Annapurna Base Camp Trek with Mardi Himal Trek

You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m) and are met by our representative for the transfer to your hotel in Thamel.

Your guide runs the pre-trek briefing. This itinerary is the most complete way to see the Annapurna south side: it walks the Mardi Himal ridge to a base camp at 4,500 m, drops all the way down to the Modi Khola, and then climbs the gorge into the Annapurna Sanctuary. Two base camps, two very different kinds of terrain, in one trip.

That structure means the altitude profile goes up, right down and up again, which is demanding but excellent for acclimatisation. Your guide goes through the daily stages and checks your kit — you will need warm layers for two nights above 3,500 m and boots that can take a lot of stone steps. Overnight in Kathmandu.

We leave after breakfast on the Prithvi Highway, dropping out of the Kathmandu Valley and following the Trishuli River west through its gorge for most of the 200 km to Pokhara (822 m).

The drive fills the day and is consistently good to watch: terraced hillsides stacked up the valley walls, roadside towns, suspension footbridges, and rafting groups on the green water below. We stop for lunch at a riverside restaurant.

Pokhara appears in the late afternoon on the shore of Phewa Lake, with the Annapurna massif standing directly above the town. From the lakeside you can pick out almost the entire route ahead — the Mardi ridge on the right, the fishtail summit of Machhapuchhre in the centre, and the Sanctuary hidden behind it. Overnight in Pokhara.

A short drive of about an hour north-west along the Baglung highway brings you to the trailhead at Kande (1,770 m). Boots on, and the climbing starts immediately.

The trail ascends through terraced fields and pine to Australian Camp (2,060 m), a grassy shoulder with the first wide mountain view of the trip — Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre lined up across the northern skyline. It is a natural place to stop for tea.

From there the path contours through oak and rhododendron to Pothana and climbs to Pitam Deurali (2,100 m), the junction where the Mardi Himal ridge route branches away from the main Annapurna trails. Beyond this point the traffic thins out sharply and you have the ridge largely to yourself. Overnight in a teahouse.

A day inside the forest, and one of the most atmospheric stretches of walking in the Annapurna region.

From Pitam Deurali the trail turns north onto the Mardi ridge and climbs into old-growth rhododendron and oak. The canopy closes overhead within minutes and stays closed: moss on every trunk, lichen hanging in long curtains, deep leaf litter underfoot, and mist drifting through for much of the day. There are no villages, no farmland and no views — this is a completely different character from the busy Sanctuary trail you will join later in the week.

The gradient is steady rather than punishing, gaining around 500 m. Watch for langur monkeys overhead and listen for Himalayan monal in the undergrowth. The day ends at Forest Camp (2,600 m), also called Kokar, a handful of lodges in a clearing hemmed in by trees on every side. Overnight at Forest Camp.

The transformation day. From Forest Camp the trail continues up the ridge through thinning rhododendron to Low Camp (2,970 m), where the trees stop abruptly and Machhapuchhre (6,993 m) appears dead ahead — close enough to make out the ice flutings on its south face.

Above Low Camp the vegetation drops to dwarf rhododendron and juniper scrub, then to open alpine grass. The ridge narrows and the walking becomes genuinely exposed and airy, with the Modi Khola valley falling away west and the Seti valley east. The panorama widens with every hundred metres of ascent — Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Mardi Himal and the full wall of the fishtail.

A steep final pull reaches High Camp (3,580 m), a few simple lodges pitched on the open ridge with nothing above them. Nearly 1,000 m gained today, and you are sleeping high — drink plenty and get to bed early. Overnight at High Camp.

An alpine start around 4:00 am by head torch. The trail climbs the narrowing ridge above High Camp over grass and loose rock, passing the Mardi Himal View Point (4,200 m) as the sky begins to lighten. Cold, steep, and completely silent.

You reach Mardi Himal Base Camp (4,500 m) for sunrise, and it is one of the great close-range viewpoints in Nepal. The basin sits directly beneath the south face of Mardi Himal (5,587 m), with Machhapuchhre (6,993 m) immediately east, Annapurna South (7,219 m) and Hiunchuli (6,441 m) west, and Annapurna I (8,091 m) beyond. Very little walking anywhere puts you this close to peaks this size.

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

The linking day, and a long one — this is the descent that takes you off the Mardi ridge and across into the Modi Khola valley to begin the second half of the trek.

From Badal Danda the trail drops off the open ridge into rhododendron forest, losing height quickly on a rooty, uneven path. Lower down it emerges into terraced farmland and passes through Gurung settlements — Siding and Ghalel among them — where far fewer trekkers pass than on the main Annapurna trails, and village life carries on largely unaffected by them.

The route then contours west toward the Modi Khola and descends to Jhinu Danda (1,780 m). You have lost nearly 1,500 m, and the reward is directly below the village: the Jhinu hot springs, three stone pools of naturally heated water on the bank of the river, twenty minutes' walk down. Overnight in Jhinu Danda.

The Sanctuary half of the trek begins here, and the trail joins the main Annapurna Base Camp route for the first time.

From Jhinu Danda the path drops to a suspension bridge over the Modi Khola and then climbs a long flight of stone steps to Chhomrong (2,170 m). This is the last permanent Gurung village before the Sanctuary and the largest settlement you will pass — stone-paved lanes, slate roofs, bakeries, gear shops and hot showers. Its terraces look straight up the valley to Annapurna South and Hiunchuli.

Beyond Chhomrong the trail descends sharply to the Chhomrong Khola, crosses on a steel bridge, and climbs again through bamboo and rhododendron to Lower Sinuwa (2,340 m). The net height gain is modest but the up-and-down adds up, and after yesterday's long descent the legs will notice. Overnight at Lower Sinuwa.

Today the valley narrows and the trek turns properly upward. From Sinuwa the trail contours through thick forest and drops slightly into Bamboo (2,310 m), a damp green hollow where the canopy closes right over the path.

From Bamboo the climb is steady and near-continuous, following the west bank of the Modi Khola through Dovan (2,600 m) and past the small shrine set beneath a rock overhang at Himalaya, dedicated to the goddess said to guard the Sanctuary. The gorge tightens, the trees thin, and waterfalls spill directly across the trail. The stone underfoot is often wet — take it steadily.

The last section breaks out above the treeline into a corridor of bare rock and reaches Deurali (3,230 m). Nearly 900 m of ascent, and the altitude is now noticeable on the final steps. Hydrate well, eat a full dinner and sleep early. Overnight at Deurali.

The second base camp of the trip. From Deurali the trail climbs through the head of the gorge, crossing open slopes that carry avalanche risk in late winter and spring — your guide checks conditions before committing to a line.

The valley then opens dramatically at Machhapuchhre Base Camp (3,700 m), a few lodges on grass beneath the ice flutings of the fishtail. Four days ago you were looking at this same mountain from the other side, from Mardi Himal Base Camp; today you approach it from the west. We stop for tea and let the altitude settle.

The final 430 m is a gradual climb over glacial moraine and alpine meadow into the Annapurna Sanctuary, ending at Annapurna Base Camp (4,130 m) — an enclosed amphitheatre ringed by Annapurna I (8,091 m), Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Gangapurna, Tent Peak and Machhapuchhre. Sunset lights the rim peak by peak. Overnight at base camp.

Be outside before sunrise. Annapurna I catches light first while the Sanctuary floor is still in blue shadow, and over about twenty minutes the glow travels around the whole rim. Bitterly cold, and the best twenty minutes of the trip.

After breakfast the long descent begins. We retrace the meadow to Machhapuchhre Base Camp, drop back into the gorge and follow the Modi Khola down past Deurali and Himalaya. The altitude comes off fast and breathing eases noticeably within the first hour.

Continuing through Dovan, rock gives way to forest and the air turns warm and humid again. The day finishes at Bamboo (2,310 m) after more than 1,800 m of descent, almost all on uneven stone steps. Poles make a genuine difference today, particularly with two weeks of walking already in the legs. Overnight at Bamboo.

The final walking morning retraces the forest trail through Upper and Lower Sinuwa, drops to the Chhomrong Khola, and climbs the stone staircase one last time to Chhomrong (2,170 m) — the last real climb of the trek, and a short one.

From Chhomrong the path descends through terraced fields to Jhinu Danda (1,780 m). If the schedule allows, walk the twenty minutes down to the hot springs on the bank of the Modi Khola. Having now completed both the Mardi ridge and the Sanctuary, you have earned it more than most.

A jeep meets us at Jhinu Danda for the drive back down the valley to Pokhara (822 m), arriving in the late afternoon. Tonight is the celebration dinner by the lake. Overnight in Pokhara.

An unhurried morning. If you are awake at dawn, the Annapurna skyline from the lakeside is worth stepping outside for — you can now identify almost every peak on it by name and by the angle you saw it from.

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

After transferring to your hotel the evening is free. Thamel is a few minutes away for last-minute shopping — pashmina, singing bowls, Himalayan tea and prayer flags are all within easy reach. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your final day in Nepal. If your flight is later in the day there is time for one more part of the Kathmandu Valley — Boudhanath Stupa, Pashupatinath Temple and Swayambhunath are all a short drive away and each worth an hour.

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

Over fourteen days this itinerary has covered both sides of the same massif — the quiet, forested Mardi Himal ridge to a base camp at 4,500 m, and the busy, dramatic gorge into the Annapurna Sanctuary at 4,130 m. Very few trips let you stand beneath Machhapuchhre from two completely different directions in one week. If you would like to return, the Annapurna Circuit and Everest Base Camp are the natural next steps. Safe travels.