Mohare Danda Trek from Pokhara

This shorter version begins and ends in Pokhara. We drive west along the Baglung highway, following the Modi and then the Kali Gandaki river to Galeshwar (1,170 m) near Beni, roughly three hours on mostly sealed road.

The trek starts here, and the difference from the busy Annapurna trails is obvious from the first hour — this is working farmland, not a tourist corridor. The trail crosses the Kali Gandaki and climbs gradually through terraces of millet and maize, past Magar farmhouses, bamboo groves and orange orchards.

The climb to Bans Kharka (1,450 m) is gentle, with wide views back down the Kali Gandaki valley opening up as you gain height. The lodge here is one of the community-owned lodges that make this route unusual: built and run by the village, with the income funding local schools and health services rather than an outside operator. Overnight in Bans Kharka.

A steady climb of around 800 m through farmland and forest into the heart of Magar country.

The trail ascends through terraced hillsides and scattered settlements on a good path. As you gain height the fields give way to oak and rhododendron forest, and the views open west toward Dhaulagiri (8,167 m) and south across a wide sea of foothills.

Nangi Village (2,250 m) is the highlight of the lower route. It is a Magar village that became internationally known through Mahabir Pun, who won the Magsaysay Award for bringing wireless internet to these hills. The village runs its own school, a hand-made paper workshop, greenhouses, trout ponds and a micro-hydro scheme — and the community lodge you sleep in helps fund all of it.

Spend the afternoon walking around and talking to people; it is what the trek is for. Overnight in Nangi.

The main climbing day, gaining just over 1,000 m to the highest point of the trek.

The trail climbs steeply out of Nangi through terraced fields and then into thick rhododendron forest, which carries you for most of the morning. In spring the flowering along this stretch is as good as anything on the Poon Hill trail, with the significant difference that you will almost certainly have it to yourself. Higher up the forest thins to scrub and then open ridge.

Mohare Danda (3,300 m) is a bare grassy crest with a handful of community lodges and a viewing tower. The panorama is the equal of Poon Hill's and entirely uncrowded: Dhaulagiri (8,167 m), Annapurna South, Nilgiri, Tukuche, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre across the horizon, with the Kali Gandaki gorge dropping away below. Overnight in Mohare Danda.

Be outside before dawn. Sunrise from the Mohare ridge — Dhaulagiri and the Annapurnas lighting up across an empty skyline, with nobody else on the hill — is the best moment of the trek.

After breakfast the trail follows the ridge east through rhododendron forest and open pasture, undulating with mountain views for much of the way and passing the small settlement of Chistibung.

It then traverses below the Poon Hill ridge and drops into Ghorepani (2,874 m), a busy village of blue-roofed lodges in a ridge saddle — noticeably livelier than the community lodges you have been staying in.

The afternoon is yours to rest, because tomorrow begins in the dark with the climb to Poon Hill (3,210 m) for sunrise. Overnight in Ghorepani.

A 4:30 am start for the head-torch climb to Poon Hill (3,210 m), about 45 minutes of stone steps above the village. It is Nepal's most famous viewpoint and you will share the sunrise with a crowd — Dhaulagiri, Annapurna I and Machhapuchhre catching the light in turn across the Kali Gandaki.

Back at the lodge for breakfast, then a long day joining the classic Annapurna circuit of trails for the walk out.

The trail climbs east from Ghorepani to Deurali at around 3,000 m, then contours and drops through superb old rhododendron forest — gnarled trunks, hanging moss, and the Annapurnas appearing in gaps between the branches. It descends through Banthanti to Tadapani (2,630 m), where the lodges look straight at Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre. We stop here for lunch.

From Tadapani the path descends steeply through dense forest, losing around 600 m on stone steps and roots. Keep an eye out for the Himalayan monal, Nepal's national bird, which is common along this section.

Ghandruk (2,012 m) is the largest Gurung village in the region — slate roofs stacked up the hillside, stone-paved lanes, and a small museum of Gurung life worth half an hour. Overnight in Ghandruk.

An easy final morning, descending around 940 m on a well-made stone path through terraced farmland.

The trail drops from Ghandruk through Kimche and Syauli Bazaar, following the Modi Khola downstream. The landscape returns to middle-hill Nepal — rice terraces, banana and orange trees, buffalo in the fields, and villages where the path runs straight through the middle of daily life. It is a pleasant few hours and mostly downhill.

The walking ends at Nayapul (1,070 m) where the road begins, and a vehicle takes us back along the Baglung highway to Pokhara (822 m), about ninety minutes away.

Arriving in the early afternoon leaves the rest of the day free by the lake. Six days after setting out you are back at the lakeside, having crossed a ridge at 3,300 m and slept every night in lodges owned by the villages that built them. Overnight in Pokhara.