Annapurna Circuit Trek

Met at Tribhuvan International Airport and transferred to your hotel. Evening welcome dinner with a full briefing on the route, a gear check and time for questions. The Annapurna Circuit crosses a 5,416 m pass, so we go through the acclimatisation plan carefully tonight.

Altitude: 1,400 m.

A guided day around the Kathmandu Valley's UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Swayambhunath. In the afternoon we finalise your ACAP permit and TIMS card, repack duffels to the porter limit and pick up anything missing from the gear shops in Thamel.

Walking: 2 to 3 hours of easy sightseeing.

A long but scenic drive west along the Prithvi Highway to Besisahar, then north up the Marsyangdi valley by four-wheel-drive jeep on a rough mountain road. The road has extended a long way up the circuit in recent years, which skips the hot, low section most trekkers were happy to miss anyway.

Chame is the administrative headquarters of Manang district, with a checkpoint, small shops and hot springs beside the river. First views of Lamjung Himal and Annapurna II.

Drive: 8 to 10 hours on rough road. Altitude gain: 1,310 m by vehicle.

The valley narrows dramatically today. The trail climbs through pine forest to Bhratang, then crosses to the north bank for the walk beneath the Paungda Danda, a curved rock face rising 1,500 m straight out of the river, which is one of the most striking sights on the circuit.

The last hour climbs to Pisang, where the upper village has an old gompa and a clear view of Annapurna II and IV across the valley. Your first night above 3,000 m.

Distance: 14 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude gain: 590 m.

The high route, and the best walking of the lower circuit. A steep climb of 400 m to Ghyaru, a medieval village of stone houses clinging to the hillside, then a level traverse to Ngawal with the entire range across the valley: Annapurna II, III and IV, Gangapurna and Tilicho Peak in one line.

The high route is harder than the valley floor alternative and adds two hours. It is worth both, because the acclimatisation benefit of sleeping at 3,650 m rather than 3,300 m sets you up properly for Manang, and the views are not comparable.

Distance: 11 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude gain: 350 m, with 400 m of climbing.

A shorter day that loses a little height, which is exactly what you want before a rest day. The trail descends gradually through the arid upper valley to Braga, where the 500-year-old gompa is built into the cliff and holds a striking collection of statues and thangkas. It is worth the twenty minutes.

Manang is the largest settlement on the circuit, a compact stone village with bakeries, gear shops and the last real supplies before Muktinath. Gangapurna and its glacier lake sit directly across the valley.

Distance: 8 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude: 130 m down.

A necessary rest day before the pass, and not one to spend in bed. The standard acclimatisation walk climbs to Praken Gompa above the village at around 3,950 m, or you can walk out to the Gangapurna glacier viewpoint and lake. Either is a half-day round trip that gets you high and back down to sleep.

The Himalayan Rescue Association runs a free altitude sickness talk in Manang every afternoon in season, and it is genuinely worth an hour. Manang also has a cinema showing mountaineering films and several good bakeries.

Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Climb high: 3,950 m, sleep at 3,519 m.

A short, gentle day by design. The trail leaves the tree line behind and climbs steadily through juniper scrub and open pasture, crossing a stream at Gunsang and following the Jarsang Khola north. Blue sheep graze these slopes and Himalayan griffons circle the ridges.

Yak Kharka is a small cluster of lodges at 4,110 m. Rest, drink and eat well: the next two days are the crux of the trek.

Distance: 9 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Altitude gain: 590 m.

Another deliberately short day. The trail climbs to Ledar, crosses the river and traverses an unstable scree slope where footing needs care, then climbs to Thorong Phedi, literally the foot of the hill, at 4,600 m.

Some trekkers push another hour to High Camp at 4,880 m to shorten the pass day. We usually sleep at Phedi, because sleeping lower makes for a better night and a stronger crossing, and walk the extra hour fresh in the morning. Your guide makes the final call based on how the group is going.

Distance: 7 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Altitude gain: 490 m.

The big day, and one of the longest single days in Nepalese trekking. We leave between 4 and 5 am by headlamp, both to reach the pass before the wind rises and to leave time for the long descent. The climb to High Camp takes about an hour, then it is a steady, relentless four hours of switchbacks and false summits to the prayer flags and the small teahouse at Thorong La, 5,416 m.

The view from the top runs from the Annapurnas behind you to the Dhaulagiri massif and the brown desert hills of Mustang ahead. It is cold and windy and nobody stays long.

The descent is 1,650 m and takes four hours, which is harder on the legs than the climb. Muktinath at the bottom is a pilgrimage site sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, with 108 water spouts and an eternal flame fed by natural gas.

Distance: 15 km. Walking: 8 to 9 hours. Altitude: up 816 m, then down 1,656 m.

We visit the Muktinath temple complex in the morning, then descend by jeep into the Kali Gandaki, the deepest gorge in the world measured between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri on either side. The road passes Kagbeni, the medieval village at the gateway to Upper Mustang, then Jomsom and Marpha, a whitewashed Thakali village famous for its apple orchards and brandy.

The landscape changes completely in one day: high desert, then pine forest, then subtropical valley. Tatopani means hot water, and the natural springs beside the river are the reason everyone stops here. After the pass, they are worth every rupee.

Drive: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude loss: 2,560 m.

A long, steep climb, and for many people the hardest day after the pass. The trail leaves the river at Ghara and climbs relentlessly through terraced farmland and Magar villages to Shikha, then into rhododendron forest to Ghorepani at 2,850 m.

It is 1,650 m of ascent in a single day. The compensation is the forest, which in March and April is in full flower, and the position of Ghorepani on the ridge with Dhaulagiri directly opposite.

Distance: 17 km. Walking: 7 to 8 hours. Altitude gain: 1,650 m.

A 4.30 am start for the 45-minute climb to Poon Hill, the most famous viewpoint in Nepal. At sunrise the light hits Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Annapurna I, Machhapuchhre, Hiunchuli and Nilgiri in sequence, a 360 degree panorama across two of the world's great massifs.

Back to Ghorepani for breakfast, then a beautiful traverse through moss-hung rhododendron forest, climbing over Deurali and descending to Tadapani. This is old-growth forest with langur monkeys and, if you are lucky and quiet, danphe pheasants.

Distance: 12 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude: up 360 m to Poon Hill, then down 580 m.

A short, easy last walking day, descending through forest into the terraced fields above Ghandruk. The village is the largest Gurung settlement in the Annapurna region, a steep cluster of slate-roofed stone houses with Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre filling the sky above it.

There is a small Gurung museum in the village and time in the afternoon to walk the stone lanes. Many of the men here served in Gurkha regiments, and the village is noticeably prosperous as a result.

Distance: 7 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Altitude loss: 690 m.

A jeep down the rough road from Ghandruk to Nayapul and on to Pokhara, roughly two hours. Lakeside Pokhara after two weeks on the trail feels like a different country: hot showers, restaurants, bookshops and a boat on Phewa Lake if you still have the energy. The afternoon and evening are free.

Drive: 2 to 3 hours. Altitude loss: 1,110 m.

A 25-minute flight back to Kathmandu, following the Himalayan chain with Manaslu, Ganesh Himal and the Annapurnas out of the left-hand windows on a clear morning. The afternoon is free for last-minute shopping in Thamel, and in the evening we have a farewell dinner with the team.

Flight: 25 minutes.

Transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport about three hours before your flight, or onward arrangements if you are extending your stay in Nepal, Bhutan or Tibet.