My Annapurna Circuit Diary
From sunrise to sunset each day, this was my experience on the trek. It wasn’t always pretty (or fun) but it was one of rewarding experiences of my life.
Arrival day in Kathmandu
We arrived in Kathmandu from Istanbul at 6:30am. Unbeknownst to us, this is the only flight in from Europe each day, so there are TONS of taxis, tour guides, etc waiting for you outside 
the airport. Our hotel, The Dom Himalaya, had emailed us that a driver would be there to pick us up.. but after 20 minutes of standing around it was clear that no one was there for us and we were becoming very overwhelmed with all the taxi drivers hounding us. A tour operator named Summit approached us and offered to call our hotel. He nonchalantly informed us it is quite common for hotels to promise to pick you up but then not actually come. The hotel desk told Summit to put us in a taxi and they would pay the taxi upon our arrival to the hotel.
During this time, we were chatting with Summit who was talking to us about our trekking plans- we were a little standoffish, as we knew he was probably trying to sell us something, but either way, we agreed to meet him at 11am at our hotel to hear about what services his company offered. He mentioned several times that if we organized our trek through the hotel, they would overcharge.
After checking in to The Dom Himalaya, we spoke with the travel organizer who quoted us prices. He was very salesman-esque and condescending, which we did not appreciate. We told him we planned to meet with Summit at 11am to get another quote and he told us that men like Summit were not trustworthy, and may be cheaper but “you get what you pay for”. Over lunch, we decided to choose Summit based on the fact that his prices were slightly more affordable.. and- bottom line- he was just more likable.
After making our decision, Summit had us get photos taken for 
our trekking permits (standard passport photos are too large), we then had to give Summit our passports which made us uncomfortable, but as we slowly learned, Nepalese tourism is strictly monitored and there are very harsh punishments for anyone who breaks the law. We laid out our tentative timeline with Summit at his office- where we wanted to start and how many days we wanted to trek. We agreed to meet that evening at our hotel, and he would bring our porter-com-guide for us to get to know. (See #9 here for more on porters/guides)
Meanwhile we went to Shona’s to pick up our missing hiking supplies (see my list of items bought in Kathmandu). We also tried a local brew from Sherpa 
Brewing which was pretty good.
We met Summit, and our guide, Deepak, at our hotel that evening. We gave Summit 50% of deposit for 1) private car ride the next morning to Besisahar 2) shared jeep from Besisahar to Chyamche 3) 10 days of guidance from Deepak. We agreed to be picked up at 7am the next morning.
We slept well at The Dom Himalaya, it is close to a lot of the action but tucked off of the main street with minimal noise.
Kathmandu to Chyamche
In the morning we ate a so-so complimentary breakfast with a few other trekkers. We gave our extra luggage to the front desk to store for us until our return. This is a very common free service offered by nearly every hotel in Kathmandu. We chose to take our passports with us on the trek but left other price-y items like extra cash, i-Pad, etc in our luggage at the hotel. We were warned to take all food out of our luggage because rats can get into their storage area.
Our driver and Deepak arrived on time, and we loaded up to hit the road. It is a 6 hour drive from Kathmandu to Besisahar. The roads… are not great (read: bad). If you get motion sickness, I would plan on taking a dramamine. As we approached Besisahar, the paved road quickly ended and you arrive in a dusty, busy little town. This is a main jumping off point for the trek. After some waiting around we were 
ushered into a white jeep … with about a dozen other people. (Three people in the front seat, four people in the back seat, and about 5 Nepalis in the bed of the jeep).
It was a very uncomfortable 3 hour jeep ride (although beautiful) to Chyamche. By the time we disembarked the jeep, I was exhausted, felt ache-y all over.. which was horrifying since I hadn’t started hiking yet!
We stayed at Tea House Lhasa in Chyamche. This is your standard tea house. Basic rooms with no amenities, communal bathrooms. Decent food. We tried Dhal Baat for the first time here.
Day 1 of trekking: Chyamche –> tea in Tal –> Khoto for lunch –> Bagarchhap
The next morning we set off for Bagarchhap at 7am. Within 15 minutes of starting our hike you have to cross a suspension bridge with a roaring river underneath. I was immediately questioning what I had gotten myself into… After the bridge there is a series of pretty steep, long inclines. I (again) was doubting whether I had the physical and mental capacity to do this for several hours each day. However, as we descending into Tal a little
while later, you see a beautiful village on the banks of the river. We stopped in town at Father and Son Hotel for a break. I tried Masala Tea for the first time and immediately fell in love (it’s similar to Chai Tea). Tal is truly worth stopping in, whether for tea, lunch or to stay the night.
We continued on to Khatre (Khoto) for lunch. I was feeling overwhelmed once again but a large plate of noodles did help to remedy the situation a bit. We had the “Veg Egg Fried Noodles” and it really hit the spot. We arrived in 
Bagarchhap around 1:30pm, at that point we had traveled 10.5 miles and gone up the equivalent of 225 flights of stairs. After we checked into the Marysandi Tea House, I laid down and cried- I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into! After about 20 minutes, I felt better and was ready to go sit in the tea house, play cards, eat dinner and try some local beer (very sour!). We placed our breakfast orders before going to bed (this would help expedite service in the mornings). I slept like a rock that night.
Day 2: Bagarchhap –> tea in Temang –> Chame
We had breakfast at 6:30am (I had just eggs because I was trying to be low carb…), settled our bill and were on the trail by 7am. That morning we crossed over a waterfall and then had a very beautiful walk through the woods before stopping for tea at Oasis Tea House in Temang. I really enjoyed this colorful little village tucked among the trees. We had our tea on the roof deck and I was so hungry from my “low carb” breakfast, that I had a bowl of porridge with apples. I was quickly learning that your food is your fuel, and you’re going to need A LOT of it to get through this trek. Temang 
felt like I was in an alpine village with the mountains circling around us. I would highly recommend stopping here for tea or lunch.
We continued on to Chame, arriving around 12:30pm. We stayed at the Royal Garden, which was one of the nicer tea houses- for $10/night your room will have an attached bathroom with (hot!) shower. Chame is a bigger village and a good place to buy whatever you have forgotten (we mainly bought chocolate). We had planned to go to one of the “banks” here, however all of them were closed even though their hours said they should be open. The hot springs are a short walk from town, we had contemplated going in but when we arrived they were full of townspeople and some women were doing laundry so we just took pictures and left. We spent the evening sharing a beer and playing cards. This was the last location where WiFi worked until the other side of the pass.
Day 3: Chame –> tea in the woods –> Upper Pisang
We had breakfast at 6:30am and were out the door by 7am. We were generally up slightly earlier than other trekkers but enjoyed having the trail to ourselves. We went through Bhratang which is home to the fanciest tea house on the trek and is surrounded by apple orchards. It is $50/night but it is mostly targeted towards Nepalese and Indian tourists more so than trekkers. We stopped in to take photos and buy an apple muffin before continuing 
onward past the carved rocks to a “tea house” in the woods. It is more of a rest area to buy tea and snacks than an actual building (so if you have to pee (like me), you’ll be doing that in the woods).
We continued on to Upper Pisang, arriving around 11:30am. Our tea house for the night was Trick Horse Distension Hotel (we *think* it was supposed to be Trick Horse Destination Hotel). The shower here was hot and steamy, which was really nice since Upper Pisang is cold and windy. This was the first time I tried Ginger Lemon Honey tea, which is phenomenal.
This was also the first time that someone at our tea house began showing symptoms of altitude sickness and chose to return to Lower Pisang to sleep. If possible, sleeping in Upper Pisang is the better option for acclimatization. Either way, seeing him feeling ill from the altitude was an eye-opener and made the experience a lot more real (and scary). Each day moving forward, we would see anywhere from 2-4 helicopters flying overhead, evacuating people from the mountain.
Day 4: Upper Pisang —> tea in Ghyaru –> lunch in Ngawal –> Braka
We left Upper Pisang at 7am. This was our first truly cold morning 
so Deepak took us in the kitchen to warm our fingers by the fire before hitting the trail. After Upper Pisang you very quickly begin the long ascent into Ghyaru. It is a long, difficult climb and you will need to stop several times. We arrived in Ghyaru at 9am and were the first trekkers up the hillside that day. We were rewarded with some spectacular views. I thought Ghyaru was one of the most beautiful towns on the trek- it is worth stopping for some tea and (delicious) samosas. Thankfully after Ghyaru the trek is mostly flat/downhill.
Side story: you will look down upon the village of Humde on the descent from Ghyaru. The older local men LOVE to laugh about the Humde Airport. Apparently, the locals were convinced to permit the airport construction, led to believe it would increase tourism in their village. Unfortunately, almost no flights come or go from Humde. We couldn’t help but smile as the old men were CRACKING up slapping their knees “Humde Airport- No planes! hahahahaha”
We continued on to Ngawal and arrived at 11:30am for lunch. At this point on the trek, it began to feel like a bit of a rat race as it became clear most trekkers were aiming to get to Manang for the night. In Ngawal, we had lunch in a sunny restaurant tucked inside the city walls called
Tibet Guest House. It is across from a small Buddhist Gompa. Garan tried Thukpa for the first time, it is a hot noodle soup. Right before we arrived in Braka, there was a vendor selling yak cheese and Seabuckhorn berry juice! The juice is bright orange and very sweet, almost like a tangerine. Deepak recommended to stay in Braka because it is less busy, and in his opinion (and mine), more beautiful than Manang. (It is also closer if you are planning to go to Tilicho Lake the next day).
We stayed at the Buddha Hotel which was lovely and offered a variety of new foods we hadn’t seen previously, burgers, sandwiches, CINNAMON ROLLS. The chef at Buddha Hotel had formerly worked in a french restaurant and was well-known for bringing his baking skills to Braka/Manang.
I also wanted to buy a warmer hat and gloves but, unfortunately, Braka was too small for that and we ended up walking to Manang to make these purchases. (Funny side story: at the store in Manang, I left my sunglasses on a shelf but didn’t realize this until we were back in Braka. Deepak had our hotel contact the store and they confirmed they still had my sunglasses. Since the sun was setting and it was getting dark, the hotel owner, who was also the former mayor of Braka, drove me to Manang on his motorbike to pick up my sunnies!)
Day 5: “Rest day” in Braka –> hike to Milarepa Cave
We chose not to hike to Tilicho Lake because I was finally starting to feel pretty good and Deepak had cautioned us that, although the lake is extremely beautiful, it is an intense hike to get there. I was nervous about “overdoing it” so we chose a more active rest- the hike to Milarepa Cave. We woke up in Braka in good spirits, the sun was shining, no wind, and you could hear the yak’s bells out in the field as they grazed. You actually have to walk through the field with all the yak to get to Milarepa Cave, which thrilled me. (I spent a lot of the hike insisting that all of the wild animals were “adorable” and “we should get one” and Garan kept reminding me they could kill me.)
The hike to Milarepa Cave takes about 2 hours up and 1 hour to get down. We didn’t see any other trekkers this day- I am not sure if everyone else chose to go to Tilicho Lake or just sleep. It was an pleasant hike- a bit challenging but not grueling. At the top you will find a small monastery- Deepak told us that a monk does live there although we didn’t see anyone. The cave itself isn’t that exciting as you cannot go into the cave but the views and serenity themselves were worth the effort. We had brought along our yak cheese and a cinnamon roll for a snack and enjoyed the view.
Day 6: Braka –> Yak Karka
I woke up not feeling great which was a real surprise after having felt good since day 2. I didn’t necessarily feel “altitude sickness” but more so had a sore throat from the cold air and felt low on energy. From Braka to Manang is mostly flat but once you arrive in Manang it’s steady climb for about an hour and we had the sun beating down on us. Thankfully the second half of the hike isn’t too strenuous, although you do begin to see advertisements for horses and porters to carry you over the pass.
We we arrived in Yak Karka around 11:30am. Yak Karka is a more drawn out town, so I was initially displeased to that our tea house was the furthest down the trail (although in the morning the this would be a benefit). We stayed at the Hotel Dream Home which was surprisingly nice for being so far into the mountains. The lodge was warm even without the heater going and their “potato cheese balls” really hit the spot. They had a charge for WiFi (the first time we had seen this) but the internet was down, so it didn’t matter. Garan and I shared our first double bed, the room was very dark and quiet for sleeping. They had the electricity running on solar power and enabled the lights in the rooms from 63opm until 630am. The nighttime was freezing and I was drinking Lemon Ginger Honey tea but the liters to aid my sore throat.
Day 7: Yak Karka to Thoroung Pedi
This was easily my worst day. We left Yak Karka at 730am. It was bitterly cold and windy- one might think you should just leave later so you can hike in the warmth of the sun, but because there are such limited tea houses in Thoroung Pedi, Deepak stressed to us that we must get there as early as possible to secure a room. People that do not arrive by noon usually will have to continue onward to High Camp (dangerous because of the additional altitude gain) or sleep on the lodge floors of the Thoroung Pedi tea houses.
Within about 30 minutes of leaving Yak Karka, I was so cold and miserable I thought about curling up on the ground and crying. I was nauseous, coughing, out of breath. I didn’t think I could possibly keep going. Some porters noticed I was struggling and called for Deepak to come back- he immediately took my pack from me and said some sweet, encouraging words and we were off again. About 20 minutes later the trail flattened out and we were in the sun, although I was internally panicking about how I could possibly handle The Pass.
The hike to Thoroung Pedi isn’t long, we arrived by 10am. We stayed at the Thorong Base Camp Lodge and Wild Horse Restaurant. It was (again!) surprisingly nice for being 15,000 feet in the air! Although we were some of the first people to arrive from Yak Karka, we were told there were only a few rooms left because the Thorong Pedi lodges allow people to make reservations online ahead of time (we did not know this). The lodge is run by a European (Swiss?) woman and her Nepali husband. We relaxed in the warm common area where music was playing and enjoyed some of their delicious baked goods and hot chocolate.
Out in the square between the tea houses many of the trekkers were buzzing around, practicing yoga, exchanging stories and prepping for the next morning. It’s truly amazing to listen to all of the different accents. After dinner, you will need to pre-order your breakfast and pay your full bill so that no one has to worry about this in the morning.
Day 8: The Pass, Thoroung Pedi –> Muktinath
We woke up at 3am. This isn’t really that big of a deal since you can’t really sleep at that high of an altitude anyway- you mostly just roll around in bed appreciating your warm sleeping bag. I slept in my thermal layers so I didn’t have to undress in the morning because it was very dark and the idea of exposing any inch of skin seemed unnecessary. Nearly everyone gets a very early start because 1) you are going to cover 12 miles of ground 2) it becomes very windy after sunrise and is more dangerous for crossing the pass.
For breakfast we had hard boiled eggs and chocolate rolls, there are no cooked-to-order foods due the early hour and large amounts of people (which was a major disappointment since they had French toast on the menu). We were out the door by 4:15am with about 40 other people starting at the same time as us. Due to my poor performance the previous morning, I was absolutely dreading the the day ahead of me.
The hike from Thoroung Pedi to High Camp is about one hour of dirt switchbacks. It is a narrow path and not a lot of space to take a break. Thankfully, the group in front of us was moving at a very slow, manageable pace, so we stayed behind them truckin’ away for a continuous hour and arrived at High Camp around 5:20am. We only took a short break at High Camp because it was much more exposed and cold wind was whipping through us.
Moving onward, it becomes a mix of flats and inclines and the land changes from dirt to more icy/snowy. This was probably the worst part for me, as I struggled to focus on my footing while I had snot dripping down my face and it felt as though my frozen fingers and toes could fall off at any moment. Since everyone is wearing a headlamp, you could look ahead to see just how much further you had to go and this was disheartening. 
After the bridge, you have to walk up a ridge line which was exhausting but shortly after that was a small tea house which was a welcome surprise. At this point, we were about 2.5 hours into the hike. The tea house was so busy you could hardly move but I didn’t mind as Deepak ordered me a glass of hot water and I gingerly held onto it to warm up my fingers. Our water bottles had chucks of ice floating in them due to the freezing temperatures.
After a 30 minute break we continued, very slowly. We still had about 300 meters of altitude to gain but moving any faster than a slow walk had you out of breath. Several people were now passing us on horseback, unable to continue on their own. After another excruciating 45 minutes we saw a high point up ahead but Garan told me it was likely a “false summit,” and as we approached I did not see any colorful flags. Around the corner, we found Deepak sitting there waiting for us. He told us we had just 15 minutes to go until we reached The Pass. I was so exhausted at this point that if he had said an hour, I may have broke down but 15 minutes I could do! And only 5 minutes later we could see the flags of The Pass up ahead and I started welling up with tears. I couldn’t believe we had actually made it! Up at the pass, I wish we could say we were jumping up and down but I think I was just gaping open-mouthed in disbelief.
After some hugging, high-fives, and pictures, we started the grueling four hour journey to Muktinath. There is really nothing exciting to say about the descent to Muktinath other than initially it is fun to go downhill but after an hour or so, you are almost wishing you were 
going uphill again. It also becomes warm on the other side, and when we were about an hour out from Muktinath we were pretty miserable in our thermal leggings. We arrived at our hotel in Muktinath at 1:30pm and stayed at the Grand Shambala.
The Grand Shambala is like a modern hotel! Muktinath is home to one of the eight most sacred shrines for Hindus, therefore receives a lot of tourists from around the world (but mostly India and Bangladesh). After checking-in to our room, and a long shower, we quickly placed ourselves on the patio with a cold beer to email our families that we had made it! (We had not had internet access since Chame). If you choose to stay at this hotel, please remember they do cater largely to Indians and therefore their food is INCREDIBLY spicy. I ordered the Butter Chicken and could hardly handle it, despite my intense hunger. Everyone was in a good mood this evening, and many people stayed up late “partying”. We were passed out asleep at 8pm despite the blaring music. We slept 11 hours straight.
Day 9: Muktinath to Kagbeni
We woke up in the morning feeling incredible. Well-rested, bathed, no longer fearing imminent death. After a leisurely breakfast, we left Muktinath at 8:30am. The walk to Kagbeni is quite easy and we took our time enjoying the scenery and warm weather. We stopped to admire roadside vendors selling yak wool shawls, dried apples and apricots. There is only one big descent into Kagbeni, and we arrived around 11:30am.
We stayed at the Hotel Nilgiri View which was really cute. As far as I could tell, we were the only ones staying there. They had interesting food options like burritos, buffalo momos, alfredo pasta, so we ate a large lunch before setting out to explore Kagbeni. There is
medieval feel to the town, with lots of stone walls and hidden walkways. There are coffee shops and a “Yak Donalds”. There are also convenience stores selling lots of products including homemade “Apple Cider”. We didn’t purchase any from the stores but did enjoy homemade boozy drinks back at our hotel.
One attraction in Kagbeni is the Buddhist Monastery. They will give you a tour for 200 rupees. The tour is led by one of the older students (he was maybe in his early 20s) and he answered ALL of our questions. He said the majority of the young boys who are students at the monastery are children of families who are too poor to care for them, so they send them to the monastery to receive an education, food and lodging. After we 
exhausted our tour guide, we continued our exploration of the town and happened upon some men who had recently butchered a buffalo and were making sausage using the intestines as casing. This may gross out some people but I found it incredibly interesting.
It becomes *very* windy in Kagbeni/the river valley in the afternoon, so we spent the rest of our evening relaxing in our hotel and playing with the hotel owner’s son. 
Day 10: Kagbeni –> Jomsom… and unexpectedly –> Pokhara
We left Kagbeni at 7am. It would have been nice to sleep in again, but Deepak insisted the river valley can dangerous due to the wind, with rocks flying up into your face, so up and at ’em we were. The walk to Jomson is mostly flat and along the road. About halfway to Jomson we encountered a bus that was jack-knived on a switchback and blocking traffic. It was a pretty precarious situation with the possibility the bus could just topple down the cliff side. There were about 30 people watching as the bus driver very carefully tried to maneuver the bus back onto the road. We had to climb AROUND the bus, which I was convinced was going to tip sideways onto me at any given second.
When we arrived in Jomson at 10am, we were going to have to pass the airport to arrive at our hotel, so we decided to pop in to see what the flight options to Pokhara were for the next morning. We were shocked when the lady asked if we wanted to leave that same day, as we had heard most flights were canceled after 10am due to the wind. She said there was a flight leaving in 30 minutes and had three seats available.
We paid $60/pp for foreigner ticket, and $40 for Deepak’s ticket. We were ushered into the “terminal” essentially just one big room. We were walked out to the runway after the pilots finished their tea break (yes, the flight was delayed because the pilots were taking a tea break). At this point it was becoming quite windy and I felt like I was going to vomit from my pure terror of our TINY plan crashing in the Himalayas. I thought we were to the point in the trek were my chances of dying had decreased. After a bouncy take-off, we soared through the mountains and it was a truly once in a lifetime opportunity. You get to see the most rural tiny villages built into the side of huge mountains, rivers, snow-capped peaks… it was remarkable. 20 minutes later we landed in Pokhara and were abruptly out of the Himalayas. Although these prices may seem steep, the other option is a 12 hour jeep ride on questionable roads and is arguably more dangerous than flying.
After we disembarked we were a little disoriented as we hadn’t planned to go to Pokhara so soon. We took a cab to the Pokhara tourist hub on Lakeside Rd and had a beer at Moondance Restaurant while we used the free WiFi to choose a hotel. Deepak decided to head to the bus station, as his birthday was the next day and wanted to be with his family. We thanked him profusely for his time, tipped him and he was off to Kathmandu!
Our stay in Pokhara –> Kathmandu
We chose to stay at Hotel Iceland- it
had a pool and was affordably priced. We settled in for the next few nights. We ended up spending three nights in Pokhara however 1-2 nights would’ve sufficed as it is a very touristy town and we didn’t feel there was that much to do. My only real recommendations are: get a massage, hike to the World Peace Pagoda (purely to stretch your legs), and eat at OR2K (I ate a LOT of naan).
The night before our departure back to Kathmandu we sat down with the travel manager to arrange our bus tickets. There are several price options, ranging from about $10-20/pp, we chose the slightly nicer bus because we wanted one with a bathroom and reliable A/C. The bus was quite nice! The seats were 2 by 2 and were essentially really cushioned recliners. The bus ride from Pokhara is longer than the drive to Besisahar and took about 8 hours because traffic was horrible as we approached Kathmandu.
When we (finally) arrived in Kathmandu, we checked back into the Dom Himalaya where all our of luggage was safely waiting for us. We were given an upgraded room and showered before heading out to have our last dinner in Nepal. We chose a tucked away Korean restaurant thinking it might be secret gem (it wasn’t).
The next morning we were up and off to Kuala Lumpur!
Pin the photo below to remember this post for when you are planning your trip!
Nice blog!
I enjoyed it so much. I was scared when you were scared and exhausted with you as well. I felt I was hiking along side of you. Loved it.
Thank you so much, Aunt Kathy! The hiking was exhausting but so was learning how to blog haha
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