Kimche is about 1 hours
walking below Ghandrung and this road goes upto Nayapul (black top) and then on
a dirt track to Kimche – the black top section is quite good now and the whole
journey by jeep takes about 2 hours. There are also buses running from the
Pokhara bus park. NPR 9000/-
It is possible now to
go all the way upto Ghandrung by taking a lower road (not the Kimche one) by
jeep and it would take about 2.5 hours to reach Ghandrung. An early departure
from Pokhara would make it possible to trek to Tadapani the same day. NPR
10,000/-
The same road which
goes to Ghandrung carries on further to Kimrong Danda possibly a 30 minutes
drive from Ghandrung.
The approach to the
Annapurna Base Camp trek would be shortened by a day or more by driving to
Landrung in about 3 hours and heading up to Jhinu Danda the same day. But there
is also now a road which is ending below Jhinu so for ABC trekkers looking to
save time this would be the better option (see below). NPR 12,000/-
This road goes near
Jhinu Danda in about 3-3.5 hours from Pokhara so from here you could walk to
Chomrong the same day. NPR 12,000/-
This walk from Phedi
is now effectively over as the road goes all the way to Dhampus in about 1 hour
minutes from Pokhara. You could do a day trek in this region walking from
Dhampus to Australian Camp and then down to Kande to meet the road and back to
Pokhara.
Pitam Deorali is the
usual first day’s stop for the Mardi Himal trek but now it is possible to drive
here in about 2 to 2.5 hours and go to Forest Camp the same day if you can
leave Pokhara by 7 am.
There are the
following options for the Mardi trek depending on where you enter or exit the
trek:
Pokhara to Siding 2
hours NPR 8000/-
Pokhara to Kalimati 1 hour 30 min
Pokhara to Lawang 1
hour 30 min
The road now goes upto
Banthanti and it is being steadily pushed towards Ghorepani. From Banthanti to
Nayapul would be about 50 min and 1 hour 15 min to Pokhara from there. NPR
10,000/-
There are different
approaches and exits for this trek but if you walk from Khopra to Swanta you
can get a jeep from here to Pokhara via Beni which takes 4-5 hours. NPR
18,000/-
The Annapurna Circuit
trek has been impacted by roads on both sides – along the Marsyandi from
Besisahar to Manang and along the Kali Gandaki from
Pokhara-Beni-Jomsom-Muktinath. The dirt track from Jomsom goes past Kagbeni all
the way to Lo Manthang in Upper Mustang possibly changing the standard Mustang
trek to a jeep safari. Regarding the circuit the upper route from Pisang to
Manang is still spectacular and after two day acclimatisation in Manang you
could attempt Tilicho/ Thorung La. However some alternative walking trails have been built on the other side of the river (referred to as the NAAT trails) and these do by pass the roads to a great extent. The only thing is that th trekking experience in not so enjoyable as you can hear the cars and motorbikes on the other side.