Mardi Himal & Khopra Danda Trek

We leave the Pokhara lakeside after breakfast and drive to the Nayapul trailhead on the Ghorepani side of the Annapurna region, the classic gateway for the western ridges. The first walking is gentle, following the Bhurungdi Khola through Birethanti and Tikhedhunga, with the ACAP permit checked along the way.

From Tikhedhunga the day turns serious on the famous Ulleri stone staircase, several thousand steps that climb steadily through farmland to the Magar village of Ulleri at 1,960 metres. It is a stiff but short introduction that wakes the legs up before the bigger ridges. We overnight in a teahouse with the first wide view of Annapurna South opening behind the rooftops.

A beautiful forest day. The trail climbs through one of the largest rhododendron forests in the region, brilliant red and pink in spring, to the trekking hub of Ghorepani at around 2,860 metres on the Ghorepani Deurali pass. The walking is shaded and the gradient kind after yesterday's steps.

Ghorepani sits below Poon Hill, the well-known sunrise viewpoint at 3,210 metres. Most of our trekkers climb it at dawn the next morning before turning toward the quieter ridges, so this is the one busy night of the trip. From here on the crowds thin fast as we leave the Poon Hill circuit behind.

An optional pre-dawn climb to Poon Hill for the 360-degree sunrise over Dhaulagiri, the Annapurnas, and the Kali Gandaki gorge, then back to Ghorepani for breakfast. This is the last of the standard Annapurna sights; everything after it is the part of the region most trekkers never see.

We drop off the main trail and traverse to Swanta, a traditional Magar village at around 2,210 metres and the first of the Khopra community lodges. The path is quiet, the lodges are small and locally run, and the welcome is the start of the community-lodge character that defines the Khopra side of this trek.

The first big ascent of the trek. The trail climbs steadily through forest and pasture past the herders' settlement of Chistibung, then breaks onto open hillside for the final pull up to the Khopra Danda ridge at 3,660 metres. This is roughly fourteen hundred metres of gain, so we pace it deliberately and stop often.

Khopra Danda is a west-facing balcony perched on the rim of the Kali Gandaki, one of the deepest gorges on Earth. Dhaulagiri I rises across the void at 8,167 metres, with Nilgiri and Annapurna South ranged alongside. The community lodge on the ridge is simple and the evening is cold at this height, but the sunset over Dhaulagiri is the reason people come to Khopra.

A flexible day. The classic option is the long out-and-back pilgrimage to the sacred Khayer Lake, set beneath Annapurna South at roughly 4,600 to 4,800 metres. Source figures for the lake vary, so we treat that range as approximate, but it is the highest and hardest single push of the whole trek and a serious eight-hour day from the ridge.

Khayer Lake is a Hindu pilgrimage site, visited in numbers at the August full moon, and the walk up the high valley is austere and beautiful. If the weather is poor, if anyone is feeling the altitude, or if you would rather save your legs for the Mardi half, we keep this as a rest and acclimatisation day at Khopra instead. Because this day touches the trek's highest point, it is worth reading our guide to altitude sickness before you commit to it.

We leave the Khopra ridge and traverse east toward the Mardi side of the region, passing the Mulde, or Muldai, viewpoint near Dobato at around 3,640 metres, which adds a near 360-degree panorama for an early start. From here the trail enters thick rhododendron and oak forest.

The long descent runs down through the forest to Tadapani at 2,610 metres, a small cluster of lodges in the trees where the Khopra trail rejoins the more travelled paths of the central Annapurna foothills. This is a transition day, lower and greener, that bridges the two ridges of the trek.

A cultural day through the heart of Gurung country. We descend to Ghandruk, the large and handsome Gurung village famous for its slate-roofed houses, its museum, and its head-on view of Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre. It is a good place for an early lunch and a look around.

From Ghandruk the trail drops to the Modi Khola, crosses the river, and climbs to Landruk at 1,565 metres on the far bank, the village that sits at the foot of the Mardi ridge. The day is mostly downhill with one short climb, and it sets you up to start the Mardi ascent the next morning.

The Mardi half begins. We climb from Landruk up onto the Mardi ridge, joining the route near Deurali and turning up the quiet trail that leaves the busier Annapurna Base Camp path behind. The walking is back among the family teahouses that give the Mardi side its different, homelier feel after the community lodges of Khopra.

The afternoon climbs through cloud forest of oak, maple, and rhododendron to Forest Camp at 2,550 metres. Langur troops are common in the canopy here. The teahouses are simple but warm, and we keep an early night because the next two days carry the second big ascent of the trek.

The Mardi altitude day. The trail climbs steadily through the upper forest to Low Camp at 2,985 metres, where the trees thin and the full Annapurna massif comes into view. We stop here for an early lunch and a pulse-oximetry check before continuing.

Above Low Camp the route breaks onto the open ridge, crosses Badal Danda, and climbs to High Camp at 3,580 metres. This is the second of the trek's two big ascents, so pace is deliberately slow and anyone showing early symptoms is held lower for the night. Machhapuchhre stands directly ahead across the valley, and the sunset from the dining hall is the moment most trekkers remember.

The summit morning of the Mardi side. We leave High Camp around 04:30 with headtorches for the pre-dawn ridge climb to the Upper Viewpoint at 4,200 metres. On a clear morning Machhapuchhre fills the sky at close range while Dhaulagiri, the peak you stood opposite a week earlier on Khopra, sits far to the west. Standing on both ridges in one trek is the whole point of this combination.

Back to High Camp for breakfast, then the long descent. Rather than retrace the climb we drop toward the Gurung village of Sidhing at 1,860 metres. Trekking poles matter on this stretch; the descent is steep and the knees feel it after ten days of walking. We overnight at or near Sidhing.

A short final walk down terraced farmland to the jeep, then the rough but scenic road back to Pokhara at 820 metres, passing through Lwang and its tea gardens on the way. The trek properly ends here, eleven days after it began.

We reach the Pokhara lakeside by early afternoon for a hot shower, a real bed, and a celebration dinner by Phewa Lake. We arrange your onward transfer to the airport or tourist bus whenever your departure is timed.