Annapurna Add-on Tour

Discover the foothills of the Annapurna region

This four-day trek is a perfect introduction to trekking in Nepal. The route takes us through the foothills of the Annapurna region, one of the most spectacular of Nepal’s Himalayan massifs. We will also pass through Gurung villages set amongst the steeply terraced fields with splendid mountain vistas.

This add-on tour starts two days before the end of the main tour. At the end of the trek, you continue to Kathmandu following the rest of the main tour’s itinerary.

Sustainability and Impact

As a certified B Corp, we’re on a mission to improve our social and environmental impact across all our adventures.

We do this through our innovative Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan.

This ‘nature positive’ approach is designed to help nature and communities thrive in harmony though practical solutions, such as reducing carbon and waste on our trips, supporting conservation projects through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, and rewilding 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller.

Is this trip for you?

This add-on tour has been graded Activity Level 3 (Moderate). For more information on our trip gradings please visit the Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.  

It is a great introduction to Himalayan trekking with four days of walking and full porterage throughout, so you need only carry a daypack. This is a moderate trek with four days point-to-point walking. We walk 3‐5 hours each day and stay in local mountain lodges (known as teahouses). Altitude is not a concerning factor on this trek.

When trekking in the Annapurna region, many of the trails on this trek include stone steps which can be uneven in places. A fairly decent level of fitness is required, with experience of hill walking as there are quite a few steep uphill walks and stone steps with some long ascents and descents. This could be even more of a challenge for anyone suffering knee problems and we highly recommend you bring walking poles to assist you.

This add-on tour starts in Pokhara, 2 days before the main trip ends. This is Day 13 Land Only of the main trip, when the group travels from Pokhara to Kathmandu.  At the end of the trek, you will travel to Kathmandu and will follow the rest of the main tour itinerary independently from your original main group.

Exodus has more than 30 years’ experience organising treks in Nepal and our experienced English-speaking local leaders receive regular training and are qualified in first aid.

Please note that while we provide a tour leader for the main trip, there is no Exodus leader on this add-on tour. We will provide you with an English speaking Nepali guide and porters to carry your luggage. Your guide will meet you at your hotel in Pokhara on Day 13 (Day 14 ex London) of the main trip and brief you on the trek.

If you are the only person booked onto the add-on tour, a compulsory solo traveller supplement will be added to your booking. This rate is based on single room so no extra single supplement is required. Should additional passengers book onto the same departure, your compulsory solo supplement will be removed and your booking will be based on twin-share rooming. You can choose to upgrade to include the optional single supplement if preferred.

Nepal flight safety (optional upgrade: flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu)

Many of our treks in Nepal use domestic flights to reach the trekking areas. The mountainous Nepalese terrain is subject to changeable weather, which makes flying conditions complex and challenging, and unfortunately there are significantly more incidents here than in other countries, including fatalities. The EU highlighted the poor safety record in Nepal in 2013 by including all Nepalese-registered airlines on the EU banned list, which prevents them from flying in EU airspace. While no Nepalese-registered airlines currently fly within the EU, the EU instigated this ban to highlight the risk of flying in Nepal to EU citizens. These airlines are unlikely to be members of internationally recognised safety audit systems and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Nepal does not operate to the same standards as those of Western nations.

Flying within Nepal is therefore a known risk, and we strongly encourage you to consider this carefully before booking. We suggest you refer to the following sources:

• The current travel advice for Nepal issued by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
• The Air Safety Network entry for Nepal

In response to concerns over this safety record, Exodus arranges for independent air-safety auditors to visit Nepal annually to assess the suitability of the available carriers. We then restrict our use to only those approved as part of this audit. In emergency situations, we will need to use helicopters, so we also have a list of approved helicopter carriers. Should concerns arise regarding the safety of an airline on our approved list, we will remove the carrier from the list immediately, and it would only be reinstated once our air-safety auditors are confident the airline meets acceptable safety standards.

We appreciate you may have concerns about flying within Nepal, so we ask that you consider all the information above when deciding if you would like to upgrade your package to include a flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu at the end of the trek.

Following a review of all our trips we have categorised this trip as generally not suitable for persons of reduced mobility. However if you are a regular traveller on such trips, please contact customer services to discuss the trip and your personal condition.

Vaccinations and Health

Nepal

There are no required vaccinations. However, recommended vaccinations include tetanus, typhoid, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, cholera, Japanese encephalitis, rabies and tuberculosis. You will also need a yellow fever vaccination certificate if you’re arriving from a country with risk of yellow fever transmission or transiting for more than 12 hours through a country with risk of yellow fever transmission. Some travellers may also need proof of a polio vaccination. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

There is little to no risk of malaria in Nepal; therefore, antimalarial tablets are not usually advised although may be considered for certain high-risk groups. You may wish to consult your doctor or travel clinic for further advice.

Additionally, dengue fever and chikungunya are known risks in Nepal. Both are tropical viral diseases spread by daytime biting mosquitoes. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available for either, and therefore the best form of prevention is to avoid being bitten. We recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Most of our trips to Nepal go to high altitudes where there is a risk of being affected by Acute Mountain Sickness. Our itineraries are designed to enable everyone to acclimatise to these altitudes, but you should be aware that it is still possible for you to be affected. Please refer to the Altitude Warning within the Trip Notes for further advice on AMS.

When trekking at altitude, and particularly in cold weather, there is a higher chance of developing a cough (sometimes referred to here as the Khumbu cough) or cold symptoms. These symptoms could be a result of inhaling cold mountain air or dust (in the Everest region). You can mitigate against picking up coughs and colds by washing your hands with soap and water at available opportunities and using hand sanitiser. Also wear a buff over your neck and mouth when walking at altitude, particularly in colder weather, which will help limit cold, dry air entering your airways and keep your neck and chest warm.

Visa

Nepal

You can obtain your visa in advance or on arrival. The Immigration Department of Nepal has suspended visas on arrival for certain nationalities – please check if this applies to you with your nearest embassy or consulate.

Visa in advance

Apply for this through your local consulate or embassy. Further details on this option can be found here:

• For UK passport holders: https://uk.nepalembassy.gov.np/visa/
• For US passport holders: https://us.nepalembassy.gov.np/tourist-visa/

When applying for your visa in advance, the Nepalese government has an online application system (see links above for more info), but it is currently only accepting payments through Nepalese payment channels. Once the online form is completed, the applicant is required to print out the form and either send it, together with the passport, to the embassy, or attend in person.

Visa on arrival

1. When you arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, there will be three lines. If you have already secured your visa, go straight to the Immigration line. If not:
   Fill in a tourist visa form at the electronic kiosks. After inserting your passport, the machine will automatically fill out an application form, take an electronic photograph of you and print a paper slip. If the machine won’t read your passport, complete the details manually using the touchscreen. We recommend taking a passport photo with you just in case.
   Top tip: This process can be completed through the online immigration portal (click ‘Visa On-Arrival’) within 14-days prior to arrival in Kathmandu, helping you to avoid lengthy queues at the kiosks when you come through immigration – ensure you print and bring the confirmation with you. If you have completed your visa on arrival form in advance, go directly to the visa fees counters with your printed confirmation and skip the kiosk queues.
2. Proceed to the visa fees collection counter and pay the visa fee (in cash, if possible). Make sure to keep the receipt. Card payments are not always possible, so paying in cash is easiest, most currencies are accepted but US dollars are preferred.
3. Go to the relevant immigration desk and present your tourist visa form, payment receipt and passport to obtain your 15-, 30- or 90-day visa stamp. Please check you have been given the correct visa duration.

Food & Drink

All breakfasts are included.

The breakfasts on trek are fixed set menus, usually porridge or muesli with either toast, chapatti or pancake, plus an egg or omelette and a cup of tea/coffee. You may also be able to supplement your included breakfast with additional items on the teahouse menu should you wish. Items not included in the set breakfast should be ordered and paid for separately.

We do not include lunch and dinner on trek allowing you to choose what you want to eat. Lunch will be taken at a teahouse en route. Dinner will be in the same teahouse that you sleep at (this is custom in Nepal as teahouses base their room rate on it).

The menus in the lodges are almost identical to one another but offer a varied choice, ranging from traditional Nepalese dhal bhat to pizza and apple pie. Dhal bhat is the staple diet in Nepal and comes in many different forms but generally comprises curried lentils and meat or vegetables, rice, and a pickle/chutney. Another popular snack is momos, a type of Nepalese dumpling, fried or steamed and filled with meat or vegetables.

Although meat is available in the teahouses, we advise against eating it on trek. The meat has often been carried in the heat from lower altitudes for several days before reaching the lodges and can cause stomach upsets or illness. Germs can also be spread by handling dirty money – we recommend using hand sanitiser.

If you have a gluten-free diet, we strongly recommend you bring extra food and snacks with you to supplement the food on trek as there will be little variety available to you, particularly for breakfast. Even many of the soups are from powder/packets and contain gluten.

If you buy imported food and drink on trek, you will spend more than the suggested amount.

Drinking water

Staying hydrated is important when undertaking any physical activity, on this trip it is generally recommended to carry a 33floz (one litre) water bottle and drink at least 67floz (two litres) per person per day.

However, we strongly encourage you not to buy bottled water on trek as this contributes to the growing problem of plastic pollution in the trekking areas of Nepal.

You can top up water bottles at tea breaks and lunch stops along the way with some villages offering safe drinking water stations selling UV-treated water for about 50 rupees (US$0.40) per litre.

The teahouses also sell boiled water for approximately 150-300 rupees (US$1.15-US$2.30) per litre (the price increases the higher you trek) which should not require treating. This is also perfect for a bedtime refill as it can double up as a hot-water bottle.

Alternatively, all teahouses provide free cold water. Although this should not be drunk untreated, we recommend you bring a reusable bottle and use an effective form of water treatment. There are a wide range of products available that are more effective than traditional purification tablets – we recommend talking to an outdoor retailer for the latest advice as technologies are improving all the time. Make sure to check the product’s performance in cold/freezing conditions and consider battery life (lithium batteries are best in cold conditions).

Exodus has partnered with Water-to-Go, a filtration system that eliminates more than 99.99 percent of all microbiological contaminants from any non-saltwater source – visit Water-to-Go for more information. Exodus customers can claim 15 percent off their first order and, better still, 15 percent of the purchase value will be donated to the Exodus Travels Foundation. Please note, if the water freezes it will clog up the filter. In this event, defrost before use by sitting the filter in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes.

Weather

The main trekking season in Nepal is from October to mid‐May when daytime temperatures at most altitudes are generally comfortable for walking, the sky is clear much of the time and rain and snow are occasional occurrences. Daytime temperatures will vary from 15ºC to 35ºC. Different seasons offer different advantages for trekking.

Post Monsoon/Autumn: October to November. This is the main trekking season in Nepal. Day temperatures will be up to 20ºC. Skies are usually clear and days on trek are sunny and mild with clear mountain views. Nights will be cooler with temperatures dropping to about 5ºC.

Winter: December to end February. Despite the cooler conditions this is an ideal time to trek in Nepal. Skies are usually very clear especially in December and the mountain views are at their best. Early mornings and evenings are cold with temperatures down to about freezing but once the sun is out days are pleasant and sunny with temperatures up to 19ºC. The trails are much less busy at the time of year.

Pre‐monsoon: March to May. Both day and night temperatures will be warmer in general but haze will often build up in the afternoons and there can be some rain. The days will be hot (up
to 25ºC). Nights will be a bit cooler. Flowers bloom in this season and this is one of the reasons people choose to trek in spring. The Annapurna region is famous for its rhododendrons in spring.

Please remember that in any mountain area the weather is never wholly predictable and you should be prepared and equipped to deal with any differences in weather beyond the conditions
described above.

The Annapurna trek add-on tour is not available on any departures during the summer months of June – early September due to poor weather from monsoon rains in this period.

Weather Charts

Kathmandu