Mardi Himal Trek

You arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m), where our representative meets you and drives you to your hotel in Thamel. The transfer takes twenty to forty minutes depending on traffic, and drops you in the middle of the district that has outfitted Himalayan trekkers for decades.

Once you have checked in, your guide runs the pre-trek briefing. The Mardi Himal trek is a short, steep ridge route, so we go through what that means in practice: consecutive climbing days, a high camp at 3,580 m, an early alpine start for base camp, and teahouses that are smaller and simpler than those on the Annapurna Base Camp trail. Your guide checks your kit — warm layers and a headtorch matter here — and answers questions about pacing and altitude.

The remainder of the day is yours to rest or explore Thamel's lanes. Overnight in Kathmandu.

We leave after breakfast and take the Prithvi Highway west toward Pokhara (822 m), a journey of about 200 km that fills most of the day. The road drops out of the Kathmandu Valley and then follows the Trishuli River through a long gorge, the water running green and fast below the carriageway.

It is an easy way to watch middle-hill Nepal go past: terraced fields cut into impossibly steep slopes, roadside towns stacked with produce, suspension footbridges, and rafting groups on the river. We stop for lunch at a riverside restaurant partway.

Pokhara arrives in the late afternoon. After the enclosed valleys of the drive, the openness is striking — a lakeside town at only 822 m with the Annapurna massif standing directly behind it and Machhapuchhre (6,993 m) dominating the skyline. That fishtail summit is the mountain you will walk beneath for the next four days. Overnight in Pokhara.

A short drive of about an hour takes you north-west out of Pokhara to the roadhead at Kande (1,770 m) on the Baglung highway. Boots on, and the trek starts with an immediate climb.

The trail ascends through terraced farmland and pine to Australian Camp (2,060 m), a grassy shoulder with a wide, open view across to Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre — the first proper mountain panorama of the trip and a good place to stop for tea. From there the path contours through oak and rhododendron forest to Pothana and joins the ridge that carries the rest of the trek.

A further climb through forest brings you to Pitam Deurali (2,100 m), where the Mardi Himal trail branches away from the busier Annapurna routes. From this point on you are walking the ridge itself, and the traffic drops away sharply. Overnight in a teahouse at Pitam Deurali.

Today is a forest day, and one of the most atmospheric on any trek in Nepal. From Pitam Deurali the trail turns north onto the Mardi ridge and climbs into dense, old-growth rhododendron and oak.

The canopy closes overhead almost immediately. Trunks are thick with moss and hanging lichen, the ground is soft with leaf litter, and mist moves through the trees for much of the day. There are no villages on this section and no cultivated land — just the ridge, the forest and the path. In March and April the rhododendrons flower overhead in red and pink; in autumn the light comes through in shafts. Listen for Himalayan monal and langur monkeys.

The gradient is steady rather than brutal, gaining around 500 m over the day, and the trail finishes at Forest Camp (2,600 m) — also called Kokar — a small cluster of lodges in a clearing entirely surrounded by trees. There is no view here, and that is rather the point. Overnight at Forest Camp.

The biggest climbing day of the trek, and the one where the landscape transforms. From Forest Camp the trail continues up the ridge through thinning rhododendron to Low Camp (2,970 m), where the trees suddenly fall away and Machhapuchhre appears directly ahead, close enough to see the ice detail on its face.

Above Low Camp the vegetation drops to dwarf rhododendron and juniper scrub, and then to open alpine grass. The ridge narrows and the walking becomes exposed and airy, with the Modi Khola valley dropping away to the west and the Seti valley to the east. Views widen with every hundred metres — Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Mardi Himal and the whole fluted wall of Machhapuchhre.

The final section climbs steeply to High Camp (3,580 m), a handful of simple lodges on the open ridge. You have gained nearly 1,000 m today and are sleeping high, so drink plenty and turn in early — tomorrow starts before dawn. Overnight at High Camp.

An alpine start, usually around 4:00 am, by head torch. The trail climbs the narrowing ridge above High Camp on grass and loose rock, passing the Mardi Himal View Point (4,200 m) as the sky lightens. It is cold, steep and utterly quiet.

You reach Mardi Himal Base Camp (4,500 m) for sunrise, and the reward is one of the finest close-range viewpoints in Nepal. You are standing in a high basin directly beneath the south face of Mardi Himal (5,587 m), with Machhapuchhre (6,993 m) filling the sky immediately to the east, Annapurna South (7,219 m) and Hiunchuli (6,441 m) to the west, and Annapurna I (8,091 m) visible beyond. There is very little walking anywhere that puts you this close to peaks this large.

After time at the top we descend the same ridge to High Camp for a late breakfast, then continue down to Badal Danda (3,210 m) — 'cloud hill' — an open grassy shoulder that often sits just above the cloud layer at sunset. Overnight at Badal Danda.

A long descent to finish. From Badal Danda the trail leaves the open ridge and re-enters the rhododendron forest, dropping steadily on a path that is rooty and uneven in places. You lose almost 2,000 m over the course of the day, so pace it and use poles.

Below the forest the route emerges into terraced farmland and reaches Siding Village (1,280 m), a traditional Gurung settlement of stone houses and slate roofs. Siding sees few trekkers compared with the Annapurna Base Camp villages, and the welcome is genuinely unhurried — a good place for a last cup of tea in the hills and a look at village life that has not reshaped itself around tourism.

A jeep meets us at Siding for the rough road out to Lumre and then the sealed highway back to Pokhara (822 m), arriving in the late afternoon. Overnight in Pokhara.

No early alarm today. If you are awake at dawn, the Annapurna skyline from the lakeside is worth stepping outside for — Machhapuchhre catches the light first, and you will have stood beneath it two mornings ago. A boat across Phewa Lake or a walk up to the World Peace Pagoda both fit comfortably before breakfast.

We then drive east on the Prithvi Highway back to Kathmandu (1,400 m), following the Marsyangdi and Trishuli rivers through the gorges. It is a full day with a lunch stop, arriving in the capital in the late afternoon.

After transferring to your hotel the evening is free. Thamel's shops are the obvious draw for souvenirs — pashmina, Himalayan tea, singing bowls, prayer flags — and there are plenty of good places to eat within walking distance. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your final day in Nepal. If your flight leaves later, there is time for one more corner of the Kathmandu Valley. Boudhanath Stupa is the easiest and most rewarding half-day: a vast white dome ringed by monasteries and prayer wheels, best walked clockwise with the crowd in the early morning. Pashupatinath and Swayambhunath are both close by.

Our representative will collect you from your hotel and drive you to Tribhuvan International Airport about three hours before your scheduled departure.

The Mardi Himal trek packs an extraordinary amount into a short itinerary — moss-hung rhododendron forest, an exposed alpine ridge, and a base camp at 4,500 m that puts you almost underneath Machhapuchhre. If you would like to go further next time, Annapurna Base Camp, the Annapurna Circuit and Everest Base Camp are natural next steps, and our team is glad to help you plan. Safe travels.