Annapurna Poon Hill Sunrise Trek

Met at Tribhuvan International Airport and transferred to your hotel. Evening welcome dinner with a briefing on the route and a gear check. Poon Hill is one of the gentlest treks in Nepal, so the briefing is short and the questions are usually about what to leave behind.

Altitude: 1,400 m.

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

Walking: 2 to 4 hours of easy sightseeing.

A 25-minute morning flight to Pokhara with the Annapurnas out of the right-hand windows, then a drive to Hile past Nayapul and Birethanti.

The walk starts with the famous stone staircase to Ulleri, roughly 3,300 steps climbing steeply through terraced fields. It is the hardest hour of the trek and it comes first. Ulleri is a Magar village on the hillside with Annapurna South appearing above the ridge behind it.

Distance: 5 km. Walking: 2 to 3 hours. Altitude gain: 550 m of steps.

A much gentler day. The trail leaves the terraces behind and enters oak and rhododendron forest, climbing steadily through Banthanti and Nangethanti with streams and waterfalls alongside.

In March and April this forest is in full flower and the whole hillside is red and pink. Ghorepani sits on the ridge at 2,850 m, and from the village itself Dhaulagiri is directly opposite across the valley.

Distance: 8 km. Walking: 4 to 5 hours. Altitude gain: 800 m.

A 4.30 am start with headlamps for the 45-minute climb to Poon Hill, the viewpoint the trek is named for. At sunrise the light moves across Dhaulagiri (8,167 m), Annapurna South, Annapurna I, Machhapuchhre, Hiunchuli and Nilgiri in sequence, a full 360 degree panorama over two of the world's great massifs. There is a tea stall at the top and it is cold enough that you will want it.

Back to Ghorepani for breakfast, then a traverse through moss-hung old-growth rhododendron forest over Deurali and down to Tadapani. Langur monkeys are common and the danphe pheasant is often seen at first light.

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

A short, easy descent 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 families here have Gurkha regiment connections going back generations.

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

A final descent on stone steps through Kimche to the road head at Nayapul, then a drive of about an hour and a half to Pokhara. The afternoon is free on Lakeside: a boat on Phewa Lake, the Peace Pagoda on the far shore, or simply a long lunch by the water.

Distance: 8 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Drive: 1.5 hours.

A 25-minute flight back to Kathmandu along the Himalayan chain. The afternoon is free for shopping in Thamel or a visit to Patan Durbar Square, 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: Chitwan, Bhutan or Tibet all combine well with this trek.