Mardi Himal & Khopra Danda Trek

We leave the Pokhara lakeside after breakfast and drive about ninety minutes to the Kande trailhead, on the western rim of the Annapurna Conservation Area and the start of the Mardi Himal ridge. Stone steps climb quickly through forest to Australian Camp at 2,060 metres, where the first wide view of Annapurna South and Hiunchuli opens up, then on through the small settlement of Pothana where the ACAP permit is checked.

The trail eases past Pothana to Pitam Deurali at 2,100 metres, the junction where the Mardi route leaves the busier Annapurna Base Camp path and turns onto its own quiet ridge. It is a short first day by design: eleven days ahead means no need to rush the acclimatisation, and the teahouse at Pitam Deurali is a gentle place to start.

The trail turns into cloud forest of oak, maple, and rhododendron, climbing steadily to Forest Camp at 2,550 metres. Langur troops are common in the canopy here, and in spring the rhododendron is thick enough to slow you down on its own account.

Beyond Forest Camp the path continues a short way further to Rest Camp, a small cluster of lodges at roughly 2,700 metres that sits between Forest Camp and Low Camp. It is a modest, unhurried day that banks height gradually before the two bigger climbs still ahead.

The first big ascent of the trek. The trail climbs through the upper forest to Low Camp at 2,985 metres, where the trees thin and the full Annapurna massif comes into view for the first time. 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 (Cloud Ridge) at 3,210 metres, and climbs to High Camp at 3,580 metres. Pace is deliberately slow above Low Camp, and anyone showing early symptoms is held lower for the night rather than pushed on. Machhapuchhre stands directly ahead across the valley, and the sunset from the dining hall is the moment most trekkers remember from the Mardi side.

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 this trek visits from the other side a week from now, sits far to the west across the whole Annapurna wall.

Back at High Camp for a proper breakfast, then the long descent begins. Rather than staging it over two days, we drop all the way back through Low Camp, Rest Camp, and Forest Camp in one push. Trekking poles matter on this stretch, the descent is steep and long, but it also sets up the transfer toward Khopra with the hardest part of the Mardi side already behind you. If you are new to walking above 3,500 metres, our altitude sickness guide is worth reading before this day.

We leave the Mardi ridge behind and descend through forest and terraced farmland toward the Modi Khola valley, dropping steadily off the ridge that has held us for the past four days.

The day ends in 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 to slow down for an afternoon, the first proper village since Pothana, and a cultural change of pace before the climb back up toward Khopra begins.

A climb back into the hills, through rhododendron and oak forest that is one of the richest stretches of woodland on either ridge. Danphe pheasant and langur are both regularly seen on this section, and the forest floor is thick with moss and fern below the canopy.

Tadapani, a small cluster of lodges in the trees at 2,630 metres, sits at the point where the trails toward Poon Hill and toward Khopra Danda split. We take the quieter branch the next morning, but Tadapani itself is a pleasant, forested overnight with occasional views of Annapurna South through the trees.

The trail leaves the Poon Hill side of the region and climbs through dense rhododendron and oak forest toward the Khopra ridge. It is a steady, sustained climb rather than a technical one, gaining back most of the height lost on the way down to Ghandruk.

Dobato sits on an open ridge at 3,420 metres, close to the Mulde, or Muldai, viewpoint, which adds a near 360-degree panorama of both the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges for those with the energy for a short side climb before dinner. The lodge here is simple and the night is cold, a preview of the altitude still to come.

A shorter day by distance but a significant one by view. The trail follows the ridge crest through juniper and dwarf rhododendron to Khopra Danda, 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, and the reason this trek pairs it with Mardi rather than leaving it out.

The hardest single push of the whole trek, and its true high point. We climb out of Khopra Danda into a high, austere valley beneath Annapurna South, following a Hindu pilgrimage trail to the sacred Khayer Lake at 4,660 metres, visited in numbers at the August full moon.

It is a long, serious eight-hour day at altitude, higher than the Mardi Upper Viewpoint we stood on five days earlier, so we keep the pace deliberate and watch everyone closely on the final approach. Because this day touches the trek's highest point, it is worth reading our guide to altitude sickness before you commit to the itinerary. We return to the same lodge at Khopra Danda for a second night.

The long way down. The trail drops off the Khopra ridge through the herders' settlement of Chistibung and back into forest, losing most of the height gained over the past two days in one steady descent.

Swanta is a traditional Magar village at around 2,200 metres and one of the community lodges that give the Khopra side its character. The path here is quiet, the lodges are small and locally run, and after the exposed ridge days it is a welcome return to village life and warmer air.

The last trekking day. We climb from Swanta back up to Ghorepani at 2,860 metres, rejoining the main trekking trail for a short stretch, then descend through forest to Banthanti, a small settlement on the Ghorepani side at around 2,250 metres where the jeep is waiting.

From Banthanti it is a rough but scenic three to four hour drive back down to Pokhara at 820 metres. We reach the lakeside by late afternoon for a hot shower, a real bed, and a farewell celebration dinner by Phewa Lake, eleven days and two ridges after we started. We arrange your onward transfer to the airport or tourist bus whenever your departure is timed.