Complete Guide to The Annapurna Circuit
18TH NOVEMBER 2019
Know Before You Go: Guide to The Annapurna Circuit
The Annapurna Circuit is the absolute classic Himalayan Trek and is by far the most popular trek in the world. The trek climbs through the subtropical jungle of the Marsygandi Valley, revealing itself gradually into Himalayan valleys with spectacular mountain views. The trail then climbs over the Thorung La Pass (5416m) and cascades down into a desert-like valley that served as an ancient Tibetan trade route. The trail offers all forms of landscape from rice paddies to jungles, deep gorges to plateaus and snow-capped peaks to shear rock walls. This guide will give you all the information you need to know before you set off on your Annapurna adventure.
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Also read: Annapurna Circuit Trek: Day by Day Guide
Trek Overview
Difficulty
Moderate
Duration
9-18+ Days
Distance
160-229 KM
Max Altitude
5416
Accommodation
Guesthouses
The Route
The Annapurna Circuit starts in Besisahar, roughly 100km east of Pokhara. The trail leads northwest up the Marsgyandi valley towards Menang, passing the Annapurna mountain range on the east. The circuit then climbs over the Thorung La Pass north of the Annapurna range and drops down into the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. The trail then leads southwards back towards Pokhara to complete the circuit. The trekking can be split into 3 distinct sections: Pokhara to Menang, Menang to Thorung La Pass, Thorung La Pass onwards. The Thorung La is the crown jewel of the circuit so many people decide to finish the trek just after here in Jomsom. Despite this, the trek can be continued all the way back to Pokhara and it is possible to verge off course to Poon Hill or even Annapurna Base Camp. If you were to finish in Jomsom, the trek can take anywhere from 9-18 days depending on how far you trek per day and where you start trekking from. Anything further than this will depend on where the trail takes you.
When to Trek?
The best times to trek on the Annapurna Circuit are from October to mid-December and from March to April. The conditions on the circuit are heavily dependent on when winter and spring decide to arrive! We completed the trek in November and had nothing but blue skies and sunshine the whole way aside from the day going over the pass, typical! The high trails don’t tend to be snow covered at this time of year but they are in March to April – this is when micro spikes may be useful - Despite this, weather will still be generally bright.
Pokhara to Menang
The trek starts by taking a bus form Pokhara to Besisahar. Buses can be booked through hotels, hostels and trekking companies and will cost around $5, leaving at 6am every day in trekking seasons. It is a far from comfortable ride packed into/onto the bus with trekkers, locals and animals alike for 5 hours along Nepal’s less than perfect roads. Once in Besisahar there are 3 options to take: trek straight away, take a local bus a short way up the valley, or a jeep as far as Menang. We decided to take the local bus to its end point (Ngadi – 13km) and trek from there. Lots of people opted to take a jeep further up the valley however if you want the true experience, get as much trekking in lower down as possible. Not only will this save you a lot money but it will help greatly with acclimatisation, and gets your legs moving on easier terrain. Once you have started to trek, reaching Menang will take around 6-8 days depending on how far up the valley you actually started trekking. Once in Menang (3500m), obligatory acclimatisation days are required; at least two nights here, maybe three.
Menang to Thorung La Pass
There's a great acclimatisation day trip from Menang up to the Ice Lake at 4600m. After acclimatisation days in Menang, elevation gain should be limited to 500m a day. The most common practice is to spend two further nights at high altitude before crossing the pass, we stayed in Yak Kharka and Thorung Phedi. From Phedi, the trail ascends steeply up and over the Thorung La gaining almost 1000m up to 5416m. It is common to alpine start your day, at around 5am, ensuring you have enough time to get over and back down the other side in good time. Most people stay in Mukintath the day after the pass and usually have a well-deserved beer to celebrate.
Thorung La Pass to Pokhara
From the Tibetan side of the pass there are multiple options to return to Pokhara. We decided on taking the bus which took some 12 hours on the bumpiest roads known to man (welcome to Nepal). Another option is to fly from Jomsom to Pokhara – this is very costly and must be booked in advance and can also be affected by bad weather. The final option is to continue trekking along the Annapurna Circuit route as far as you wish – you can even get all the way back to Pokhara on foot! Some people on our bus actually stayed a night in Tatopani – natural hot springs here make it a good overnight halt for anyone not wanting to leave the mountains but equally not wanting to trek anymore!
Permits
Permits are required for most treks in Nepal. Every trekker requires a TIMS permit and for Annapurna Treks you also need an ACAP permit. These permits cost 2000 NPR and 3000 NPR respectively and must be carried by trekkers at all times as there are multiple checkpoints along the way, as well as when you enter and leave the Annapurna Conservation Area. Permits can be obtained in both Pokhara and Kathmandu and require cash, passport and 4 ID photos as well as an insurance policy number and provider. Simply search for ‘TIMS permit office’ on google maps. If you are trekking through a guide or porter company, they will sort this out as part of the agreed price.
Guides, Porters & Navigation
Many people we passed and trekked with (including us) did not use guides or porters on the AC. The circuit is super easy to navigate alone, every turn is marked clearly by red and white way points and the whole circuit can be pre-downloaded on the maps.me app. This was our primary source of navigation, and is an excellent tool to aid the physical markers: distance and change in elevation from your current location to another (provided your phone has cellular service). Maps.me was particularly useful in the lower regions of the trek as many paths were marked heading off from the road only to make you climb steeply and spit you back onto the road. We thought these trails weren't worth the effort as they often inhibited views and drained vital time and energy on longer days. Despite this they did take you away from the dusty roads for a while. In addition to these, you will be given a trekking profile when you receive your permits, these were useful as they showed the rough time between settlements, the change in elevation/distance and the facilities available at these places – they also make a nice souvenir. Personally we don't think a guide/porter is required for anybody in good physical health with the ability to follow app based maps, provided you know the signs of altitude sickness and are mentally prepared to push yourself to keep going even when you want to give up.
Fitness Level
A base level of fitness is definitely required to complete the Annapurna Circuit but you certainly do not have to be a fitness freak at all! The trekking is fairly sustained day-to-day but the length of your days can vary to suit your choice. Anybody who is competent walking 4-5 hours a day everyday (we weren't but we still did it) would be more than able to complete the circuit. Trekking over the Thorung La Pass is hard regardless of your fitness level and is somewhat of a mental battle rather than a physical one, if you can make it to the bottom of the pass fine – you can make it over.
Equipment
As this is a ‘teahouse’ trek, no camping or cooking gear is required, cutting down on weight and a lot of prior expense. Everywhere you stay will offer blankets so a sleeping bag is not necessary, however these aren’t always the freshest of things so a personal sleeping bag may favour some. Otherwise a sleeping bag liner paired with blankets is a good idea. We carried one sleeping bag between us and it wasn’t shared (Jordan)...
Items marked * can be bought or hired cheaply (compared to UK) in Kathmandu/Pokhara – the only item we would definitely recommend bringing from home is WALKING BOOTS as the quality you will get from (mostly fake) shops can cause a lot of misery. Definitely wear them in properly before starting the trek too! We bought all of our thermals in Pokhara as well as water bottles, socks, gloves, shorts etc. Don’t be afraid to haggle in the multitude of trekking shops you will find in both cities – the clothing is all fake and they're all competing to sell their stuff!
Cost
Assuming you are already in Pokhara or Kathmandu and you have all the gear you need, the cost of trekking will depend on how many days you are planning to trek for. Pre-costs include the base cost of 5000 NPR ($45) for permits and around $5 for the bus to Besisahar. Other costs are really only food and drink: 2000 NPR ($18-22) a day will easily feed a very hungry person breakfast, lunch, dinner, some snacks and a tea stop per day – assuming no alcohol or other expenditures.
It is worth noting that in Menang there are many relatively 'luxurious' places to eat where food will set you back a bit! We also found the higher we went, the more costly food became. We budgeted 2000 NPR a day each, and splashed out on a few beers, and also went to the 'cinema' in Menang. The last thing you will have to buy is either a bus or flight back to Pokhara, flights can be booked in advance online and buses can be booked from guesthouses after the pass. As there are no cash machines from Besisahar until after the pass YOU MUST WITHDRAW ALL YOUR CASH BEFORE STARTING THE TREK, preferably in Pokhara/KTM and withdraw more than you expect to spend (~$350-400 should be plenty for 10 days). Some days you'll spend less than others, but ensure you factor in extra days to your itinerary/ budget incase you get sick, there's bad weather, you need more time to acclimatise etc.
TOP TIP: We saved loads of money using our Sawyer Mini Filter! We could fill up from streams free of charge and also had the peace of mind we weren't going to get sick from water. They're tiny filters, so perfect for travelling and the amount of filtered water you get from them is INSANE! Click here to buy yours.
Food and Accommodation
Food and accommodation is available in every village along the trek. In the lower sections of the trek (leading up to Menang), its best to stay in the larger villages as they offer more variety in guesthouses allowing you to shop around and find the warm showers! In most places if you ask (quietly) to have dinner and breakfast and have the room for free they will say yes with no questions asked – we only paid for a room in Menang (we had an en-suite room) and Thorung Phedi. Rooms are a mixture of triples, twins or doubles, if you're trekking in a group you'll be asked to share rooms as they are limited on space/ want to make sure they can fit as many customers as possible. If you haven’t bought a sleeping bag, ask the guesthouses for blankets, they have loads so don’t be afraid to ask for 2 if you’re cold!
Food on the trek is generally pretty damn good. The most common thing to eat by far is daal bhat (those t-shirts you saw in Thamel make sense now?) and is definitely the best value for money for the amount of food you can get. Your plate will be willingly, sometime forcibly, topped up with rice, daal and curry until there is none left. Curry and rice is also a good option but no top ups unfortunately. If you are ordering in a large group of people, it I courteous to order the same meal, it will all come at the same time and saves the kitchen (normally 1-2 people) making several different dishes to order.
Bread and omelette for breakfast was our go to. Lunch was usually noodle soup, chow mein and momos with a hot cup of ginger, lemon & honey tea. Snacks of crisps, energy bars, fruit (you've got to buy a Himalayan apple!) and fizzy drinks are sold in many stalls along the way; in Chame don’t miss out on the bakery which sells freshly made apple pies, cinnamon rolls and and fresh Manang Apple Juice! Look out for the snickers rolls higher up as well, a bit like a deep fried mars bar but with Tibetan bread instead of greasy batter! Water is available throughout the trek from ACAP subsidised outlets as well as bottles from shops and water from the streams.
Altitude Sickness and Acclimatisation
Altitude sickness is the main thing that stops people from completing their trekking routes throughout Nepal. Being aware of the symptoms and acclimatising properly is key to preventing serious injury or death from the high altitudes. Symptoms of altitude start to show at around 2800m, although initially the symptoms are minor (shortness of breath, longer recovery times, loss of appetite) at high altitudes symptoms worsen and can lead to AMS (acute mountain sickness), HACE (high altitude cerebral edema) and HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema). Signs of AMS include headaches, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, extreme tiredness, dizziness and disturbed sleep. These symptoms are combatted by remaining at the same height for 1-2 days with descent if symptoms do not improve or by taking Diamox (250mg/12 hrs). More severe symptoms of HACE and HAPE are: loss of balance/coordination, blurred vison, slurred speech, resting breathlessness, pink/rusty spit, blue lips/nails/face, low fever, gurgling breath, drowsiness plus all of the above. If any signs of HACE or HAPE show, IMMEDIATE descent of at least 1000m with a partner (even at night) is obligatory. Free daily altitude lectures are given by the Himalayan Rescue Team daily in Kathmandu and Menang and are worth going to!
The steady increase in altitude in the anticlockwise direction of the Annapurna Circuit means acclimatisation is naturally fitted into most people’s itinerary. A steady 6/7 days to reach Menang (3500m) with a night in Ngwala (3680m) will provide the base acclimatisation. From 3000m it is imperative that you do not stay 500m higher than you did the previous night. It is also imperative that you spend at least two nights in Menang to aid acclimatisation, when here it is a good idea to take a day trek (light bags woooo!) up to the Ice Lake at 4600m. This day trek will give you a good idea of how used to the altitude your body is, and whether you should spend another day in Menang. After Menang, two more stops before crossing the pass are required. Most people choose to stay at Thorung Phedi the night before crossing the Thorung La Pass as it is easier to sleep at its lower altitude. Once reaching here, it is a good idea to dump your bags at the guesthouse and walk up to high camp and maybe a little bit further and then descend. This helps acclimatisation, and gives you an idea of the route you will take as you'll probably start trekking in the dark. Once you are over the pass the next day you steeply drop in elevation to Mukintath but remember you are still at 3800m here so keep taking Diamox if you have been taking it.
This trek is a once in a lifetime experience for many, and a huge achievement. Enjoy yourself, stay safe and get over that pass! We hope this has helped with some of your planning, you can read our day by day guide for more on what you can expect on the trek, and some personal feelings (Jordan had quite a few strong ones) we had a long the way. It's a tough journey, but one you won't regret!
