Annapurna Teahouse Trek — Poon Hill & Ghandruk

Overview

Runs in: March, April, October, November. Outside that window we do not sell the trip rather than run it badly.

Day by day

8 days, in the order you will walk or drive them.

1. 1Arrive Kathmandu (1,400 m)Day 1

   Met at Tribhuvan international and transferred to Thamel. Afternoon at Boudhanath — one of the largest stupas anywhere and the centre of Tibetan Kathmandu — walking the kora with the evening crowd. Kit check and briefing at the hotel, then dinner. Anything you are not carrying stays in Kathmandu.
2. 2Kathmandu to Pokhara (820 m)Day 2

   A 25-minute flight to Pokhara, or six to seven hours by road on the Prithvi Highway when the weather grounds flights — both are covered. Afternoon at Phewa Tal: a rowed boat to the Tal Barahi temple on its island, and the walk or taxi up to the World Peace Pagoda for the Annapurna wall across the water. Permits issued this evening.
3. 3Drive to Nayapul, trek to Tikhedhunga (1,540 m)Day 3

   Ninety minutes by road to the trailhead at Nayapul, then a gentle first walk along the Modi Khola through terraced fields and villages. Roughly 9 km and four hours with modest gain. Camp is a teahouse at Tikhedhunga; the Ulleri staircase is visible from the balcony, which is a mixed blessing.
4. 4Tikhedhunga to Ghorepani (2,860 m) via UlleriDay 4

   The hard day: around 3,300 stone steps up to Ulleri in the first two hours, then a long steadier climb through rhododendron forest — in flower through late March and April — to Ghorepani on its ridge. About 12 km and six to seven hours, with 1,300 m of gain. First proper mountain views from the teahouse at dusk.
5. 5Poon Hill (3,210 m) at dawn, on to TadapaniDay 5

   Head-torches at half four for the 45-minute climb to the Poon Hill viewing tower, arriving in the dark for sunrise on Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre. Back for breakfast, then a long undulating day east through moss forest to Tadapani. Around 11 km and six hours.
6. 6Tadapani to Ghandruk (1,940 m)Day 6

   A short, steep descent through rhododendron and oak to Ghandruk, the largest Gurung settlement on the trail, reached by late morning. Around 6 km and three hours. Afternoon in the village: the Gurung museum, the slate roofs and terraces, and the Annapurna face from the upper lanes. The easiest day of the trek, deliberately placed here.
7. 7Ghandruk to Nayapul, drive to PokharaDay 7

   Down the stone stairways to the river and out to the road at Nayapul, roughly 10 km and four hours, harder on the knees than the lungs. Drive back to Pokhara by mid-afternoon. Hot shower, a lake-side evening at Lakeside, and the trek dinner.
8. 8Pokhara to Kathmandu, departDay 8

   Morning flight or road transfer back to Kathmandu. Time for Pashupatinath or Patan Durbar Square if the international connection is late, then transfer to Tribhuvan. Trip ends. Note that Pokhara flights are weather-dependent — we build in the road option.

Dates and prices

Seat counts are live. A date leaves sale the moment it fills — we do not overbook and sort it out later.

What is included

Questions about this trip

Answered from this departure's own numbers. Anything not here, the desk will tell you straight.

2 reviews

Each one is linked to a booking on one of the departures above.

• Three thousand-odd stone steps in one morning, and the itinerary says so in plain language. Take it in twenty-minute blocks and you will be fine. After that the trek is comfortable — Ghandruk day is three hours and mostly downhill, and the placement of that easy day is clearly deliberate. Guide carried oxygen and checked us with an oximeter every evening.

• Eight days, four of them walking, a licensed guide, porters, permits and teahouses, and I paid less than my last domestic trek. Poon Hill at dawn with Dhaulagiri going pink is the single best mountain view I have stood in front of. No visa, rupees accepted, Hindi understood — it barely feels like going abroad until you look up.