taps and 2 ponds in Muktinath relives you of all your sins as per the Hindu sayings.

H. The mystic Tilicho Lake

Although the Tilicho Lake doesn’t lie on the main circuit, a visit to the lake can be accommodated which adds 2 day to the whole tour. The Tilicho Lake is popularized as the highest lake at 4919m [although this claim is disputed]. The road is little difficult with narrow trials and land slide areas on the way. And fooding and lodging facilities were limited at the time of visit.

We made the journey in October which happens to be prime season with lots of trekkers. As per the local people, except from December to April when the Thorang La pass is likely to be closed by Snow, any other time is good for visit. However during monsoon, the road from Beni is usually in bad state.

The tour Itinerary is based on the travel done on October 2011. Note that this Itinerary gives you how you should travel based on our experience and not how we actually traveled. As we tend to travel faster to save time, the Itinerary tends to be the shortest you can manage so you may add a day to the schedule. The other itineraries of the circuit on Internet are usually longer than this. Those itineraries are guided treks intended for foreigners who tend to have time.

All the location name and heights are taken from the Map published by Nepal Map Publisher Pvt. Ltd

Day 1

Kathmandu to Besisahar to Syange [1100m]

The bus takes us from Kathmandu to Besidahar, the head quarter of Lamjung from where we take a local bus or jheep to Syange. The tickets are available at Gongabu Bus stop. It is a good idea to book the tickets few days earlier.

Day 2

Syange to Timang [2270m]

The trail follows the Marsyandi River through smaller settlement of Jagat, Chyamche, and Tal. Along the way, there is a place where the road literally passes through a waterfall. At Dharapani we get the first glimpse of Tibetan influenced villages with entrance marked by Chorten. Crossing the wooden bridge there is fair amount of steep climb. At the end of the day we reach Timang.

Day 3

Timang – Chame [2870m] – Humde [3280m]

From Timang it is 3 hours trek to Chame. Chame happens to be district headquarter of Manang District. Chame is a small sunny settlement, which happens to be the good place to buy goods you may have forgotten. From Chame we head on to Dhikur Pokhari from where we take a long lower road to Humde which takes around 3 hours. Unlike the previous day the road is gentle and the terrain is wide and pleasing.

[Update: The latest update suggests that a vehicular road upto Chame is being constructed. This will probably shorten the route by 1 day. The condition of the road is however unknown.]

Day 4

Humde – Manang [3540m] or Khangsar [3734m]

From Humde, it is a pleasant walk to Manang. On the way lies the unique Braga village. The landscape around the village is picturesque. The road splits at Gangapurna Lake. If you want to continue to Thorang La Pass one can move upwards and stay in Manang.

To visit Tilicho Lake we take the lower route which leads to Khangsar. But before that take a visit to Manang village, as there is a shorter route from Khangsar towards the Thorang La Pass which skips Manang village. The trek to Tilicho Lake adds 2 day to the itinerary. As said earlier, the roads are little difficult with narrow trials and land slide areas on the way.

Additional Day 1

Khangsar to Tilicho base camp [4150m]

There used to be two route but the upper route is nonexistent now due to landslide so take the lower route. It is a 5-6 hours journey to the Tilicho Base camp which passes through the landslide areas. There is a single hotel at the base camp. You can leave all the extra gears at a Hotel in Khangsar as we need to return the same way.

Additional Day 2

Tilicho Base camp – Tilicho Lake [4920m] – Khangsar[3734m]

From the base camp, it is 3-4 hours to the Lake. Towards the end, it is a steep climb to the lake which suddenly comes into view. Start the journey early in the morning to avoid the wind. The view of the lake shall surely leave you breathless and relive all the pain of the journey.

From Tilicho it is possible to reach Jomsom through Mesokanta Pass but it requires one day camping and there is no settlements on the way plus you will also skip Thorang La Pass.

After spending time in the Lake we make our return all the way to Khangsar.

Day 5

Khangsar – ThorangPhedi [4450m]

From Khangsar we head towards Yak Kharka. In between there are wooden bridge, abandoned yak sheds and high point from where the large portion of Marsyandi valley is visible. The road to Ledar passes through wide green fields.After which it is a narrow trail to Thorong Phedi.

Day 6

Crossing Thorang La Pass [5416m]

Before crossing Thorang La Pass, ask for a person who will carry all your baggage on a mule to the other side upto Muktinath. Since it’s a steep climb the price of Rs 250 per bag [2011 price] is definitely worth it.

Take only few necessary items with you. You may as well take Garlic with you. Although I’m not sure if it works for AMS, it does helps psychologically.

It is advisable to start as early as possible because of the wind which generally starts blowing after midday. Some people start around 4am in morning but 5am in morning will do which means we have to get ready before that.

It is then a steep climb to Thorang High Camp at 4590m and from there to top of Thorang La Pass [5416m]. It takes about 4-6 hours in total. It is advisable to ascendslowly to prevent AMS. And do check for the signs and symptoms of AMS, the link for which have been provided below. At the pass there is a small hotel and a monument. There are 3 adjoining lakes near the pass towards Thorang La peak that you can visit.

After that it is 3-4 hours easy but long descend to Muktinath.

You can offer your prayer, take a bath in 108 spouts, get refreshed and stay at Muktinath

Day 7

Muktinath [3760m] – Kagbeni[2800m]–Jomsom [2720m]

From Muktinath, you can reach Jomsom through Jeep. But if you aren’t tired the better option will be to trek to Jomsom through Kagbeni which looks like an oasis in a desert. From Kagbeni we can travel alongside the wide Kali Gandaki River to Jomsom. Once again start as early as possible. You may also visit and stay in Marpha, the settlement popular for apple brandy but check if seats for buses are available from here.

Day 8

Jomsom – Ghasa – Beni

Take a bus or jeep ride to Beni. The ticket counter is near bus stop in Jomsom. You have to switch the bus at Ghasa. In between there are Rupse Fall - a very large water fall and Tatopani - Hot water spring. We took a night bus to Kathmandu from Beni. You may take rest for in Pokhara.

About the Schedule

A vehicular road is being constructed upto Chame. If completed, you may even be able to save a day. The Annapurna circuit will take about 8 day at minimum based on the above schedule. If you tend to walk slowly, you can add a day to the schedule. Manang is a good point for a rest day and shall give you time to acclimatize and you can also have side treks to upper pisang and other villages.

Since we also visited Tilicholake, it took us 10 days in all

• Electricity is available in most places and since it’s not the national grid, Load shedding problems are not severe. A multi-plug to charge the gadgets will be helpful. You may be charged for charging though.
• Network towers both NTC and NCell were available randomly. Signal are weak so switching to Flight mode will keep the cell running longer
• ATMs are available at Besisahar and at Jomsom but both are unreliable as at both places they were closed due to no electricity or technical problems when we tried to used them.
• Drinking water was not a problem. We drank water directly from the streams without any problem.
• The meals [Dal, Bhat] costs higher as we go up. It was highest at Tilicho Base Camp at Rs 250
• Elsewhere below, it was generally between Rs 100-150 for plain meal
• Accommodation cost was normally not more than Rs 500 per Room and it is costlier on the Mustang side.
• We incurred in total about Rs. 8000 per person for the whole tour including transportation cost but it depends on how you travel. It is recommended to skip meat.
• All the costs are of 2011, you may consider 10% inflation rate for estimate
• As mentioned earlier, guides and going through trekking agencies are absolutely not required. You can save money and give a tip to the local people, hire a local guide midway instead of paying for the trekking agencies. All the people we met were friendly and helpful. However don’t trust them on time required to reach next point as our walking pace is slower than the locals.
• Guides are however compulsory for non Nepali Nationals. Non-Nepali trekkers require ACAP, TIMS for regular circuit and special trekking permit for Naar, Phu& Upper Mustang. Foreign trekkers are advised to take the permit in Kathmandu or Pokhara as the fee is double at checkpoints. They may check the wiki travel page for more info.

Follow the basic rule of Trekking

Take nothing but pictures.

Leave nothing but footprints

Kill nothing but time

Carry all your plastic waste like wrappers, bags and bottles with you and dispose them when you reach a settlement. Where traditional stoves or improved smokeless metal stoves are used they can be used as a fuel.

All the location name and heights are taken from the Map published by Nepal Map Publisher Pvt. Ltd

Wiki Travels Page - http://wikitravel.org/en/Annapurna_Circuit

Acute Mountain Sickness [AMS] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altitude_sickness