Nepal’s ABC trek, or Annapurna Base Camp trek, is a great option if you’re looking for those amazing views of the Himalayas without being completely off the grid. Starting only two hours from the main trekking hub Pokhara, it’s the perfect beginner-friendly trek that will get your heart pumping and leave you gasping for air – from views and elevation.
You can plan the ABC trail in Nepal in only one day in Pokhara, as getting the permit, buying last-minute items, and organizing transportation is super easy and well organized. This town lives for trekking and it shows at every street corner. Trekking shops and tour companies line the main street in Lakeside.
I love these kind of trekking towns, where people try to look casual or cute, but really their shoes tell a story of imminent adventure. I know that most of the items you can buy here are fake, but I still feel drawn to buying trekking clothes and finally owning a Patagonia fleece. It will be my life’s mission to choose a color and style I like and splurge.
ABC Base Camp trek: Route and distances
We walked Annapurna Base Camp trek via Poon Hill. This means that we skipped the traditional first day from Jhinu Danda and added an additional amazing short trek in Nepal that took us an extra 1.5 days.
We chose to sleep at MBC instead of ABC mainly because of its lower elevation. We had a lot of trouble sleeping at higher elevations. I wish I could blame the kids next door, but it was all us. Also, we had long hiking days, and the snow becomes slushy from the sun as the day progresses, so it’s much safer to ascend and descend between MBC and ABC as early in the day as possible.
If you don’t want to include Poon Hill trek, I suggest you use the following ABC trek itinerary. These are fairly long days, especially the 2000 meter descent on day 4, but we like a challenge:
- Day 1: Pokhara to Jhinu Danda, trek to Bamboo Camp
- Day 2: Bamboo to Machapucharé Base Camp (MBC)
- Day 3 MBC to ABC Camp, descend to Himalaya Camp
- Day 4: Himalaya to Jhinu Danda, jeep to Pokhara
If you have more time, you can also spend a night in Jhinu Danda and visit the hot springs in the area. These are about a 30-minute walk from the village.
Preparing for the Annapurna Trek in Nepal
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. I’ve written a helpful blog post for trekking in Nepal’s Annapurna region that has all the essentials.
There was a permit checkpoint at Chomrong before 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 ABC trek?
Most trekking offices in Pokhara advertise the Annapurna Base Camp trek in Nepal to take seven to nine days. However, we found that it took us only seven days including Poon Hill Trek.
How hard is the ABC trail?
The ABC 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. I also have some fears walking on snow, so I really took my time in those sections. The trek is super well maintained and not dangerous or difficult. The section between Deurali and ABC Camp (at the highest elevation) is more natural and doesn’t have any man-made stairs. But the lower altitudes are very straightforward with stairs and foresty sections. We saw plenty of people of all ages on the trail, even a very small baby.
How much does it cost to hike Annapurna Sanctuary?
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 or much less for the public bus.
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 ABC trek from Pokhara?
Getting to the start point for ABC trek is very straightforward. The official start point is a suspension bridge in Jhinu Danda. Shared jeeps leave Pokhara whenever they’re full. It costs between 6000 and 8000 rupees for the whole jeep, and it has space for five to eight people.
Since we walked ABC trek via Poon Hill, we took a local bus to Nayapul. They leave every hour on the hour from the main bus station Baglung and cost 300 rupees each. The first one leaves at 6 a.m. It takes around two hours to reach Nayapul, including a short break for food and restrooms. 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 Nayapul.
Nomad notes from ABC trek
Annapurna Base Camp trek is definitely more remote than Poon Hill, but WiFi is still widely available. We saw signs at all the guesthouses, but I think we were the only ones having actual work calls from the Himalayas. If those clients only knew the view we were having or the layers we were wearing.
My ABC trek itinerary
Annapurna Sanctuary trek, as the ABC trek is also known, is technically 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 ABC trek a bit, I walked it via Poon Hill. This added two extra days and made the trek route a bit more varied.
Day 1: Tadapani to Bamboo
For my full hiking report of Poon Hill and how to get to Tadapani, read my Poon Hill blog post.
After a half-day of work and a glorious sunrise in Tadapani, we set out fresh and rested. We had high hopes for today, and the trek didn’t disappoint. We walked through a beautiful forest, saw monkeys jump between the trees, and gazed at the peaks peeking through the foliage.
If you’re thinking of doing this trek, it’s worth considering to mix up this itinerary and not stay at the main camps. We passed some teahouses on the way down and kept thinking that it could be so nice to stay at the less frequented tea houses for some peace and quiet. But maybe next time.
It was a long descent down to a river, and we even passed some very scenic pagodas. The stairs down were fairly easy to walk, but I was already feeling my legs at the first suspension bridge. This felt like a bad omen. But I was determined to make it as far up as possible today to reach MBC camp the next day.
The next uphill was pretty steep. We had to take a few breathers along the way before we walked on a beautiful trail that hugged the hillside. Visibility was really good, but unfortunately, we didn’t see the mountains because the hills covered the view. We passed some tea houses and restaurants that seemed more like small villages, with families, babies, and puppies filling them with life. Down to the next suspension bridge we went before a long uphill to Chomrong. On the way, we stopped for a scenic tea and found internet to watch the full version of the Jackson 5 song “ABC” that I had been singing every time I saw an ABC sign.
We turned a corner and suddenly the full mountain panorama revealed itself. What a sight. I was especially impressed by laundry hanging in this area because people actually live here. I wouldn’t mind hanging laundry with this view!
Chomrong had a small town vibe, and there were not one, but two German bakeries. We skipped them for now, but didn’t know then that we’d come back on the way down. This is also where you can buy hiking sticks, crampons, toilet paper, Snickers, and everything else you may need. Chomrong is also where you pass a tourist checkpoint to have your permit checked and stamped. If you enter the Annapurna Conservation Area for the first time, they will keep the bottom and stamp the top of your permit for you to keep.
My guess is that the town itself has an elevation change of at least 200 meters. This is especially painful because you can see where you need to go (same elevation), yet you have to go down, cross a bridge and walk back up. There are mules/ponies/horses everywhere on this trek. In this section, the ground was completely covered in horse manure making the air quite dusty and smelly. That’s especially unfortunate when you breathe heavily, haha. On the way up, the trail became narrower. I had to duck into the bushes to make space for a running horse and rider that didn’t care about people in their way. The thing with the ponies is that even if you make space, you can never be quite sure exactly what trek they’re using and may end up trying to make some last-minute adjustments to your position.
We planned to go up to Sinewa Camp at least. Since it was early, we decided to push on to the next camp, Bamboo. We asked a lady if she thought we could make it to Bamboo, because it was already after 3 pm. Since she said she will go too, we said “let’s go” and set off together. I was pretty tired by this point. But the trail was really enjoyable and we made it to Bamboo camp in due time to play with not one, not two, but three puppies. We stayed at Buddha Guesthouse, which was fine, but in hindsight it was one of the least cozy ones in terms of dining room setup and general atmosphere, but this is just my personal opinion.
Day 2: Bamboo Camp to MBC
This was my favorite section of the hike. After morning cuddles with the puppies, we set off up, up, up as always. There were a lot of guesthouses on the way today, so it was nice to have a kind of schedule and divide the day into sections. The first waypoint, Dovan Camp, was followed by a pagoda next to a 90 degree cliff face. There were some small waterfalls, and I could only imagine what this place would look like after some rainfall. I had my second breakfast, or the second half of my only breakfast actually, and closed my eyes for a bit to enjoy the quiet, until a loud prayer gong pulled me from my thoughts. Time to hike!
Next came Himalaya Camp, which I really liked. The main “square” was full of life, the sun was shining, and I wished I was a more relaxed hiker to enjoy my breaks, but I always feel the need to move on. We just refilled our water and continued the trek. The scenery today was just beautiful, because the way followed a river valley offering panoramic views of the snowy mountains. The higher we came, the more snow was on the other side too, but the first snowy section I actually had to navigate was between Hinku cave and Deurali camp. I was happy I had my sticks, and the trail on the ice was more muddy than fresh, so I didn’t slip.
We arrived in Deurali Camp quite early in the day and were planning to push on to MBC today. My head got in the way as I heard there had been some avalanches in the upcoming section, but in the end we decided to go anyway, because porters and guided groups were still leaving. And sure enough, soon after Deurali we passed a sign announcing an avalanche risk area. We descended to a mostly dry riverbed, walked through a mix of snow and bush, and crossed the river before me met larger and larger patches of snow. I was still in my shorts and shirt and the wind was picking up too, so we put crampons and a warm layer on.
This was the only section where the trail wasn’t immediately obvious, but we saw some cables leading up, so we roughly followed those. Earlier this morning we had seen a group of three porters carrying giant cable coils up the mountain. If the weight wasn’t enough of a challenge, the coils were actually connected, meaning they had to stay close together. And all so we could have lights and WiFi up there, what a crazy world.
The more I walked on the snow, the more amazed I was by my crampons. They made such a huge difference and kept me from sliding even on steeper downward sections. The trail was also a bit narrow with steeper drop-offs, so I was very happy about the extra grip. The scenery was spectacular in this section, and I kept stopping to turn around and look back into the snowy valley. The mountains looked almost unreal. Even though I really liked this section, I was also very happy to arrive.
I didn’t expect to be freezing the whole afternoon though. Of course I know that the place wouldn’t be insulated and that we were at 3600 meters, but I guess you don’t really know what this means for comfort levels until it actually happens. The camp had a beautiful view, but you’ll understand how cold it was when I say that the “terrace” was made with snow.
Day 3: MBC–ABC–Himalaya
Today was a big day. In other regions we’d call it summit day, but not in the Himalayas. Here it’s merely basecamp day, but that’s good enough for me. Unlike most people who make this a sunrise hike, we decided to just wake up reasonably early, have breakfast and then set off. The weather was sunny and it was really cold at first, but this changed after about two minutes of walking – guess where? Up.
If you’re thinking of doing this trek, be aware that starting late means that you’ll encounter all the people walking down. I’ve found that many hikers in this region don’t have any etiquette, so I was mostly the one trying to find secure footing off trail because noone budged. Apart from that, I was mostly busy trying to breathe and enjoy the view. It took us roughly two hours to reach base camp at 4130 meters. There’s another viewpoint of the valley a bit further, but the clouds were coming in, so we skipped that part and just took our time enjoying sour Haribos we kept for this occasion.
On the way down, the snow underfoot was no longer crunchy but more like slush from the sun, making it a lot more slippery despite the crampons. Some people used plastic bags or their bums to slide down some steep sections, but I’m never quite courageous enough. I’d rather stagger down with my hiking sticks, looking like an idiot and using bad words.
We made it back to MBC for a second coffee after about four hours and continued down to Deurali. My boyfriend gave his crampons to someone in need, and we reached Deurali just in time for hail and rain. We had tea, I treated myself to a Snickers, and after an hour, the rain had passed and we continued. Talk about perfect timing.
It was quite nice to see how different the trek looked on the way back, because the weather was different too. I was a bit hesitant about doing an in-and-out trek, but I really enjoyed it. We spent the night at Himalaya Camp. I was too tired to choose, so we just went with the first one.
Day 4: Himalaya to Jhinu Danda/Pokhara
This was our last walking day and it was going to be a long one. I had one last breakfast of fried Tibetan bread and jam, with a boiled egg for the road.
The downhill was super smooth and I felt really comfortable walking. I didn’t have to overthink every step, so I was able to walk an acceptable pace. We took some small break to eat our last snacks, but by the time we had passed all the suspension bridges and related ascends and descends, I was starving for some cake at the German bakery in Chomrong. I’m quite snobbish when it comes to cake (or should I say, I’m a connoisseuse) and I was very impressed. We ate a brownie and apple cake, I washed my dirty hands with soap, what more can you wish for?
From Chomrong, it was less than an hour of downhill to Jhinu Danda, and let me say that I was really happy that we weren’t going up. The stairs were relentless and people were huffing and puffing, but fresh-faced and clean on their first day. We saw porters lugging up all sorts of things, like tables, mattresses, pipes, you name it. Maybe someone was building a new guesthouse?
Just after Jhinu Danda, you cross a very long suspension bridge, and that’s the end/beginning of ABC trek. We did it! There were loads of jeeps to take us to an intersection about 15 minutes up a very bumpy road. There is construction work at the moment, so we had to walk 20 minutes on a very sandy road to change jeeps.
We met a group of other hikers and were able to share one for 1000 rupees each, all the way to Lakeside and then went straight to Fire Pizza for a celebratory dinner and mint lemonade.
Digital nomad essentials for life on the road
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Flights
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Hotels
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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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