Today early morning will take a tourist bus to get in Pokhara and it takes about 6-7 hours from Kathmandu. We can enjoy a beautiful scenic view of terraced rice field, eye-catching landscape, Trisuli, and Marysngdi Rivers and spectacular panoramic view of Ganesh Himal, Manaslu, Lamjung Himal and Most of the Annapurna range are seen.

Evening you can walk around the lakeside and boating in Fewa lake to visit the Tal Barahai Temple (Island Temple)

 We start the walking for 4-5 hours after driving for 30 min to astounding Pothana (1925m) Gurung village is our today`s destination. We are able to see the panoramic view of Machhapuchhe, Annapurna south, and Himchuli in today`s journey. Overnight stay at Tea House. 

From Pothana you walk up to a place called Pitam Deurali where you will turn off the main Annapurna Sanctuary trek and continue along a quiet trail through a dense forest of oak, maple, hemlock, and rhododendron. Tonight we stay at one of the lodges in a clearing of the forest at Forest Camp or also known by the locals as Kokar.

The lodges at Kokar are quite basic and there is no dining room so you will probably have meals in a kitchen with the owner, so in some ways, this is more like a home-stay and is a good opportunity to get to know this friendly family from Siding village.

 The trail continues from Forest Camp to Low Camp through the forest however as we ascend the vegetation starts to change with more rhododendron and the trees are covered with moss, lichen, and tree ferns. At Low Camp, there are two basic lodges one with a dining room with open fire. The view from Low Camp is superb with Mount Machhapuchhre (Fishtail) visible up the valley. 

An hour or so above Low Camp the trail breaks out above tree line and towards the west, there is a good view to Annapurna South and Himchuali. The trail continues along the Mardi Himal ridge mainly on grass with some isolated rhododendron bushes along the way. Look out for the colourful Danphe pheasant on this section of the trail.

The lodge at High Camp is larger than lodges at Low Camp and Forest Camp, this one has eight rooms and a separate dining room with heater. The view from the lodge is superb to Annapurna South, Himchuali and Machhapuchhre (Fishtail).

The plan for today is to wake early for a sunrise view of the mountains then after an early breakfast walk up the ridge towards Mardi Himal Base Camp. There is a well-established trail through the grass with a couple of steeper sections however overall not too challenging. Look out for the dzokpo (yak/ cow crossbred) grazing up here as well as Danphe pheasant.

In the summer the sheep and goats from lower villages are brought up to graze in this area so you will pass a number of herder’s huts along the way. After three hours you should reach Base Camp at the elevation of 4500 m this is where one can look into the Annapurna Sanctuary and the panorama view is spectacular looking at the south face of Annapurna and all of the peaks in the Sanctuary as well as Himchuali and Machhapuchhre (Fishtail).

 On the way back we take a different route to complete a circuit, from Low Camp there is a trail that goes down to Siding village rather than going back down Mardi Himal back to Kokar. Siding is a traditional Nepalese village and still very much away from the busier modern tourist treks and it is likely you will stay at a homestay in Siding owned by the person who runs one of the lodges at Low Camp. 

From Siding, you walk out to the road head at Lumle for 3-4 hours, on the way from Siding you will pass the villages of Kalimati and Ghalel. Kalimati is mainly a Brahmin village with Ghalel and Siding mixed Brahmin and Gurung. From Lumle we catch the taxi to Pokhara which is around an hour's drive.

Pokhara is the tourist’s paradise full of natural as well as cultural heritage sites such as lakes, caves, Buddhist and Hindu temples along with the magnificent views of mountains. Overnight stay at Hotel.