Upon your arrival at Kathmandu airport, one of our representatives will greet you and assist you to reach the hotel. You will be served with welcome dinner with a Nepali cultural show. Few discussions about the entire travel plan during dinner. Overnight stay in hotel.
Kathmandu valley comprises unique traditions and culture with beautiful world heritage sites. Within the valley, there are six world heritage sites: Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swoyambhunath, Bouddhanath, Pashupatinath, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, and Patan Durbar square. You have choices among these heritage sites to visit in a day tour. Patan Durbar square, Swoyambhunath, and Bouddhanath can be visited or you can think of the organic town Bhaktapur and Pashupatinath one of the greatest temples of Hinduism. Even Kathmandu Durbar square can be visited during the evening time or in the morning time.
Note: You have the option to select the Kathmandu City sightseeing tour along with your trekking plan which is included to arrange the necessary permits for trekking.
We drive from Kathmandu to Besisahar in a tourist coach or can use a private jeep/car. We arrange an off-road jeep in Besisahar to drive up to Chame. We drive along the bank of the Trisuli river following the Prithivi Highway up to Dumre Bazar of Tanahu district. We reach Besisahar and take lunch. During lunch, we will transfer our luggage to the jeep and drive to Chame- the headquarters of Manang district. While driving from Kathmandu, you will get to see the terraced farms, traditional villages, and Ganesh & Manaslu snow peaks. We need to enter our entry permits at Dharapani to trek in the Annapurna circuit.
Today, we formally start to trek from Chame to Pisang. We walked into a steep and narrow valley. By seeing the beautiful Himalayan range, we continuously climb to the upper Pisang. From the trekking trails, we also see stunning views of Annapurna II in the south and Pisang Peak in the northeast. Then our path descends taking us to the Manang Valley into the Pisang village. Overnight, stay at a lodge/tea house.
Today we trek for 7 to 8 hours to reach Braga monastery. It is one of the toughest days in terms of distance and a tough trek with high challenges. The Annapurna circuit trek rewards us with a splendid view throughout the trek. We start to trek from Lower Pisang to Chyaru, Ghyaru to Ngawal, and Ngawal to Braga monastery. We trek from Lower Pisang to Ghyaru which takes 2 hours. We pass through mani walls inscribed with Mantras while trekking to Ghyaru. We halt for a few minutes to capture the stunning views and take a rest too. Now we trek to Ngawal from Ghyaru within thirty-five minutes. We will have lunch over there. Then after, we trek to Braga monastery and stay overnight there. Braga is a beautiful village with having beautiful monastery. We explore monasteries around Braga village and stay overnight there.
After breakfast, we start to trek to ice lake, The ice lake is almost frozen around the year. The lake is located at 4620m and is accessed by trekking from Manang also. We explore around ice lake and have lunch over there if possible otherwise we will take pack lunch at ice lake. After lunch, we trek to the headquarters of Manang for acclimatization for further adaptation and easy completion of the Annapurna circuit trekking.
Manang is a beautiful mountain district of Nepal located on the outskirts of the Annapurna Himalayan range. The number of monasteries and wild animals like Snow leopards, Pallas’s cat(Manual), blue sheep, and many other wild animals can observe during the acclimatization day. However, we will remain busy throughout the day exploring Manang village. In the morning, we will visit Gangapurna Lakes, and spend the rest of the day soaking in the magnificent views of Annapurna III, Tilicho, Pisang, and Chulu Peaks. We try to become busy up to late afternoon and then we rest in the lodge and enjoy the evening.
We wake in the morning after one more day's rest in Manang. Today, we trek to Yak Kharka. After breakfast, first, we cross a small stream and hike to Tenki village. The route gradually ascends as we move north. During spring, we can see hundreds of yaks grazing on pasture land as we cross juniper forests and a number of pastures. In between Manang and Yak Kharka, we can see several yak and horse pastures. During trekking, we will see houses with mud roofs in Gunsan village, as this area belongs to the rain shadow area. Finally, we reach yak kharka, after crossing a wooden bridge in a small river.
We are one step nearer to crossing the popular pass Thorong la pass(5416m) as we trek to Throng Phedi today from Yak Kharka. Only a few lodges are available around Thorong Phedi. After breakfast, we start to trek from Yak Kharka, we will climb up to a ridge, then head down and cross the Marsyangdi river on a wooden bridge. After climbing up the mountain, we walk on a narrow trail across a slope and down to Thorong Phedi.
Today, we wake up early in the morning and get ready to cross the highest pass of Annapurna circuit- Thorong La pass. This is one of the challenging parts of trekking as we are crossing 5416m almost 1000m high from where we stayed the earlier night. During crossing Thorong la pass, the magnificent Himalayan ranges on the Tibetan and Annapurna range in Nepal sides can view. We descend to Muktinath temple which is the pilgrimage site of Hindus and Buddhists. Muktinath Temple is known for 108 stone taps with flowing water. You can also see the eternal flame that has been burning there for more than 2,000 years. Overnight stay around Muktinath temple.
We explore Muktinath in the morning and then we drive to Jomsom in a local bus/ jeep and checked in to the hotel. We start to walk to explore Marpha village and Apple garden. During our visit, we may explore the wine factory too. Kaligandaki gorge is the deepest gorge in the world where we are exploring different cultures and traditions. After, lunch, if we like to relax for an hour, we travel to Tatopani for hot spring bathing which is very beneficial for health too. Drive back to Jomsom, Enjoy an evening in the hotel.
One can fly to Pokhara directly from Jomsom airport. It is only 20 minute flight. You can enjoy and rest at Pokhara. Even you can explore a different corner of Pokhara city. You can do cycling around Pokhara city if you wish.
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One can drive to Pokhara from Jomsom which takes almost (8 hrs) depending on road conditions.
This is an additional day in Pokhara city for further exploration and relaxation. The tough trekking rest can be blissful on the lakeside of Pokhara. Or you can stroll around Pame town for a 1-3 hour walk. In the evening you can enjoy yourself in the Pub or in the club.
We drive to Kathmandu in the morning after breakfast or we may fly to Kathmandu which helps us to arrange our luggage and shopping if we like to do it in Kathmandu.
Note: You can also fly to Kathmandu from Pokhara.
Finally, we assist you to reach the international airport 3 hours before your scheduled flight. Wishing you a wonderful flight.