Complete Guide to Poon Hill Trekking

Himalayan views without too much pain

So you want to climb a mountain in the Himalayas but don’t want to kill yourself or get altitude sickness? This one’s for you – Poon Hill at a mere 3,210m. Get yourself atop that peak and you’ll be able to soak in uninterrupted panoramic views of the Great Himalayan Range. A magic place to catch sunset, erh, even if it’s 4:30am depending on the time of year you’ll travel. This trek is definitely on the list of top 10 treks for Nepal. No camping required, too.

The Poon Hill Trek is a part of the Annapurna base camp trek – that trek alone will gobble up 13 to 18 days if you let it. If you need to see and touch the big peaks, ok, do Annapurna, but if you’re fine with just seeing those magnificent crests in the distance, Poon Hill is for you. With 100,000 trekkers tackling Poon Hill each year, you can’t go wrong. It’s the scenic ridge walk. Get into the mood. In the time it takes you to scan this review, you can listen to short samples of relaxing music of Nepal by Vajra. Just visit here to get it going on your speaker in the background.

Your brief on Nepal

You would have heard of the devastating 2015 earthquakes and landslides that hit Nepal, but the Annapurna region (where you’ll find Poon Hill trek route) was barely touched. Only 11 out of 75 of Nepal’s districts and three out of 35 trekking routes were affected, according to the Nepal Tourism Board.

As for man-made disasters, the country’s decade-long civil conflict ended in 2006 with thousands of people killed or having disappeared. Then, in 2008, it became a republic after 240 years of monarchy. Keep yourself updated about what’s happening in Nepal as things can change swiftly – that’s why foreign advisory services nudge you to exercise a “high degree of caution” while visiting.

Nepal, covers 147,181 square kilometres, and these days is home to 31 million people with women’s life expectancy 70 and men’s 68. Obesity rates are miniscule. Rice, dal, vegetables, and chilli sauce are staple foods in Nepal and ideal to keep you fuelled while trekking, but explore the Nepali street food, too. Oh, and here’s a list of quirky things about Nepal you won’t find in most guides including that people spit on the ground, you’ll find dust in your underwear during the non-monsoon season and goats could be your fellow passengers on a local bus trip. Nice mental images there.

The path before you

This trek is in the central part of Nepal with the starting point of Pokhara about 200km west of Kathmandu and about 180km north of the southern border city, Sunali. You choose between a 30-minute scenic flight of up to six-hour drive from Kathmandu to get to Pokhara.

So, here’s the Annapurna Circuit (or Ghorepani to) Poon Hill Trek in five days – begin in Pokhara for the 46km drive/bus trip to Nayapul (1,010m) where the trail starts. Four hours of hiking separates you from Tirkhedhunga (1,525m), your stop for the night – this blog captures that day. Next day you’re up for five hours of trudging to get to Ghorepani. The next day, get up early to tackle the one-hour-long trek to see sunrise from the top of Poon Hill, then you’ve got a five-hour trek to Tadapani. By day four, you’ll be warmed up for seven hours of hiking to Ghandruk (2,000m). The next day, you’ll only need to hike up to two hours max (passing Way Jhinu Hot Spring and Syauli) to the meeting spot for transport back to Pokhara. Including the drive to/from Pokhara, it’s 133km approximately. That means you’ll be on your feet for about 40km – on average hiking between three and five hours each day. Here’s an easy-on-the-eye (and ear) video capturing the trek. Expect to walk through rhododendron and oak forests.

What you’ll see

Talking about vistas, a group of travellers who focus on Nepal, called Ghumante, have posted exquisite images of the trek on their blog and it gives you glimpses of those steps you’ll need to conquer. For a totally different vista of the Annapurna Circuit from Kathmandu to Pool Hill, take in these sketches and blog from an artist and recent trekker, Marni Zainodin. And you’ll want to see the vid of the sunrise from Poon Hill, too.

How fit do you have to be?

Bangladeshi writer Tahmeed Chaudhury tackled the climb having no trekking experience, a “fitness level below the minimum standards” and he only acclimatized at Pokhara for just a day. One of the low points for him was a trail “composed entirely of 3,300 steep stone steps”. Tahmeed said he took lots of breaks over the three “excruciatingly painful hours” he needed to scale it. Hate to break it to you, but another blogger, Becky, says there are actually more than 4,000 steps, yup, but who’s counting (we sure didn’t). She describes it as “neither a nature hike nor a cultural experience” as the villages felt like tourist centres. The Poon Hill Trek can be trudged in any season and by any person including children and older people. We’d advise a moderate of fitness including walking, jogging and, yes, climbing steps to train.

If you’d prefer your adventure to be more off trail, stay awhile in Pokhara, known as the City of Lakes. Around this city you can see more than 20 mountains and nine lakes. There are mystical caves such as Mahendra, Chamero, Gupteshwor, Sita, Crystal, Crazy and Devi’s Fall for you to explore. Check out the International Mountaineering Museum, Gorkha Memorial Museum, the Regional Museum, Annapurna Natural History Museum and Gurung Museum. Ramp up your adventuring with rafting, bungee jumping, skydiving, zip flying or even paragliding nearby. Yep, you can paraglide over Pokhara, monasteries, temples, majestic lakes and jungle forests particularly at sunrise or sunset.

Time is of the essence

In fact, you could spend more time doing those off-trek adventures. Others have nailed said trek in two nights and three days. Reshma Narasing, a full-time travel blogger, who writes under the name, the Solo Globetrotter agrees. When she trekked in February, winter was about to end and the valleys looked barren. If you’re doing the trek in the rainy season, there will be leeches (douse them in salt to deflect them). The most popular time for this trek is from September to November, but other times also recommended are February, March, and April. As for the weather, keep your eye on the mountain forecast site, which also includes an interactive topographical map or the hour-by-hour forecast for nearby Ghorepani.

Mapping out your adventure

You could do this trek without buying a map beforehand, but if they’re your thing, visit Omnimap for a quality one. Google has this basic overview and there’s a huge range via Google Images here.

To join a tour or not

You have three options – to book a tour through an agency, hire a local guide who’s been recommended to you, such as through your hotel, or go solo wolf.

There are oodles of organised tours on offer ranging from just over US$400 for a five day trek to US$855 for 12 days, but keep an eye on prices due to currency fluctuations. The rule is to get three quotes before you decide. Check the fine print regarding what the package deal does and doesn’t cover and figure out if you’ll need a porter to carry your gear (we’re guessing not with the ease of this trek).

If a local guide is your preference, meet them first to ensure if you click. It can really dampen your trip if you get narky around your guide. Using a guide means you’ll pay for everything plus about US $25 a day to cover your guide’s meals, accommodation, services and the tip. It’s a good deal if you can find a local guide – not always easy and see how open they are to bargaining on the price.

You won’t be a pioneer if you do the Poon Hill trek solo – it’s actually quite common and the cheapest option. If you’re not hassled organising the logistics yourself, you’ll make considerable savings and think again about doing it all online before you go as this approach could see you pay triple. Also, the trek route is well-trodden so don’t stress about getting lost. If you’re not trekking with a guide, try haggling with a teahouse for accommodation – if you eat two meals there, sometimes your overnight stay is thrown in for free. Some guesthouses offer WiFi for about US$1 an hour, but save your bragging about the trek for when you return to Kathmandu using this list of cafes with fast WiFi.

Whatever option you select to get around, you’ll be staying in the same teahouses/accommodation which can be pretty basic. Don’t believe those ‘hot shower’ signs outside every guesthouse, by the way. You won’t have reliable electrical power around the clock either. And it can get tricky to get a room during some peak seasons.

Get permit ready

Pokhara, Nepal’s second biggest city, is the starting point for your trek so drop into the tourism office there to buy your permit or get it from the Kathmandu office. The permit you’ll need is to visit and trek the Annapurna Conservation Area. It will cost you about US$20. Next is your Trekkers’ Information Management Systems Fee – about US$16. Keep extra passport-size pix as you’ll need a couple when you apply for each entry trekking permit. 

What to take 

For the novices who’ve yet to trek, this is a nifty list to get you going, which depends of course on the season, temps and your tolerances. Our list includes thick down jacket, fleece top, wind jacket, waterproof pants jacket, thermal pants and tops, toasty gloves, several pairs of woollen socks, hiking boots, casual closed shoes, your own sleeping bag liner (we use a black silk one that packs minimally and won’t show the dirt), sunglasses, sunscreen, walking sticks (save your knees on those steps!), hat and some T-shirts. You’ll also need the local currency, Nepalese Rupees, as there won’t be many credit card machines on your track. BYO loo paper as chances are that the teahouses won’t supply it. A water bottle is a must, too, even where you get it filled up in lodges and restaurants, still pop in a water purification tablet and let it sit before you sip. Expect to spend about US$4 a day on water if you’re buying bottles.

Ensure you have snacks to keep you powered, too, and buy them up big in Pokhara. And despite this popular blog post’s name ‘How to Go Trekking in Nepal and what NOT do – Poon Hill Trek’ – it’s not about deterring you from this trek. It’s actually a good read to firm up your checklist for the trek. All up, you’d be expecting to carry about 6kg in your pack while doing this trek – apart from your snacks. You won’t need a personal locator beacon on this trek as it’s quite popular and not that strenuous. If you don’t fancy lugging in your trekking gear from overseas, consider buying or renting it in Pokhara.

Last words about the ‘hill’

Once you’ve made the commitment to visit Nepal and do the Poon Hill trek, be prepared for a bit of ribbing. Buddies will ask why you’re going to the Himalayas to climb a ‘hill’, not a mountain. Well, Poon Hill is the real deal, it is a mountain, but just in the scheme of things, smack on the rooftop of the world, there it’s considered down a notch or two.

By the way, for a taste of more Nepalese music (rather than samples), here’s something to start you on your Journey to Nepal (full album).