The Mardi Himal Trek is one of a short trekking route in Annapurna region. The Mardi Himal Trek formed only 12 years ago in 2010. Prior to that, this route was mostly camping grounds visited by expeditions. Some of the route was part of the original Annapurna Base Camp Trek, and later it branched off and headed towards Mardi Himal.
Mardi Himal stands at 5,587 m (18,330 ft). Although it is not that tall compared to the other mountains nearby, it does sit right in front of Machhapuchhre also known as the fish tail mountain. From the Mardi Himal Trek, you get epic views of this unique mountain, which does in fact look like a fish tail. This trekking trail is famous for its magnificent view of Himalayan panorama, dense rhododendron forest along the trail, alpine pastures and terraced fields, diversity on landscape and diverse Himalayan flora and fauna.
Mardi Himal stands next to the holy Mt. Fishtail, displaying its superb looks. The highest elevation you gain in this trail is 4,600m at the Mardi Base camp and the highest elevation you spend overnight is 3,550m. This trail goes mostly along the top ridges of the hills occasionally passing through villages, which prove its wilderness. Himalayan sights such as Mt. Dhaulagiri, Fishtail, Annapurna range along with Nilgiri and Tukuche peak can also be seen from this trek.
Mardi trek can be done in five to six days and it is a moderate trek. The first day is steep. The second day is difficult because it is so long. The last day requires a steep downhill, which is hard on the knees. Day three and four, is enjoyable.
The best time to trek Mardi is from March to May in the spring and late September to early December in the fall. A large chunk of this trek goes through a rhododendron forest, which is breathtaking late March and early April when all of the flowers are in bloom. Likewise, September till December, the sky will be clear and sunny so the mountains are visible almost all the time.
3 Hours Before Flight Time
Best and easy trails with lots of alder, pine and rhododendrons forests and the closer view of the mountains.
Welcome to Nepal!
Our team is happy and excited to greet you at the airport on your arrival. Our guide will pick you from airport on a private car and transfer you to the hotel you will be staying for couple of days in Kathmandu. The hotel is in Thamel, which is a hub for tourists and a happening place.
We will have a day tour at the Kathmandu Durbar Square area to visit the ancient Hindu monuments as well as to the monkey temple to visit the infamous Buddhist shrines and temples as a day tour in UNESCO listed world heritage sites in Kathmandu. We will also do some trekking preparation by buying trekking essentials and also doing the permits arrangement. Overnight stay at the hotel in Kathmandu.
After having an early breakfast, we take a tourist bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara which will be around 6 to 7 hours of ride. After reaching Pokhara, we will catch a private Jeep towards Kande village which will take around an hour to reach from Pokhara. We will stay overnight at Kande.
We will wake up to witness a beautiful sunrise in a very peaceful and beautiful village of Kande and have a breakfast. After that, we will be heading towards Pittam Deurali via Australian camp and Pothana which is roughly about 4 to 5 hours of walk.
We will be walking in beautiful trail of forest. After 4 hours of walk, we will stop at forest camp for lunch and walk further 3 hours to reach at Low camp.
You will see spectacular view of Machhapuchchhre (fishtail) and Annapurna South. After roughly 4 hours of trek, we will reach at the High Camp which is at an altitude of 3,550m from sea level.
Early morning before the sunrise, we will hike to Mardi Himal viewpoint (4,200m) which will take around 4 hours of round trip to high camp. If you don’t want to go all the way to the base camp, you can hike halfway to reach the viewpoint and return to high camp. After lunch, we will head down towards Low Camp via Badal Danda for overnight stay.
After a very nice view in the morning and a breakfast, we head towards Siding and reach there after around 4 hours of hike. We will stop there for a lunch and catch a Jeep for Pokhara. 3 hours of drive will take us to Pokhara and then overnight stay at the hotel in lakeside area.
Option: It is also possible to extend one more day by trekking from Siding to Lwang Ghalel. This is around 5-6 hours of hike and then overnight stay at teahouse. next day, you can drive back to Pokhara by Jeep.
We will catch a tourist bus from Pokhara to Kathmandu for around 6-7 hours of ride. After reaching Kathmandu, we will transfer you to your hotel and later in the evening we will have a farewell dinner celebrating for the completion of Mardi Himal Trek.
Option: You can catch a domestic flight from Pokhara to Kathmandu if you want to reach Kathmandu early and explore the city instead of a bus ride.
