The Best Hiking Trails in Gandaki

The trip into the Annapurna Sanctuary is one of the classic Himalayan journeys and it features some famously tough sections of stone steps. There are short sections of these on the first day, but nothing like the number you will encounter later on....

The hike up to Poon Hill from Ghorepani takes about an hour and you should aim to arrive on top at dawn. As you will no doubt have calculated, this means getting up very early in order to ingest some food and fluids as well as leaving an hour of darkness to do the hike....

From Tadapani drop down steeply into the valley below and head across another of the famous Nepalese suspension bridges. Undulate around to Taglung village and then get ready for the ascent to Chhomrong....

Today begins with a long descent down some of Chhomrong's famous stone steps which lead you down to a river bed. Cross another of the notorious Nepalese suspension bridges and make the climb up to Bhanuwa village, which is perched high above the valley and enjoys some excellent views....

With minimal distance to cover today you can take the opportunity to study every peak and face that comes into view, and there are plenty of them! It takes a while for the sun to hit Machhapuchchhre Base Camp so don't rush out of your lodge in the morning....

After spending so long in the high mountains, it can be tempting to view this day as an inconvenience, but no matter how keen you for a shower and a beer, try to savour this final few hours in the Annapurna region wilderness....

The Annapurna Circuit is a backpacking tour around one of the most imposing mountain ranges on Earth, The Annapurna Massif. This trek is part of Nepal’s history, etched as firmly in the cultural landscape as the 8,000-meter summit of Annapurna is erected on its physical one....

This is a fantastic day of trekking beneath the mythical Machhapuchchhre, the so called "Fish Tail" mountain. Much of the terrain this day goes through is threatened by avalanches from above during the winter and even though this danger is negligible during the trekking season, you're likely to encounter so evidence of HUGE avalanches that will have come down in the previous winter....