Lost Valley of the Annapurna (Nar Phu)

A 5- hour bus ride takes us to the starting point of the trek: Besisahar (900 m), the capital of Lamjung District. After lunch drive 2hrs to Syange, to avoid the crowded town of Besisahar. Also, it is a nice walk and a better way to experience village life in Syange (1130m) from the first day. Great mountain views!

Also at the beginning, we will be walking on the road till about 3 hours after that we will be walking on trail all the way up to Tal. On the way to Tak, we can see beautiful waterfalls, Beehives. Tal is the first village of Manang district. A paradise along the Marsyandi River. We can see beautiful waterfalls from the hotel. A Buddhist shrine called chorten is located in front of the waterfall and according to the villagers the shrine protects the villages from natural disasters. Tal means lake in Nepali. The village was once a lake, and therefore it is called Tal (1700 m). Hiking hours: 5

The trail is gentle on the west bank of Marsyangdi River through the trail continues crossing through a beautiful village of Dharapani, Bagarchhap and finally reach to Danaque. After Dharapani, we can see Annapurna 2nd Mountain view and Manaslu view too. Today's destination is Danagyu (2300 m). Hiking hours: 5

We continue to follow the river and reach Koto (2600 m). This village is famous. And close to the Koto village have Chame. Chame is the districts headquarter of Manang district. Many administrative offices are located in Chame. The trail continues thru pine and rhododendron forests with spectacular view of Manaslu. The lower route is faster, but is not as scenic as the higher route. Hiking hours: 5.

After Koto enter the hidden valley and Buddhist area. We walk through Juniper and pine forests and reach Meta. We will have long walk, through nice river view and waterfalls. We can see few small tea house in between Jungle and we can have lunch in there. Mostly trail is gentle. Just before Meta village, we should have to walk steep jigjag uphill around 2 hours. And then, We can see Meta village. This village is smaller than Koto. Hiking hours: 9

After Meta to Phoo, way is gradual, along the river side. We can see nice rock cliff, desert area, traditional few village Chyakhu and Kyang.In winter time, Phu village people move to Kyang to live. And Kyang to Phu its takes about 4 hours. And then we can see Phu village. This village is a very old and traditional village with a historical monastery. So better to have rest day and visit here. Hiking hours: 9

Rest and exploration day

After Phoo village to Nar phedi way is same back down more than half way. We should have to pass Chyakhu village also. After Chyakhu, two hours walk, we should have to crass very nice bridge over the Mahendra khola. And then climb steep up hill to Nar Phedi in Gumpa. In here available good room and food. Hiking hours 8

The trail is steeply uphill at the beginning, making zigzag. After steep up hill, we can see very nice chhortag and nice mountain view. And then gentle walk to Nar village after around an hour. This village is very nice and bigger than Phu. Hiking hours 4

It is long day and very nice day, hard day. The trail is slowly uphill around 3 hours after that climb steep up hill to Top around two hours. There is a beautiful view of Annapurna range. From top to Nawal steeply downhill. Hiking hours: 5

The trail out of Nawal village descends steadily down on the dusty slope with the great views of the Manang valley and Hongde airport. We are soon on relatively level terrain with trees and bushes. We pass the village of Munji and eventually reach the village of Braga, from here Manang is just 1.5 km ahead. Manang offers a fascinating mountain views of Annapurna range. The doctors of Himalaya Rescue Association provides talks on mountain sickness at 3 pm every day for trekkers. Hiking hours: 5

We now leave the Marsyangdi River and follow an easy trail to Yak Kharka (3968 m). Yak Kharka means ‘yak pastures’ and we will for sure spot many grazing yaks in this area. Hiking hours: 4

Today we climb up to Phedi (4400 m) at the foot of the Thorung La pass. We might be lucky to spot a herd of blue sheep. Afternoon stroll to a higher altitude and return to stay in Phedi for well acclimatization. After an early supper we retire to our sleeping bags – full of anticipation for the next day. Hiking hours: 5

An early rise at 04.30am. After 4 breathtaking hours we reach the Thorung La Pass (5416 m), one of the world’s highest passes. An exhilarating moment! We then start our steep-down descent to Muktinath (3800 m), a pilgrimage center for Buddhists as well as Hindus. Hiking hours: 8

Muktinath is one of the pilgrimage sites for Hindus & Buddhist – we can visit the Buddhist Gompa and the Vishnu temple of Jwala Mayi. Every year many pilgrims make a visit to Muktinath especially in spring season. Mountain on the other side such as Nilgiri, Dhaulagiri, Tukuche peach, etc can be seen. After crossing the authentic village Jharkot we can view Kagbeni (2800 m) village all the way downhill upto Eklebhatti, Kagbeni is a Tibetan-influenced settlement surrounded by a patchwork of fields and fruit trees. The trail follows the Kali Gandaki river bed from Eklebhatti. It is a relatively easy walk upto Jomsom (2730m). However, after 10:00am serious winds blow from the north making the hike difficult at times. Hiking hours : 6

Today we take an early morning flight back to Pokhara were we can spend a wonderful day relaxing and recuperating with soothing views of Fewa lake and our tales of the high mountains.