The Annapurna Sanctuary Trek

Of walking across some of the most stunning landscapes in the world as we get to view some of the most famous peaks from the Annapurna sanctuary…on the way we hike into colorful villages & even get to interact with the local folks living on these mountains for generations…This is one sanctuary you will never forget.

A brief familiarization about this part of the Himalayas you are about to explore:

The Annapurna Sanctuary Trek is a magnificent journey on foot to the South Face of Annapurna I - a pleasant hike through the ethnically diversified colorful villages and forests with varied flora and fauna. Explore the routes upstream along the Modi Khola (stream in English for ‘Khola’ Nepali) into the Annapurna Sanctuary, a valley surrounded by towering Himalayan peaks including the breathtaking Fishtail Peak-Machhapuchhare (6,993m/22,943ft). Upfront, savor the opportunity of watching sunrise over Dhaulagiri and the Annapurna ranges from Poon Hill as an added perk to this trip.

The trip takes off with a wonderful historical tour of the ancient city of Kathmandu; after which on the next day we have an early morning breakfast; & then board a bus to reach the pleasant ‘City of Lakes’ - Pokhara for a comfortable overnight stay. Next day, after a short drive to Nayapul we begin our trek through Ulleri and Ghorepani. We then proceed further ahead to conquer a photographer's haven, the Poon Hill (3,210m/10,531ft), and capture spectacular views of popular peaks on your camera. We then go on to traversing through valleys, villages, rivers, waterfalls, forests, and enjoy the abundance of nature that surrounds us entirely. We continue our conquest through Chhomrong that passes through more crystal clear views of the unconquered Machhapuchhare peak (6,993m/22,943ft) – the tip of which resembles a fishtail. Our journey gets slightly more difficult during the ascent to Machhapuchhare Base Camp at (3,700m/12,139ft). The peaks of Annapurna-III (7,600m/24,934ft) and Annapurna-IV (7,400m/24,278ft) are visible from this point and the gigantic glacier of Machhapuchhare makes its presence felt. The next leg of the trek will take us to Annapurna Base Camp (4,130m/13,550ft), a natural amphitheatre, a scene that will remain etched in your heart forever.

The brilliant sunrise is another view of note as it gradually illuminates the peak of Annapurna-I (8,091m/26,545ft). While on this massive glacier you could go in for a jolly snowball fight or build a snowman. This begins the end of the experience of a lifetime; bringing you down to evergreen forests and rhododendron thickets of Jhinu Dada, which is also popular for its natural hot springs, we would love to take a dip in the soothing water heated by Mother Nature. We trot on to continue our trek to Naya Pul & we finally stumble into Pokhara for a comfortable night's sleep.

The 16-day Annapurna Sanctuary program is designed for trekkers who are in good health with normal physical fitness. You should be someone who enjoys hiking & has done a lot of walking to truly enjoy this trip. If you want a less vigorous but a beautiful trek in the rural mountainside, our Annapurna Sunrise Trek (9 days) would be ideal for you. If you love some adventure and are looking out for a more challenging trek in Annapurna Region, you definitely need to consider our Annapurna Circuit Trek (21 days) that takes you to conquer the world famous high pass -Thorung La. If you want to do our circuit trek in the Annapurna in a rather short period of time, our Annapurna Circle Trek (17 days) would be a wonderful option.
 

An Important Note and Optional Activities

Your safety is of paramount concern to us. Please note that your leader has the authority to amend or cancel any part of the itinerary if it is deemed necessary due to safety concerns. Nevertheless, every effort will be made to stay on course as mentioned in our itinerary; however, as this is adventure travel in remote mountain regions, we cannot guarantee anything! Weather conditions, health conditions of a member, unexpected natural disasters, etc., can all contribute to changes in the itinerary. The leader will try to ensure that the trip runs according to plan, but please be prepared to be flexible if & when required.

Route Map

The Route maps we put in on our websites are just a representation of the trekking routes. This does not represent the exact geographical conditions. It is only there to give you an idea of the different altitudes you will hike through accurately.

Click here for Annapurna Sanctuary Trek route map.
 

Information relevant to this trip:

The Trekking Group
For the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek, there will be one leader, assistant leader (4 trekkers: 1 assistant guide) and Sherpa porters for luggage carrying (2 trekkers: 1 porter) this arrangement ensures that should anybody in the group develop altitude problems, the trip can still go ahead as planned. We can run the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek for a group of any size, but generally we include maximum of twelve people as we've found this to be the optimum size for a successful trip. However, if you'd like to make a group booking for more than twelve people together, we can arrange this too.

Health & Experience Required
Our 16-day Annapurna Sanctuary Trek is a moderate trek suitable for passionate walkers who have the ability to walk at least 5-6 hours a day with a light day pack. Some days, you might even need to walk 7 hours. Walking at higher altitudes is physically demanding than walking in the lower altitudes; however, if you are in excellent health with average physical fitness and have a positive attitude, self confidence and strong determination, you can accomplish the 16-day Annapurna Sanctuary Trek successfully. Exercising and jogging regularly for some weeks prior to this trip are a good idea to enhance your strength and stability. Your past hiking experience would be an asset but no technical skill is required for this trip. It is vital that you consult with your doctor before you decide to do the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek. Participants with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart, lung, and blood disease should inform Annapurna Travels before booking the trek.

A Typical Day on the Trail...
Soon after first light your Sherpa knocks on your door and offers you a cup of warm tea with a smile; sometimes the birds may wake you up before that. After freshening and finishing up your cupper, you pack your bags and assemble in the dining hall {tents} for a hearty breakfast before setting off on the day`s trek. After approximately 2-3 hours of trekking you take a break for lunch somewhere suitable on the trail. After a relaxing lunch, you typically spend around 2-3 hours or even more sometimes on the trail before reaching your stopping point. Throughout the day, you will take frequent rest breaks and take time to admire the fascinating mountains views. It’s always good to start the trip with loaded cameras & some extra film because you will feel the urge to take plenty of pictures of yourself with incredibly panoramic mountains, rivers, prayer flags, temples, shrines, cairns & monasteries in the background of some of the most stunning landscapes on earth. Once you arrive at your teahouse, you take a brief rest, shower, and have a light snack with tea or coffee. If you feel inclined, you may take a short walk through the village and surrounding neighborhood & interact with the local folks; Annapurna Travels encourages these interactions to the hilt & our guides are trained to interpret for you. After checking into your room you have time to read or chat with fellow trekkers and your AT team. Following a warm dinner in a cozy dining hall your trek leader briefs you on the next day`s itinerary. You place your order for breakfast which allows your guide to have everything ready for you for the next morning. Extra time can be spent reading, enjoying some drinks or playing cards. The added time can be spent reading, enjoying some drinks or playing cards. Your ATT team loves to teach various Nepali card games as well as learning new Western ones. Finally, it`s off to bed for a well earned night`s rest before starting all over again the next day.

Travel Insurance

It is a condition of joining any of our trips that you be protected against comprehensive expenses potential that maybe incurred due to medical issues or accidents (to include air ambulance, helicopter rescue, and treatment costs). Please be noted that we don’t arrange or sell any kind of insurance. This is entirely for your own benefit.

A relaxed trip is not possible without good travel insurance. In the event of any sickness or injury, the cost of emergency treatment and evacuation is shocking. Therefore, travel insurance is strongly recommended for everyone who signs up with Annapurna Travels. We strongly recommend that you be careful while choosing a policy as some makes special exceptions for adventure travel. Before buying your insurance make sure your insurer is aware of the AT adventure itinerary that you are going to undertake and is agreeable to cover all activities being undertaken in the trip. Such as if you are planning trekking or doing a climbing/expedition in the Himalayas your insurance must cover emergency air ambulance/helicopter rescue including medical expenses. For group tours in urban areas, your insurance coverage of ambulance or helicopter rescue is not mandatory, however better to have them too. Again, in Tibet trips there have no possibilities of helicopter rescue, so there is no need to buy the air ambulance coverage on Tibet trips. Also, check your insurance policy firmly to even include trip cancellation, as all deposits paid are non-refundable.

You need to send us your copy of your insurance policy (e.g. your insurance certificate) or carry it with you while you come on the trip.

For Travelers from USA and Canada

First Assist Services Limited
Wheatfield Way,
Hinckley Fields Industrial Estate,
Hinckley
Leicestershire
LE10 1YG
 

England

Telephone 01455 251155
Fax +44 (0)1455 254001
www.firstassist.co.uk
Insure My Trip.com (Online Insurance Aggregator) - www.insuremytrip.com
Access America - www.accessamerica.com/
HCC Medical Insurance Services - www.mnui.com/
Good Neighbor Insurance (International Health) - www.gninsurance.com/
International health: www.gninsurance.com
International health: www.overseashealthinsurance.com
Insure my Trip dot Com: www.insuremytrip.com

Multinational Underwriters
251 North Illinois Street, Suite 600 / Indianapolis, IN 46204
317-262-2132 / 800-605-2282 / Fax: 317-262-2140
www.mnui.com / service@mnui.com

TIC Travel Insurance Coordinators Ltd.
Sylvie Bougon, Bilingual Emergency Assistance Coordinator
Toronto Office
Telephone: (416) 340-0049
Toll Free: 1-800-995-1662
Fax Number: (416) 340-9918
E-Mail: sylvie.bougon@travelinsurance.ca
Website: www.travelinsurance.ca
Travel Assist: www.travelassistnetwork.com
TraveLite: www.travelite.com
Travelex: www.travelex-insurance.com

For Travelers from ENGLAND
Harrison Beaumont - www.hbinsurance.co.uk
Buy cheap travel insurance: www.insureandgo.com

For Travelers from Europe and Slovenia

Assistance CORIS d.o.o. e-mail: danijela.puzavac@coris.si | web: www.coris.si

For Travelers from AUSTRALIA

Cover More Travel   Insurance - www.covermore.com.au
CGU Insurance Limited - www.cgu.com.au

World care Travel Insurance
PO Box 162
Toowong Old 4066
Australia

Phone: 1800 008 614 between 0800 and 1800 AEST Monday to Friday
E-mail: sales@worldcare.com.au

For Travelers from South Africa

Travel insurance Consultants Pty .Ltd
5th Floor, 296 Kent Avenue
Randburg Johannesburg
Cremerview, 2060
South Africa
www.tic.co.za
 

DECLARATION:

These insurance companies are just for recommendations / by kind courtesy on recommendations of our previous guests.

Accommodations
All accommodations for Annapurna Sanctuary Trek are on twin sharing basis included in the trip cost and are chosen based on standard of hygiene, standard of services and food, location, etc. There are two styles of accommodations during our trekking. You will spend three nights in a 4-star hotel, Hotel Shanker or similar category hotel in Kathmandu, two nights in 2-3 star hotels in Pokhara and during your trekking you will spend 10 nights in standard teahouse/lodge/hotel in which there is unheated rooms with wooden beds and foam mattresses. We provide attached rooms as much as possible; however, the teahouses/lodges of some places only have shared washing and toilet facilities. If you are a solo traveler, you will share a room with someone else of the same sex of your group.

If you prefer a single room, you may indicate your preference and get single rooms on request by paying single supplement USD 350. But, you need to understand that in teahouses/lodges of higher elevation area single room is not always feasible. We guarantee single room in Kathmandu, Pokhara and during trek in lower elevation areas but towards higher elevations, a single room may not be always possible, although we try our best to provide you with single room for yourself.

Why would you choose Annapurna Travel and Tours?
This is a justifying & good question. Scores of companies sell adventure packages. So do we, but what makes us different?

Experience
We are a small but competent company specializing in adventure travel holidays in the Himalayan region. Since the establishment of our Company 4 decades ago, we have been continually growing as a leading adventure travel operator. We provide international quality services from our head office in Kathmandu, and we also operate in Bhutan, Tibet and India. In 2010, we launched our LLC office in Japan. What we’ve figured out over the years is that wherever you go, money alone doesn't guarantee good service - only respect and trust, earned over years of working together, is what buys you good experience. Besides faring well in the business, we are also committed to maintaining a high level of ethical standards in all of our operations. Our loyal, committed and highly experienced staff-base gives us an edge over the tough competition prevalent these days.

Achievements
Conducted trekking, climbing, and expedition programs to more than 100 peaks & trails
The climbing number of trek programs and trekking groups goes to many hundreds every season
An amazing success rate of more than 90% - a blue chip record for any adventure operator
 

Client First before self

Atithi Devo Bhava: Guests are Gods – that’s our motto. We're absolutely sure that there is only one reason why we are still growing in our business after all this time: it’s you, our valued clients. Your satisfaction and well-being has always been our imperative priority. We always encourage feedbacks on our services from our respected guests.

When you book with us we take care of everything - from carefully designing itineraries for proper acclimatization to upholding the most conscientious sanitary standards in food preparation. We offer up-to-date pre-trip information, use only the best lodges, customize itineraries to suit your interests and cater to any dietary requirements. We have a fully staffed office in Kathmandu taking care of domestic flight ticketing, transfers, permits and visas. Our representatives’ team will welcome you at the Tribhuvan International Airport on your arrival in Kathmandu, and after your completion of the trip, will also see you off at the Airport. In short, from your arrival at Kathmandu Airport to your departure, you are well cared for all the way.

We worry about these things, so you don't have to. On the flip side of the coin, you get to reap the benefits of the hard work we have put in over the years. And we get to keep doing what we enjoy doing. And slowly but surely - we have been amply rewarded for our commitments.

SAFETY: No Compromises…NOT ON THIS FRONT
Adventure travel appropriately carried out with proper safety precautions are not risky in itself, but when safety measures are esteemed less or taken for granted, this is where things can go wrong and minor ailment could turn out serious enough to be fatal. Our safety records are second to none. When it comes to keeping the overheads of our trips low, safety is one area where we simply do not compromise, we plan the budget one step higher in this area…BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE TO WALK A MILE IN YOUR SHOES TO KNOW HOW IT PINCHES.

First Aid - We select our guides based on their technical proficiency, proven safety records, impeccable judgment, and supportive teaching styles. The guides are highly professional and are well-trained. This includes first aid and hygiene, personal protection equipment, and what to do if an injury occurs. First aid kits are taken on all trips and we provide oxygen cylinders and PAC Bags upon request (this is payable). The itineraries are designed in such a way as to give you enough time for acclimatization. Furthermore, we provide a pulse oxy-meter to facilitate acclimatization. The device measures oxygen saturation percentage in blood along with your pulse rate. This is the best way of preventing altitude sickness because we can tell at an early stage if someone is having problems with acclimatizing.

Fair Prices with crucial Quality Services
Service, quality and fair prices – is the ‘run of the mill’ with our business. The packages we have on offer are simply unbeatable values for money. But you don't necessarily need to take our word on it - we just ask our clients to shop around to other adventure companies to try to find a similar package at a better price. On-the-buck, we do not compromise on quality to cut down the costs. Our super edge over other international operators is that we are a Nepal based business that allows us to keep our overheads to a win-win minimum, bringing smiles to both sides. So we can offer the same facilities as those provided by a Western company at literally a fraction of the price. That about 40% of our bookings come from repeat business proves our performance when it comes to client satisfaction.

Financial Protection
Going on any adventure trip will require a substantial sum of money to be paid in advance. Yet trusting a company you have no prior experience with involves risk. However, we are a fully bonded trek operator authorized by the Nepal Government, Tourism and Civil Aviation Department, Nepal Tourism Board, Industry Department, Company Registration Office, Nepal National Bank and the Taxation Office. We are also affiliated with several prestigious regulating bodies such as NATTA, NMA, TAAN, and KEEP. Additionally, we have launched our new affiliate located in Japan to further ensure that that your payment is secure with us.

A detailed list of our registrations and licenses for operations are listed below, please peruse them:

Nepal Ministry of Industry, Office of Company Register, Reg No. 539/028
Nepal Ministry of Tourism, Department of Tourism, Reg No. 4/2028
Nepal Department of Small Cottage and Industries, Reg No...
Nepal Ministry of Finance, Department of Tax, PAN No. 300048407
Tax Clearance Certificate No:
Central Bank of Nepal, Nepal Rastra Bank, Department of Foreign Currency  
Exchange, Authorization No: 5/25/069

Social Commitments

Our Image
As Nepalese, we love our country deeply, but at the same time we can’t ignore her problems. And so we're committed to helping Nepal along the road to peace and prosperity in our own way. Part of this is our support for Child Environment Nepal (CEN). CEN is a non-government, non-profit organization committed to educating and caring for Nepali children orphaned by the Nepalese civil war. Each year we contribute 1% of our annual profit to the organization.
 

Leaders & Crew Members

Annapurna Travels employs and trains local staff so that the local communities benefit from our adventure operations. However, we never compromise on our high safety and quality standards. All of our leaders and guides are carefully selected based on their aptitude, experience, and leadership skills. Most of our guides have been working on our payrolls for more than 10 years. Our guides are trained for remote emergencies and are well versed in local politics, culture and customs. Thus, we guarantee that all our guides, cooks, and other crew members are qualified and experienced professionals who make sure that you’re always safe, sound, and happy. Perhaps, what’s really important is they enjoy their jobs to the core & this is why most of our trekkers are happy. To meet our team, check out the Guide Profile Page.

Personalized Service
Most trekking and hiking tour operators guarantee to run treks and hikes only when they get a minimum number of people. Our minimum requirement for operation is only two people, thus we can provide you personalized service at a reasonable cost that runs parallel to your budget. Check us out at a time suiting your conveniences.

Staff Care
We compare them to little drops that make an ocean, for that’s how we started. Even in beginning, right from our inception, we were the only company to take a stand against the exploitation of porters and guides that was rife in the industry (and to a large degree, still is). That most of our staffs from the beginning have stayed with us all this time validates our commitment for fair business deals. Our leaders, guides, cooks and porters work as a well-balanced team. We respect them, provide them insurance and equipment, guarantee them work, and pay them well.

Responsible Tourism
We sincerely observe Responsible Tourism practices, and our policies are guided by the principles for Economic Responsibility, Social Responsibility, and Environmental Responsibility. We endeavor to be the role models for those around us and hope that our principles can contribute to awareness and change.

The sad truth is that most trekking companies are reluctant to contribute when it comes to being environmentally sensitive. The end result is, the whole Himalayan environment has been endangered, and as a consequence environmental ecosystem of the world has suffered. We design our itineraries and operate on the field guided by the principles of ecotourism and sustainable tourism. All our staffs have all been given environmental training and are all very sensitive to the delicate eco-systems we enter. "Take pictures, leave only foot prints" is our motto for preserving the environment.