Annapurna with Tilicho Lake Trek

Met at Tribhuvan International Airport and transferred to your hotel. Evening welcome dinner and a full briefing. This itinerary combines the Annapurna Circuit with the side trip to Tilicho Lake at 4,919 m, so the acclimatisation plan matters more than usual and we go through it in detail.

Altitude: 1,400 m.

Guided sightseeing at Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Swayambhunath, then permits and a gear check in the afternoon, with time in Thamel for anything missing.

Walking: 3 to 4 hours of sightseeing.

West along the Prithvi Highway to Besisahar, then north up the Marsyangdi valley by jeep on a rough road that follows the river into the hills. Chamje is a small village beside a waterfall where the valley starts to narrow.

Drive: 8 to 9 hours. Altitude gain: 10 m net by vehicle.

The walking begins. The trail follows the Marsyangdi through a steep-sided gorge, crossing and recrossing the river on suspension bridges, past Tal, a village on a flat sandy riverbed that was once a lake. The valley here is subtropical and warm, with waterfalls on both walls.

Dharapani is where the Manaslu Circuit joins the Annapurna Circuit from the north.

Distance: 15 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude gain: 520 m.

Through Bagarchhap and Danaque, where the trail steepens, and up to Timang with the first view of Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world, behind you. The forest changes from subtropical to pine as you climb.

Chame is the administrative headquarters of Manang district, with a police checkpoint, shops and hot springs by the river.

Distance: 16 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude gain: 780 m.

The valley narrows dramatically. Through pine forest to Bhratang, then across to the north bank for the walk beneath the Paungda Danda, a curved rock slab rising 1,500 m straight out of the river, which is one of the most extraordinary sights on the circuit.

The last hour climbs to Pisang, with Annapurna II and IV across the valley.

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

We take the high route through Ghyaru and Ngawal rather than the valley floor. It costs an extra 400 m of climbing and two hours, and repays both: medieval stone villages on the hillside, and the whole Annapurna range across the valley from Annapurna II through Gangapurna to Tilicho Peak.

The descent runs through Braga, where the 500-year-old gompa is built into the cliff, into Manang.

Distance: 16 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude gain: 220 m net, with 400 m of climbing.

A short, gentle day that turns off the main circuit into the Khangsar valley, heading west towards Tilicho. Khangsar is the last village on this side, a small Tibetan-influenced settlement with a gompa above it.

The half day is deliberate: it is good acclimatisation and it positions you for the long walk to Tilicho Base Camp tomorrow.

Distance: 6 km. Walking: 2 to 3 hours. Altitude gain: 226 m.

The most exposed walking of the trek. Beyond the ruined Tare Gumba the trail traverses a long stretch of steep, unstable scree slopes above the Khangsar Khola, a section that requires care and steady footing; there is loose rock above and a long drop below, and it is genuinely not the place to hurry.

Tilicho Base Camp is a cluster of lodges on a shelf beneath the moraine at 4,140 m. Cold, exposed and spectacular.

Distance: 10 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude gain: 395 m.

A very early start for the 900 m climb to Tilicho Lake, one of the highest large lakes in the world at 4,919 m. The trail switchbacks up a steep moraine slope for three to four hours, and the last section is often snow-covered.

The lake sits in a bare, wind-scoured basin beneath the Grand Barrier, a 7,000 m wall of ice and rock, and it is frozen for much of the year. There is no shelter and the wind is fierce, so most groups spend twenty minutes there and start down.

Back at Base Camp by mid-afternoon.

Distance: 12 km round trip. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude: up 779 m and back down.

Back across the scree traverse in the morning when the ground is firmest, then a route over the Khangsar ridge that rejoins the main circuit trail without returning all the way to Manang.

Yak Kharka is a small cluster of lodges in open pasture with blue sheep on the slopes above. You are now well acclimatised for the pass, which is the whole advantage of doing Tilicho first.

Distance: 14 km. Walking: 4 to 5 hours. Altitude loss: 30 m net.

A short day by design. The trail climbs to Ledar, crosses the river and traverses a loose scree slope where care is needed, then climbs to Thorong Phedi at the foot of the pass.

Early dinner and an early night. Your guide will decide this afternoon whether the group sleeps here or pushes the extra hour to High Camp at 4,880 m.

Distance: 7 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Altitude gain: 310 m.

The big day. Away between 4 and 5 am by headlamp to reach the pass before the wind gets up. An hour to High Camp, then four hours of switchbacks and false summits to the prayer flags at Thorong La, 5,416 m, with the Annapurnas behind and Dhaulagiri and the Mustang desert ahead.

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

Distance: 15 km. Walking: 7 to 8 hours. Altitude: up 996 m, then down 1,656 m.

Temple visit in the morning, then the descent into the Kali Gandaki through the desert villages of Jharkot and Khingar to Kagbeni, the medieval settlement at the gateway to Upper Mustang, with its red gompa and tunnelled alleys.

From Kagbeni the trail follows the wide riverbed to Jomsom. The valley wind here is famous and blows hard from late morning, so we walk early.

Distance: 18 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude loss: 1,060 m.

An early morning flight through the Kali Gandaki gorge between Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, twenty minutes and one of the most dramatic short flights in Nepal. Flights only operate in the morning before the wind rises and are cancelled in poor visibility; if that happens we drive, which takes most of the day.

Afternoon free in Pokhara on Lakeside.

Flight: 20 minutes.

A 25-minute flight back to Kathmandu along the Himalayan chain. Afternoon free for shopping in Thamel, farewell dinner with the team in the evening.

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.