Annapurna Circuit Trek

Trek Details

Annapurna Circuit Trekking adventure program starts from Kathmandu with your arrival at the Kathmandu airport. Snowy Horizon Adventure representative will welcome you at the airport and will transfer you to your hotel. The following morning we will take your party on an amazing bus ride to Besi Sahar, the trailhead of the Annapurna Circuit Trek, first to the top of the Kathmandu Valley Rim and then along Trishuli River gorge followed by even more charming and spectacular Marsyangdi River gorge From Besi Sahar, the trailhead for the Annapurna Circuit Trek,we will take a short walk to Bhulbhule where we stay in a very comfortable and charming lodge located on the banks of Marsyangdi River.

The Annapurna Circuit Trek will start at earnest from here. We will follow Annapurna Circuit Trek along the Marsyangdi River valley through quaint villages high on the rim of the gorge with spectacular valley view from many vantage points along the way. The gorge will narrow Annapurna Circuit Trek just before Tal forming amazing cascades from Tal Lake created by enormous ancient landslide and rock fall.

From Tal the valley opens and Annapurna Circuit trek winds up through the forest to Dharapani, where it splits off to Manaslu Trek while Annapurna Circuit trek follows through Chame to Pisang, where spectacular Manang valley begins. Annapurna Circuit Trek in Manang valley affords spectacular views on Pisang Peak and some of Annapurna massif peaks including famous Grand Barrier, a massive Annapurna’s heavily glaciated shoulder, which prevented Maurice Herzog, French climber, to summit Annapurna.

Pisang Peak is a nice climbing objective for a fit trekker, and Snowy Horizon Adventure offers Pisang peak climbing services to fit trekkers as an extension to Annapurna Circuit Trekking.

Annapurna Circuit trek follows the Manag Valley through Humde, the Manag airport, with the longest Mani wall in the valley containing 100’s of prayer wheels;  We explore Braka, one of the cultural highlights of the Annapurna Circuit Trek, a spectacular Tibetan village just before Manang perched on the steep slopes and containing Buddhist monastery over 500 years old.

Manang is an interesting village at 3500m, and a perfect location for acclimatization rest on the Annapurna Circuit Trek before attempting Tilicho Lake and the Thorung  La pass crossing. You may wish to have a relaxing day to walk along the glacial lake and listen to rangers talk about AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) and how to prevent it, really useful and interesting information.

For fitter and more energetic group members we offer a day hike to spectacular Icy Lake or Millerpa cave for meditation journey a nice way to enrich your Annapurna Circuit Trek experience. Manang valley is a Buddhist area, where people practice vegetarian Buddhist diet and Manang is the only place on Annapurna Circuit Trek where you can try Yak stake; There are also coffee shops with delicious cakes and awesome espresso and all that is well deserved.

From Manang we veer off the Annapurna Circuit Trek and visit spectacular Tilicho Lake from the Tilicho Lake hotel at Shree Kharka 4100m. From Shree Kharka we crossover back to Annapurna Circuit Trek in Yak Kharka and cross the Thorung  La pass after overnight rest in Thorung  La Base Camp lodge.

The Thorung La pass 5450m is a very spectacular location with Thorung Peak towering over the pass and tremendous views on Kali Gandaki Valley and the Upper Mustang at the edge of Tibetan plateau. From the Thorung La pass Annapurna Circuit Trek descend to Muktinath, where we take another break to explore this fascinating area. We will visit 500 years old temple complex with coexisting Hindu and Buddhist temples another cultural highlight of the Annapurna Circuit Trek, where the pilgrims undertaking cleansing bath like they have been doing for centuries. We visit Buddhist temple of eternal flame, where according to Buddhist believes all their 5 sacred elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether, converge. The fire over water bubbling from the spring inside the temple is methane gas, which is flammable and the priests tends the fire ensuring that that is not extinguished. We will also visit Buddhist nun monastery, which is located on prominent undulation with stunning views of Mount Dhaulagiri and the ancient village of Chhongkhar, where life stands still like 500 years ago.  

From Muktinath we follow Annapurna Circuit Trek to Tatopani through Jharkot, Kagbeni and Marpha.

Jharkot village is an incredible place with remnants of its past grandeur and popular with Annapurna trekking and Annapurna Mountain Biking tourists due to its charm, mystique and character, strategically perched high above the Kali Gandaki, Jharkot was a seat of Kings of Upper Mustang containing ruins of 16th century castle and Buddhist monastery as well as many 200-300 years old buildings. The town is in somewhat run-down state but due to the road and tourism is in a slow revival mode.

Kagbeni located on ancient salt trading route with Tibet still imposes its importance with new and emerging Annapurna trekking and Annapurna Mountain Biking traffic. It is larger than Jharkot and its buildings are in good state and a magnificent stupa in the middle of the town contains exquisite paintings inside.

White Water Rafting:

We will leave Pokhara early morning for 2 days of white water rafting on incredibly beautiful Seti River through very steep canyons between Pokhara and Chitwan National Park.

For serious white-water rafting thrill seekers we offer a special finish to the Annapurna Full Circuit with 3 days of Kali Gandaki River rafting. This adventure option starts with bike ride from Muktinath to Beni from where we take a 3 days rafting adventure to Chitwan to relax for a couple of days on jungle safari.

Relaxing Jungle Safari:

Finally, we finish our rafting in Chitwan NP for two day jungle safari activities including elephant bathing and riding and the opportunity to close encounters with these magnificent and highly intelligent creatures. You will be able to come close to the elephant and interact with them through touch. Their dexterity, gentleness and intelligence are amazing. While riding elephants through the jungle we will hope to see rhinos, maybe Bengali tigers, dears, giant pythons and more. Rangers also arrange other activities such as nature walks, canoeing and bird watching.

Bhaktapur and Nagarkot Extension

Snowy Horizon Adventure extends Annapurna Circuit Ride adventure with a special cultural and visual preview option of Kathmandu Valley. We will offer you transfer to Bhaktapur, an exquisitely preserved enchanting medieval city, a cultural capital of Nepal and UNESCO protected significant world heritage site, a must on the trip to Nepal. Bhaktapur will enchant you, and leave you with magic memories and the wish to come back.  On the way we will visit the oldest Hindu temple in the Kathmandu Valley, the 6th century Changu Narayan complex. You will stay in the heart of the city in a charming lodge offering unforgettable view of Himalayan foothills from its rooftop restaurant.

To top that Snowy Horizon Adventure will take you for overnight in a charming hotel in Nagarkot for relaxing afternoon and incredible sunrise spectacle over Langtang range to give you a teaser preview of Langtang range a location of our top rated short adventure of Langtang Trekking.

For our Australian customers Langtang trekking presents particularly great opportunity to recharge the inner energy in a short adventure holiday in just over two weeks taking advantage of convenience of air-connections and closeness of time-zone.