Annapurna Base Camp: Sleep Low, Even When You Feel Fine

The walk to Annapurna Base Camp ends in a 360-degree amphitheatre at 4,130 metres, ringed by Annapurna South, Annapurna I, Machhapuchhre and Hiunchuli. Getting there is eleven days of walking through rhododendron forest, Gurung and Magar villages, and tea houses that have hosted trekkers for fifty years.

It is not a technical route. The thing that ends most attempts early is going up too fast.

The shape of the walk

From Nayapul or Ghandruk the trail climbs through Chhomrong — the last real village, and the point at which the valley forks — then follows the Modi Kholi into the sanctuary through Bamboo, Dovan, Deurali and Machhapuchhre Base Camp.

The forest section is beautiful and hot; the upper section is exposed, colder, and prone to cloud coming up the valley in the afternoon.

Annapurna Base Camp, Nepal

The acclimatisation mistake

The most common error is treating a good day as permission to gain 900 metres. The valley makes this tempting because the distances are short, and the penalty is usually paid at Deurali — the last stop before the sanctuary, at 3,200 metres, where people commonly sleep badly and wake with a headache.

The fix is simple and costs one night. Gain no more than 400 metres a day above 2,500 metres, take a rest day at Chhomrong, and add an extra night at Deurali rather than pushing straight through to Machhapuchhre Base Camp.

You cannot negotiate with altitude. You can only descend.

Descending is the treatment

If you are nauseous, if your headache does not respond to water and paracetamol, you go down. Tonight, not tomorrow morning. Every guide in the valley will tell you the same thing, and they are not being cautious — they are being accurate.

Almost all serious altitude problems on this route are solved completely by losing 500 metres of altitude.

Tea houses, and what to expect

The route is well served: tea houses run from simple to surprisingly comfortable, with twin rooms, blankets, and a dining hall with a stove that becomes the social centre of the evening. Prices are fixed by the local association at most stops, which removes the haggling.

Hot showers and charging cost extra, and both get more expensive with altitude. Cash only — there are no ATMs past Nayapul and very few places will take a card.

When to go

October and November are the best months: clear skies, stable weather and the rhododendron not yet in flower. March and April bring the rhododendron — genuinely spectacular below Deurali — with more haze and a higher chance of afternoon cloud.

Winter is cold, quiet and viable with proper gear. The monsoon is not recommended: leeches on the lower trail, slick stone steps, and almost no mountain views.

Allow eleven to twelve days from Pokhara at an honest pace. Ten is possible and much harder.