The Mardi Himal Trek gives you all the views with fewer crowds. In only a short three days, you can trek to Mardi Himal Base Camp at an elevation of 4200 meters. Not bad, right? The trailhead is only a short bus ride away from Pokhara, Nepal’s trekking capital. You can leave the comforts of smoothie bowls and a real gym behind for a few days to get your steps in in the great outdoors.
You can plan your Mardi Himal trekking in only one day in Pokhara. For this, you need to get your ACAP permit from their office, which is within walking distance of the popular Lakeside district, buy some hiking essentials, such as hiking sticks if you fly carry-on only like me, load up on snacks, and off you go. Pokhara lives and breathes trekking, so NOT finding what you need would be the real challenge.
Mardi Himal Trek: Distances and route
We walked the complete Mardi Himal Trek in 3 days, and this is definitely doable if you don’t want to arrive at the teahouse for lunch. We got off the bus at the roadside in Kande and started the hike with a very steep uphill to Australian Camp. This would also be a great place to stay overnight as a city getaway or just as a day hike from Pokhara if your digital nomad base is there.
The highest you can sleep at is High Camp, which means it’s still a two-hour uphill to the first viewpoint and four hours if you go all the way to the “real” base camp.
Here’s my three-day itinerary for Mardi Himal:
- Day 1: Pokhara to Kande, trek to Forest Camp
- Day 2: Forest Camp to High Camp
- Day 3 High Camp to Sidhing
If you have more time and/or don’t mind walking on some roads, you could also walk to Mardi Himal from Pokhara directly. One day from Pokhara to Sarangkot (the hill overlooking Pokhara as seen from the Peace Pagoda), overnight there and continue to Forest Camp (about 20 km) the next day. I really wanted to do this, but it was so smoggy it actually hurt my lungs just breathing when I was still in Pokhara.
Preparing for the Mardi Himal Base Camp Trek
There are a few things to consider before you set off on your hike. You’ll need your ACAP permit, pack some essential items, and decide if you want to use a guide and porter. You can read this helpful blog post for trekking in Nepal’s Annapurna region I wrote. It has all the essentials.
There was a permit checkpoint after Australian Camp, where you enter the Conservation Area, so I think it would be difficult to be sneaky and try to hike without a permit.
How long is the Mardi Himal Trek?
Most trekking offices advertise the trek to take about four to five days, but guided groups normally take more breaks and have shorter days. We hiked the 38 km of Mardi Himal in three days. But there are so many tea houses in between that you could stop and stay somewhere off-schedule any time you want.
How hard is the Mardi Trek in Nepal?
The Mardi trek’s difficulty is hard to judge because everyone is different. I have a lot of experience hiking, but stairs still give me breathless moments and I’m super clumsy going down. There was no snow when we walked this in late March 2025, but this is not always the case. Plus, this trail is less frequented, so if you do have to walk on snow it’s not as compact and easy to walk on as on other trails, such as ABC Trek. The section between High Camp and the viewpoint is exclusively stairs. This made it especially difficult for me because I didn’t have breakfast and we woke up early (I’m such a princess). Generally though, the terrain is more natural and has fewer stairs than Annapurna Base Camp Trek. There were people of all ages and abilities, so anyone of decent fitness (but high level of motivation) can do it.
How much does it cost to hike Mardi Himal?
Just as difficulty, cost is a very fluent concept. We spent 4000 to 5000 rupees per day at the teahouse for two people. This includes the room, dinner, breakfast, a hot shower, and WiFi/electricity. Plus 500 rupees for tea and coffee during the day. In addition, you have to budget for the transportation. This adds another 1000 to 1500 rupees per person for the jeep from Sidhing and 200 rupees for the bus to Kandi.
The guesthouses make their own prices for rooms, hot showers, and WiFi. But the menu is streamlined by the Annapurna association to prevent guesthouse from outbidding each other. This also means that you get the same foods everywhere in the conversation area, which is kind of comforting. You can spend the whole day looking forward to a very specific meal or rate the same potato dish at every stop.
How to get to Mardi Himal from Pokhara?
Getting to the start point for Mardi Himal trekking is very straightforward. The official start point is just up the road from Kande, on the same street that goes to Nayapul for Poon Hill and the ABC trek. The local bus is very cheap and only costs around 200 rupees per person. The busses leave every hour on the hour from the main bus station Baglung. The first one leaves at 6 a.m. It takes around 1 hour to reach Kande. The taxi from Lakeside to the bus station costs 500 to 600 rupees. Be prepared to spend the entire ride convincing the driver that you want to experience the local bus instead of getting a ride with him all the way to Kande.
Nomad Notes from Mardi Himal Trek
Mardi Himal is definitely more remote than Poon Hill, but WiFi is still widely available. We saw signs at all the guesthouses. I didn’t work this time, but (unfortunately) was able to use Instagram and the likes to my heart’s desire.
My Mardi Himal Trek itinerary
Safe for the diversion from Low Camp to Sidhing, Mardi Himal is an in-and-out trek. This means that it’s not a loop and you have to go back the same way you came. To avoid this and also extend the trek a bit, you could walk down to Landruk, which is where you can connect to ABC trek.
Stay tuned for my day-to-day report 🙂
Digital nomad essentials for life on the road
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Flights
I normally book my flights via Skyscanner or Kiwi. These search engines for flights show all the best connections and even include budget airlines for transfer hacks that can save you even more money.
Hotels
I normally use a good mixture of booking.com and Agoda to get the best deals. I like booking for its user-friendly interface. But for Asia, I’ve found that Agoda has a wider selection of hotels.
If you’re on a budget, Hostelworld will be your best bet because they focus on dormitory-style accommodation.
Tours
GetYourGuide is perfect for locally guided tours or if tickets are already booked. I saw the famous Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci with them in Milan and had a very smooth experience.
Klook is a great option to book bus tickets in South Korea. This can be such a hassle, especially if you want to book before you actually get to the country. Klook allows you to book a bus ticket online for pickup at the station. You can also reserve SIM card packages with them an arrange airport pickup, with is super convenient because it’s already paid for.
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