Poon Hill trek with Sunrise over Annapurna Range

Namaste and welcome to the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal. Nepal is still one of the few countries in the world where you can escape from the excesses of western civilization and yet where tourist amenities are sufficiently developed for your stay to be comfortable. Outside Kathmandu, its teeming capital, Nepal is a land of remote mountain villages, whose people survive by growing their own food on the thousands of hill terraces that scale even the steepest slopes. Mechanised farming is unheard of here; the fields are ploughed by water-buffalo, the corn harvested and threshed by hand and ground by water mills. If you stay in a trekking lodge, your bread will likely as not be made from flour ground that day, your vegetables freshly harvested from the fields.

The Ghorepani trek is a colourful short foray into the Annapurna region. The trail winds through patchwork valleys, dense mossy forests and past icy waterfalls where you can stop to cool your face. Around every corner is a tantalizing glimpse of the high mountains, whole horizons of which will be revealed to you as you reach the high points of your trek.

best of trekking in Nepal. Enjoy trekking in the spectacular mountain scenery through charming villages inhabited by the Gurungs, dense rhododendron forests full of birds and deep sub-tropical valleys, all set below the Annapurnas with the picturesque fluted peak of Machhapuchhare (Fish Tail Peak) dominating the skyline. At the climax of this trek you will climb Poon Hill at dawn to enjoy one of the most spectacular mountain scapes on Earth. As the sun touches the snow-capped summits the Himalayan giants, Dhaulagiri (8,167m) and Annapurna (8,091m) along with a maze of other peaks, slowly begin to appear, like magic, before our eyes. A rewarding trek that can be enjoyed by every lover of nature and beautiful landscape.

The Trek

We depart Kathmandu on a scenic drive of approximately 8 hours to Pokhara. Along the way we will stop for lunch at Mugling, beside the Trisuli River. Our trek starts with a steep climb through thin forest and terraced fields to Dhampus and Pothana. After a short ridge walk the trail descends steeply to the Modi Khola via Thorka and Landrung. After crossing the Modi Khola by a suspension bridge the trail climbs steeply to Ghandrung and continues through thick forest of oak and rhododendron to Tadapani and its magnificent views of Annapurna South, Himchuli and Machhapuchhare. After a brief descent we continue our climb following a small river which becomes a narrow gorge to Deorali, a pass of 3080m with awesome views of the Annapurna Range, the Kali Gadanki Gorge and Dhaulagiri. From here it is only a short walk to Gorepani. After a early morning climb to Poon Hill (3193m) we will be descending to Birthanti at the Modi Khola and return by road to Pokhara.

PATAN The ancient city of Patan faces Kathmandu on the southern bank of the River Bagmati. It’s a colourful place, with Hindu temples and Buddhist monuments jostling side by side in its narrow, winding streets and unexpected squares.