Annapurna Base Camp Trek Overview

Annapurna Base Camp Trek is not only one of the most popular treks in Nepal but it also regarded as one of the best treks in the world. The trek takes you through various landscapes that makes every day a new and interesting journey. One of the highlight of the trek is the beautiful Fish Tail Mountain or Machapuchare in Nepali, that stays in view almost throughout the trek. The beautiful mountain that is shaped like the tail of a fish (from which its name comes from) becomes more beautiful the closer you reach towards the base camp and you will never be tired of taking its picture through the trek. Still the cheery on top is the panoramic view of Annapurna Range from Annapurna Base Camp with almost 360 view of mountains of all sides. These includes view of Machapuchare, Hiunchuli, Annapurna I, Annapurna II, Gangapurna and Annapurna III.

The trek starts from Nayapul which is around 2 hours drive from Pokhara (2nd Biggest city of Nepal and the adventure capital). For the first half of the day we will walk in gravelled road. Currently the road is being black-pitched which will make this part accessible from normal vehicle, while currently it is accessible only by off road vehicle. From here we will leave the vehicle road and take the trekking route with our destination being Ghandruk. Ghandruk is a big village of Gurung ethnic community. Here you can witness the Gurung Culture and also witness amazing view of Annapurna Range. Currently Ghandruk is also a famous destination for Local tourist. The village sees large number of local tourist visiting especially on Friday and Saturday. So it might be wise to book room in advance if you're planning to visit Grandruk during weekends.

From Ghandruk we make our journey towards Sinuwa, which will be the destination for the day. Today’s journey will pass through forest and rivers. There will be lots of uphill and downhill trek with a long day of trek which makes today’s trek one of the challenging day. You will also pass through Chumrung which is the largest village after Ghandruk. While passing through the forest you might witness various species of birds and few animals such as monkeys. Sinuwa is divided into 2 parts, upper and lower Sinuwa. Where you stay for the night will depend on your walking pace as Upper Sinuwa in 1 hour further from Lower Sinuwa. Accommodation in Sinuwa will be normal trekking lodge with the option for hot water shower as well for extra price.

Next day we made our journey from Sinuwa to Deurali. The first part of the trek consists of walking through dense forest. This part of the trek is especially exciting for bird watchers as you can see various species of bird and also some animals. We will pass through Bamboo village, many small rivers with crystal clear water and than stop at Himalaya for Lunch. After lunch we will continue walking for few hours and then reach Deurali. On the way we can also witness beautiful view of waterfall and once we get closer to Deurali the forest terrain will start to end and the Alpine terrain will welcome you.

From Deurali we make our way to Annapurna Base Camp. Today’s jouney is the most interesting as we will complete our goal of reaching Annapurna Base Camp and also because today’s journey offers the most beautiful landscape view. Almost every second of the journey is picturesque. We will stop at Machhapucchare Base Camp for lunch. Machhapuchhare Base Camp is without the doubt the best lunch stop during the whole trek due the amazing Panoramic view of mountains that can be witnessed from here. From Lunch we will continue our trek and after 2-3 hours of walking we will reach our destination of Annapurna Base Camp. The journey from Machhapuchhare Base Camp to Annapurna Base Camp is the most photogenic part the of the trek. Walking in this trail is a total bliss with amazing 360 degree view of Annapurna Range. During the night in Annapurna Base Camp i would highly recommend to wake up sometime in the middle of the night in order to witness the stars and mountains in the night light. The view is one of the highlight of the trek and a dream landscape of night photography.

Next day we woke up early to go to the edge of Annapurna Base Camp to witness the sunrise. It was definitely a very cool morning but the wait was worth it seeing the morning rays of sun slowly touch the top of Annapurna and slowly come down till the whole mountain is shinning golden. It was a moment to cherish and it makes your whole journey to the base camp worth it. After taking in the view and talking hundreds of pictures we have our break and make our journey back to home. Today’s destination is Chhomrong. This a long downhill trek, which can be challenging for people who have difficulty walking. If you have difficulty walking then you should walk up-to Bamboo. We made our long trek up-to Chhomrong and i can say it was the toughest as walking downhill for a long distance will cause a lot of pain in your legs. Let's just say it took a few days for the pain to go away.

Today our destination will be Pokhara making it the last day of our trek. Even though its the last day of the trek it is still an interesting day as well as we stop in Jhinu. The stop is special is we leave our bags in a lodge and head down 20 mins to the river to be welcomed by natural Hot Spring pool. After walking for the last few days, nothing beats relaxing in the hot springs which naturally heals your body. After relaxing in the hot spring for more than an hour we head back to Jhinu for lunch. Then we continue our journey. Less than an hour walk from Jhinu we reach a Suspension Bridge. We cross many bridges on the trek but the Jhinu bridge is special as it is 278m long, making it one of the longest suspension bridge in Nepal. It is quite fun and thrilling to cross the bridge and watch the river flow around a few hundred meters below it. After crossing the bridge our vehicle was waiting for us that took us to Pokhara. We reached Pokhara around 7-8 pm and headed to Lakeside for dinner and drinks to celebrate the completion of our amazing trek to Annapurna Base Camp.