Annapurna Region Trekking

For many breathtaking reasons this is one of Nepal's most-visited areas. Every day that you spend in the Annapurna Conservation Area will be different both culturally and geographically. From lowland ethnic groups and paddy fields, to ethnically Tibetan people in the stark trans-Himalaya, this region is Nepal in a nutshell. One of the crowning glories of this conservation area is at the end of a walk along the world's deepest gorge, between two 8,000 m peaks. Here lies the sacred space of Muktinath, where Buddhists, Hindus, and animists come to pay their respects to the confluence of water, fire, and rock.

The trails along this region have been walked for centuries, with traders from Tibet making their way down to the lowlands through here; you still see traces of them in the mule and horse caravans that ply these trails. One of the most fascinating aspects of the Annapurna area for the culturally interested traveller is the meshing of low-, mid-, and highland cultures, ethnicities, and religions. Chhetris lower down, for example, have lifestyles, habits, and beliefs close to 'typical Hindus', while the Mustangis and Manangis on either side of the Thorong La resemble Tibetans in their worship, language, dress, and food. The Thakalis below Muktinath are renowned for their hospitality and tradition of inn-keeping. On the lower reaches of the trail, the Gurungs have their own distinct appearance, as well as interpretation of Buddhism, Hinduism, shamanism, and animism. There is more recent history visible in some parts of the Annapurna region - abandoned encampments set up by the Tibetan Khampa rebels in the 1960s.

This area is home to two of the world's highest mountains, the 8,167 m Dhaulagiri, and the 8,091 m Annapurna, and also the occasional hot spring. Between the two giants lies the roaring Kali Gandaki river valley, where you can often find saligrams, 140 million-year-old fossils. Here also lies one of the world's most beautiful mountains, the sacred Macchapucchare, or Fishtail. The wildlife and plants change from the subtropical villages to the alpine and desert areas. You'll walk through broad-leaf forests with oaks and laurels lower down, while further up are forests filled with brightly coloured rhododendrons, the national flower, delicately scented blue pines and high up, right on the tree line, birches. You'll hear barking deer and little dippers, see myriad species of butterfly, and maybe somewhere sense the presence of a snow leopard.