- StandardPokhara → Kande (1 h drive) · Deurali 2,100 m · Forest Camp 2,600 · Low Camp 2,990 · High Camp 3,580 · viewpoint 4,200 / base camp 4,500 · Siding 1,750 · jeep to Pokhara = 4 or 5 days
- Distance and altitudeAbout 40 kilometres, 2,900 m of ascent and 2,800 of descent; stages of 3 to 7 hours, the summit morning 4 to 8 hours return
- Highest sleeping pointHigh Camp, 3,550 to 3,600 m (operators write 3,540 to 4,000); above it there are tea stalls in the morning but no beds
- From KathmanduPlus tourist bus 6–7 hours (departing 7:00 to 7:30 am from Kantipath) or a 25-minute flight to Pokhara; the packages from Kathmandu run 6 to 12 days
Three, four, five or ten days: what the number means
The days in the titles count from Pokhara or from Kathmandu, that is the first difference. Four days from Pokhara is the most common pattern (nine packages): day 1 to Forest Camp, day 2 to High Camp, day 3 summit morning and descent to Low Camp or Badal Danda, day 4 to Siding and the jeep. That means two long days and 60 hours from Pokhara to 4,500 m. Five days (ten packages) spread the ascent over three nights – Deurali or Pothana, Low Camp or Forest Camp, High Camp – and often sleep twice at High Camp or once at Badal Danda on the way back; that is the rhythm we recommend for the altitude. Three days exists only with CAN Travels: Dhampus, Forest Camp, High Camp, then everything in one day – base camp, descent to Siding. Six to twelve days are the same four to five trekking days plus the approach from Kathmandu, hotel nights in Pokhara and Kathmandu, city tours and, with Mission Himalaya and Alliance, two days via Lwang. The trek does not get longer, the trip does.
The stages
Eight sections: the approach, the trailhead, the forest, the grassy ridge, High Camp, the summit morning, the descent and the extensions. Altitudes follow Nepal Wilderness, Himalaya Trip, Fewa Trail and Himalayas On Foot, who are the most precise; where operators differ, it is noted. Under each section, who sleeps there.
An hour on the Baglung road to Kande, the usual trailhead; alternatives are Phedi and Dhampus, Banskot with Sisne Rover.
The Mardi trek begins where the Poon Hill and Annapurna Base Camp treks begin: on the road from Pokhara to Baglung, 25 kilometres and just under an hour from Lakeside. Kande at 1,770 m is the trailhead for most packages; Heaven Himalaya, Accessible Adventure and Himalayan Wander Walkers start at Phedi (1,130 m) and climb via Dhampus, Base Camp Hike and the three-day CAN trek drive to Dhampus, Sisne Rover starts at Banskot via Kalikasthan and Hemjakot. Frame packages use a shared jeep or bus, the full packages a private car. The ACAP checkpoint is at Dhampus or Pothana, where permit and TIMS are checked. Coming from Kathmandu, add six to seven hours of tourist bus (departing 7:00 to 7:30 am from Kantipath) or a 25-minute flight.
Stone steps up to Australian Camp at 2,060 m, the first panorama, then gently via Pothana to Deurali, where the Mardi trail leaves the Annapurna trail.
Day one is the shortest: 90 minutes of steps from Kande to Australian Camp, a meadow with lodges and the first view of Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machapuchare, then an hour through forest and fields to Pothana (1,950 m) with the ACAP post and on to Pitam Deurali at 2,100 m. Here stands the 'Forest Camp' sign that turns right off the main trail into the Annapurna Sanctuary. Many four-day treks push on to Forest Camp on day one (Himalaya Trip: 14 kilometres, seven hours); the five-day treks sleep at Deurali or Pothana. Starting from Phedi adds the climb via Dhampus, a Gurung village with terraces and lodges.
The forest day: along the ridge through oak, maple and rhododendron, no teahouse on the way, to the clearing of Kokar, the Forest Camp.
From Deurali you are alone with the forest. The path follows the ridge, drops steeply once and climbs again, through oaks hung with lichen, maple and rhododendron that blooms in March and April. There is no lodge between Deurali and Forest Camp, so carry water and snacks; Sisne Rover and Himalayan Wander Walkers say so explicitly. Forest Camp, Kokar on maps, is a clearing at 2,520 to 2,600 m with six to seven lodges, the first night for most four-day treks. Nepal Treks and Tour claims there are no teahouses here; that has not been true for years.
Out of the forest onto the grassy ridge: Low Camp at 2,990 m with the first close view of Machapuchare, then Badal Danda, the 'cloud hill', above the tree line.
Two hours via Rest Camp (2,605 m) to Low Camp, a lodge cluster at 2,990 m where Machapuchare stands directly in front of you for the first time. Then the forest thins, the trail runs along the crest, and after another hour you reach Badal Danda at 3,210 to 3,300 m: lodges on a knoll, above the sea of cloud in the morning, hence the name. Many operators sleep here on the way back – Himalaya Trip, Blissful, Nepal Wilderness, Alliance, Base Camp Hike – because it lies lower than High Camp and the sun arrives earlier. Nepal_first's five-day pattern sleeps at Badal Danda on the way up and gains an extra acclimatisation day.
The ridge turns narrow and open, the Modi valley left, the Mardi Khola right; High Camp at 3,580 m is the last lodge group and the base for the summit morning.
From Badal Danda you walk on the spine of Mardi Himal, Annapurna South and Hiunchuli ahead left and Machapuchare right. High Camp lies at 3,550 to 3,600 m (operators write 3,540 to 4,000); it is the last place with lodges, about a dozen stone houses with blue roofs, shared bathrooms, electricity for a fee. All packages sleep here at least one night; those going to the base camp usually two, or they descend after the summit morning to Badal Danda or Low Camp. Nights drop to minus five in autumn, minus 15 in winter; Nepal Wilderness provides a sleeping bag rated to minus 25. The guide of 127810P1, whom we do not list, notes: 'Above here there are tea stalls in the morning but no beds.'
Off at four with a headlamp: two hours to the upper viewpoint at 4,200 m, where most turn back; the base camp at 4,500 m lies two more hours along a narrow, rocky ridge.
The day it is all about. From High Camp the ridge climbs in steps: after 45 minutes the lower viewpoint, after two hours the upper one at about 4,200 m, with sunrise on Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Annapurna I and Machapuchare close enough to touch. From here it is two more hours on a narrow, often icy path to the base camp at 4,500 m (operators: 4,450 to 4,550), a hollow beneath the south flank of Mardi Himal. Himalayan Wander Walkers writes what many guides say: 'Many turn back at the upper viewpoint, the views are similar.' Of the 38 packages, 24 fix the base camp, six the viewpoint (Magic Himalaya, Heaven Himalaya, Pokhara Adventure, Dadhi Ram Thapa, ABC Trek; Amazing Nepal calls 4,500 'viewpoint'), five leave the choice, three have no itinerary. Then back to High Camp for breakfast – or straight on down.
Not the same way back: below Low Camp a steep path branches east, through forest and terraces to the Gurung village of Siding, from there a jeep or an hour further to Lumre.
Almost all packages turn the ridge trail into a loop. From Low Camp a path drops steeply east, slippery after rain, through forest and then terraces to Siding (also Sidhing or Sidding, 1,700 to 1,900 m), a Gurung village with lodges and homestays; Dadhi Ram Thapa and Fewa Trail sleep here, Nepal Wilderness offers an extra day to Lwang via Ghalel. From Siding a jeep takes two to three hours to Pokhara – shared with the frame packages, private with Nepal Wilderness, Himalayas On Foot, CAN 3 days. Others walk another hour to Lumre (1,200 m) on the road or to Kalimati, Peace Himalaya to Hemja. Base Camp Hike instead heads west via Landruk to Siwai, Mission Himalaya and Alliance via Lwang to the tea gardens. Combining base camp and descent to Siding in one day (CAN 5 and 3 days, Peace Himalaya) means 2,700 m of descent in a day.
With more time, add Lwang with its tea gardens, cross via Landruk into the Modi valley, or link Mardi with Annapurna Base Camp.
Three extensions appear in the packages. Lwang, a Gurung village with tea gardens and homestays a day east of Siding: Mission Himalaya and Alliance sleep there, Nepal Wilderness offers the day as an option. Landruk in the Modi valley: Base Camp Hike descends west from Badal Danda and ends at Siwai, the trailhead for Annapurna Base Camp. And the link with the <a href="/en/tours/annapurna-base-camp/">Annapurna Base Camp trek</a> itself: from Low Camp to Landruk, Chhomrong and up into the sanctuary, ten to twelve trekking days in all; Viator lists such combinations, we have not included them here. With less time, compare Mardi with the <a href="/en/tours/poon-hill/">Poon Hill trek</a>, two days shorter and 1,300 m lower.
The route in stages: altitudes and itineraries from the operator data, photos illustrate the places. The boxes show where the four compared offers differ at the same spot.
Day-by-day itineraries of the products
Three itineraries as they appear on Viator: the five-day trek from Nepal Wilderness with a night at Badal Danda, the four-day frame from CAN Travels and the eleven days from Mission Himalaya with flights, hotels and Lwang. Altitudes and times are the operators', smoothed where they contradict each other.
Nepal Wilderness Trekking · 5 days from Pokhara, porter, full board, sleeping bag, spikes 5 days · 4 nights
Hotel pickup, private car to Kande, via Australian Camp and Pothana to Deurali.
☾ Lodge, PrivatzimmerFour hours through the forest to Forest Camp, lunch, two more to Low Camp.
☾ Lodge, PrivatzimmerVia Badal Danda onto the open ridge, Machapuchare and Annapurna South ahead.
☾ Lodge, PrivatzimmerEarly to the base camp or just to the viewpoint, back to High Camp, descent to Badal Danda.
☾ Lodge, PrivatzimmerSteeply down to Siding, shared jeep to Pokhara; optionally an extra day via Ghalel to Lwang.
CAN Travels · 4-day frame from Pokhara: guide, permit, beds, shared jeep – meals yourself 4 days · 3 nights
Shared bus or jeep to Kande, through forest and villages, steep in places, to Forest Camp.
☾ GästehausLong climb via Low Camp and Badal Danda onto the ridge.
☾ GästehausSteeper and rockier to the base camp, a few hours up top, then down to Low Camp.
☾ GästehausThrough forest and terraces to Siding, shared jeep back to the hotel.
Mission Himalaya · 11 days with flights, four hotel nights, porter, Lwang 11 days · 10 nights
Pickup, hotel, stroll through Thamel.
☾ Hotel DreisterneEarly flight to Pokhara, drive to Kande, via Australian Camp and Pothana to Deurali.
☾ GästehausThrough conifer and rhododendron forest to the Kokar clearing.
☾ GästehausShort day because of the altitude; lunch and night at Low Camp facing Machapuchare.
☾ GästehausVia Badal Danda onto the ridge, drink plenty, short stage.
☾ GästehausVia the viewpoint to the base camp, lunch outdoors, back to High Camp.
☾ GästehausDown through rhododendron and pine, lunch at Low Camp, on to Sidhing.
☾ GästehausLevel walk to Lwang, Gurung village with tea gardens, dance and music in the evening.
☾ GästehausMorning in the tea gardens, short climb to Khoramukh, drive to Pokhara.
☾ Hotel DreisternePokhara sightseeing (Davis Falls, Gupteshwor, mountain museum, Peace Pagoda), flight back.
☾ Hotel DreisterneDurbar Square with a city guide, transfer for departure.
Stops and walking times from the operator's Viator product data, edited for length. Maps and figures illustrate the route and are not for navigation.
Approach: Pokhara, the Baglung road and the way from Kathmandu
The trek begins on the road from Pokhara to Baglung, 25 kilometres north-west of Lakeside. Kande lies right on the road at 1,770 m, Phedi ten kilometres before it at 1,130, Dhampus two kilometres above Phedi on a track. The frames use a shared jeep or public bus (about an hour, NPR 200 to 500 individually), the full packages a private car. The return is from Siding on a track that has reached the village for some years now: two to three hours by jeep to Pokhara, or walk an hour further to Lumre on the tarmac road and take a bus or jeep there.
From Kathmandu it is 200 kilometres on the Prithvi Highway: tourist buses leave between 7:00 and 7:30 am from Kantipath, six to eight hours, USD 10 to 15; the package prices from Kathmandu include this bus (Magic Himalaya, Ace, Himalayan Adventure, Heaven Himalaya by private car, Trek Around, Blissful, Nepal Treks). The flight takes 25 minutes and costs USD 120 to 130 each way; Mission Himalaya, Alpine Club and Alliance include it both ways, Himalayas On Foot outbound only. Since January 2023 flights land at the new Pokhara airport, ten kilometres east of Lakeside.
