Annapurna Photography Tour

You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m), where our representative meets you outside the arrivals hall with a name board and drives you to your hotel in Thamel.

Your guide meets you at the hotel in the early evening to go through the week, check your equipment and bags for the two lodge nights, and confirm the time of the morning flight.

If you arrive with daylight to spare, the lanes of Thamel and the market at Ason are ten minutes away on foot and make an easy first hour with a camera. Overnight in Kathmandu.

A morning flight of twenty-five minutes takes you west to Pokhara (822 m). Ask for a seat on the right-hand side: the aircraft runs parallel to the Himalaya the whole way, and Ganesh Himal, Manaslu and the Annapurnas pass the window in turn.

After checking in beside the lake the middle of the day is free. Pokhara's lakeside is easy to explore on foot, and the guide will walk you round the places that work for the evening.

The late afternoon is on Phewa Lake in a rowing boat — the painted wooden boats drawn up along the shore, the island temple of Tal Barahi, fishermen with hand nets and the sun going down behind the western ridge. Overnight in Pokhara.

You leave in the dark for Sarangkot (1,592 m). The first light lands on Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) far to the west and moves east along Annapurna South and Hiunchuli to Machhapuchhre, with the lake and the town under mist below.

After breakfast a private jeep drives up the Modi Khola valley, about three hours through Nayapul and Birethanti and then steeply up a hill road to the edge of Ghandruk (1,940 m), one of the largest Gurung villages in Nepal.

The afternoon is on foot in the village: slate roofs stepping down the hillside, stone-paved lanes, women weaving on verandas and the small Gurung museum. As the sun drops, Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre catch the last light directly above the rooftops. Overnight at a lodge in Ghandruk.

Sunrise from the top of Ghandruk is the closest view of the trip: Annapurna South (7,219 m) and Hiunchuli fill the head of the valley and the fishtail of Machhapuchhre stands to the right, lit from the side. The village wakes beneath it — smoke from the kitchens, mule trains on the lanes.

After breakfast the jeep takes you back down the valley and round to Kande, about two and a half hours. From there a stone-stepped trail climbs through oak and rhododendron forest for an hour to an hour and a half, with a porter carrying the overnight bags.

Australian Camp (2,060 m) is a grassy clearing on the ridge with the range laid out in a single line from Annapurna South to Lamjung Himal. Sunset is from the lodge door. Overnight at a lodge at Australian Camp.

You are already standing at the viewpoint when the light arrives, which is the reason for sleeping up here. The panorama runs from Annapurna South and Hiunchuli through Machhapuchhre to Annapurna IV, Annapurna II and Lamjung Himal, and on a cold morning the valleys below are filled with cloud.

After breakfast the trail descends gently for about an hour and a half through forest and terraced fields to Dhampus (1,650 m), a Gurung village strung along a ridge with the mountains behind every farmhouse.

The vehicle meets you there for the hour's drive back to Pokhara. In the late afternoon you cross the lake and climb to the World Peace Pagoda for sunset on the Annapurnas above the water. Overnight in Pokhara.

A last early start, this time only as far as the lakeshore. In the still air before sunrise Machhapuchhre and the Annapurnas reflect in Phewa Lake, with the first boats pushing out across the picture; the reflection goes with the first breeze, usually within an hour.

After breakfast you fly back to Kathmandu (1,400 m) — the mountains are on the left-hand side this time — and check in to your hotel.

The late afternoon is at Boudhanath, the great white stupa at the centre of Kathmandu's Tibetan community. You walk the kora with the evening crowd and stay through the blue hour, when the butter lamps are lit and the dome is floodlit against the sky. Overnight in Kathmandu.

The morning is free for a last walk through the markets of Ason and Indra Chowk, or simply for packing equipment properly for the flight home.

We collect you from your hotel three hours before your flight and drive you to Tribhuvan International Airport, where our representative sees you through to the check-in counters.

Carry cameras, lenses, cards and drives in your hand luggage rather than the hold, and keep lithium batteries with you — the airlines require it and it is the only sensible way to travel with a trip's worth of pictures.