Annapurna Circuit Trek with Nar Phu Valley

You will arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. You will meet our representatives from The Great Adventure Treks outside the airport terminal. You will head out to your hotel with them. Our guides and representatives will also give you the relevant information about the hotel you will be staying. He will also brief you about your trek and other related information you might need during your stay in Nepal.

You will head out for a half day sightseeing tour of the capital city of Nepal- Kathmandu after having breakfast at your hotel in the morning. Kathmandu is modern as well as retains its centuries’ old culture. Modern buildings as well as temples of the medieval age can be seen in the architecture of this city, where you can find.

Today, you will reach Syange. You will go there on a 6-7 hours journey. On the way, you will first get to Pokhara. From Pokhara, you will head out to Besisahar first. Besisahar is a wonderful town that lies to the north of Pokhara. Beshishar(823 meters) is the headquarter of Lamjung. Along the way, you can also see a lot of hills, streams, and wonderful settlements.

Today, you will head out to Dharapani (1860 meters). From Syange, you will drive past deep gorges, high green hills, magnificent waterfalls, and distant peaks. Initially, you will find the drive a bit hard. This is because you will drive uphill for around an hour or so. You will also reach a ridge that offers good landscape views.

As you drive further, you will reach Chame. After crossing a bridge, you will ascend a small knoll to Tal. From Tal, the trek is a tad easy. You will also cross a suspension bridge along the way. Finally, you will reach Dharapani, which is where you will spend the night. Dharapani lies at an altitude of 1860 meters and takes about 5-6 hours of a trek from Besisahar.

Today, you will gain an altitude of 800 meters as you head out to Koto on a 5-6 hour trekking journey. As you gain altitude, you will also notice nice, gentle soft breeze. You will also see the vegetation change. The first village along the way is Bagarchhap. Typical Tibetan architecture characterizes this little village. The next village along the way is Dhanaqi, which is an apple country. As you head out further from Dhanqui, you will also notice orchards and beautiful pine forest.

The trail also gives you some delightful views of peaks like Lamjung and Annapurna II. On an uphill track, you will get to Ratamanang. Eventually, you will reach your night stop at Koto(2720 meters). Only half an hour of trek away from Chame, Koto has a wonderful ambience.

The first thing you will do after you start your trek is get your restricted area permit. You can find it at the Police Check Post. As you walk, you will reach Soti Khola River.

From there the next settlement is Dharamsala. As you walk along a few streams, forests, and beautiful landscape views, you will eventually, you will get to your overnight stop at Meta village (3560 meters). This is also set up along a Tibetan plateau. You can also see mesmerizing mountain views like Annapurna II and Lamjung Himal. In around 6 hours, you will reach Meta from Koto.

You will head out to Kyang(4100 meters) from Meta(3560 meters) on a 6 hour trekking journey. You will walk along a trekking path that is remote. First, you will trek along the northern part from Meta as you head out to Phu. You will also be lucky to see Blue sheep and Snow Leopard during today’s trekking trail. You will also walk along a few Shepard shelters as you also get to Phu Khola (stream) upstream. Finally, you will reach your overnight stop at Kyang.

Today’s walk continues on to the destination of Phu (4580 meters) on a 5-hour trek. You will take the trail along the upstream of Phu Khola. The trekking path then leads you to an open area where the valley opens after a few hours of good scenic walks on the summer grazing and pasture lands till you reach Phu village. Phu is a small village in the Manang district in Gandaki zone. It lies quite close to the Tibetan border in the northern side of Nepal.

You will use this day in order to explore and acclimatize to the wonderful destination of Phu. Not only is the culture of this place diverse, you will also notice some variations in the religious practices.

The main ethnic groups that live in Phu are the Lama, Gurung and Ghale residents. The main source of livelihood of these people is agriculture and animal husbandry. Today, you will also head out to Tashi Lhakhang Monastery.

It is one of the top 108 monasteries around the world. Karmapa Rinpoche was the person who constructed this monastery. You can also see some mesmerizing views of mountains from Phu.

You will start descending as you head to lower regions in this trek. First, you will walk uphill to Kyang and upper Cheyako. After that, you will trek nearby the trail to the river Phu that runs downstream. After trekking for 5 hours, you will reach Lower Chiyeko (3450 meters).

You will trek further downhill from Lower Cheyako. You will lose quite a bit of altitude in the first couple of hours of the trek before you get to Mahendra Pul. This bridge lies close to Naar Phedi. After trekking for a total of 5-6 hours from Lower Chiyeko, you will reach Naar(4110 meters). You will also get to see the wonderful village of Yughat as well as some Buddhist shrines on your way to Naar

After a wonderful time here at Naar, the trek initially leads you west to a small hydro project. As you walk further, you will get to a remote valley before eventually reaching Kang-la Phedi (4530 meters) for the overnight stop. The trek from Naar from Kangla Phedi is 3-4 hours long.

From Kangla Phedi, you will trek for 6-7 hours before reaching Ngawal (3660 meters). The walk continues on the slow uphill wading number of small streams. After crossing these streams, you will trek on a steep notch. After an hour of a strenuous climb, you will get some splendid views of a glacial lake nearby along with the big rock wall on the western side.

The trek then follows a steep moraine path to the bottom at 4,520m. From here, the walk gets better on the open grassland all the way to the village of Nawal or Ngawal for the overnight stop.

The trail from Ngawal to Manang offers views of the high snow capped peaks. The trail continues on a steep uphill for half an hour. After a short gradual walk leads you to the top of a ridge offering a great view of the Manang valley. Manang is a wide U-shaped valley which hangs between two lines of snow peaks.

This grand spot from a ridge offers scenic views of the valleys, Hongdre village with its short air-strip and the great peaks of Gangapurna, Annapurna II, III, Tilocho, Chuli, and Pisang. You will trek downhill from here all the way to Hongdre. From Hongdre to Manang, the trek is more or less flat. You will gain slight altitude as you near to the village of Braga and Manang. You can spend some time in Barga to visit Braga Monastery, which is the largest monastery in the district.

It has an outstanding display of statues, thangkas, and religious manuscripts. From Barga, it is only an hour walk to Manang for the overnight stop. Today you will trek for around 4-5 hours.

The trail from Manang leads to a slow climb for an hour as it offers inspiring views of the Annapurna II, Gangapurna, Tilicho, and the close-up views of Chuli peaks. The trail heads up in the barren windswept terrains with juniper bushes along the way. Eventually, you will reach the small settlements of Yak-Kharka (4310 meters) for your overnight. You can explore Yak Kharka in the evening with some gentle hikes. Today’s hike from Manang to Yak Kharka is just 3-4 hours long.

The trail from Yak Kharka to Thorong High Camp (4600 meters) is about 5-6 hours long. The trail from Yak Kharka leads to a slow climb up to reach the last settlement of Ledar.

The trail then winds up offering grand views of the Annapurna II, Gangapurna, Tilache and the close-up view of Chuli peaks. Then you will ascend as you trek along the barren windswept terrain before reaching Thorong Phedi. The trail from Thorung Phedi then depends upon your fitness. If you are fresh and the time permits, you will continue along a zig-zag track towards Upper Phedi or High Camp.

There are a few tea houses and lodges here. If you can make it to Upper Phedi or High Camp, it makes the walk easier start for the next day. It also shortens the number of trekking hours as you head towards the pass.

You will be starting your trek early after breakfast so that you can reach the top of the pass on time before the cold wind starts to blow. The trek can be quite strenuous in the beginning as you trek along a steep zig-zag path for an hour. After reaching the first ridge, the hike continues on the narrow gradual track for half hour or more till you reach a small glacial pond. There are small teahouses here. From here, another hour and a half trek leads to the top of the pass.

Finally, you will reach an altitude of 5,416 meters at Thorong-La. You can catch the best views of the northern Annapurna, Damodar, Bhrikuti and Dhaulagiri range of mountains from Thorong La. Despite the rough, steep descent from Thorong la, you can have excellent views of the Dhaulagiri 8,167 m. The descent will lead you to the sacred village of Muktinath (3800 meters). This will be the longest day in terms of trekking. You will trek 7-8 hours this day.

After reaching the bottom, there are about two or three teahouses for refreshment. After a break here, you will continue for another hour before reaching Muktinath, which is the holiest of all holy places. During Hindu & Buddhist festivals, this place is full and busy with pilgrims from all over Nepal and India.

Muktinath temple is the ultimate destination for Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. The temple is home to waterspouts where fresh water pours out channeled from the streams above the temple. After spending time at Muktinath temple, you will embark upon the trek to Jomsom.

As you trek, you can enjoy the magnificent views of Mt. Dhaulagiri. We move ahead among meadows, cross streams and hills over to Kagbeni. You will have your lunch here. Kagbeni is a village that has many memorial stupas and a small monastery. After a lunch break at Kagbeni, you will trek to Jomsom(2720 meters). The trail to Jomsom from Kagbeni cuts through windy areas on the Kali Gandaki Valley. The trekking trail from Muktinath to Jomsom is 4-5 hours long.

You will fly to Pokhara from Jomsom. The flight offers some spectacular views of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges. This 15-minute long flight takes you over the deepest gorge in the world. The warmer climate in Pokhara will definitely make us feel better. From Pokhara, you will take another flight to Kathmandu valley. This flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu will be around 25-minutes long. During this flight, you will catch the last views of mountains of the Annapurna region.

You will bid farewell to Nepal today. We hope that you had an awesome time trekking to Nar Phu valley and sightseeing in the various places you will visit along the way. Our representatives will help you reach the airport around 3 hours prior to your scheduled departure. If there are some friends of yours who are looking to trek to Nepal or if you are looking for trekking in a new destination in this country, please let us know.