Annapurna Base Camp

Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) is the glacial cirque at the foot of Annapurna I — the 8,091 m peak that was the first 8,000er ever climbed (Maurice Herzog's 1950 French expedition). The trek to it is the shorter, more focused alternative to the Annapurna Circuit: a 7-day, 115 km out-and-back from the village of Nayapul, climbing through Gurung farming villages and bamboo forests into the inner sanctuary, where you camp at 4,130 m directly below a 360° wall of glaciated peaks.

The trek follows the Modi Khola valley up through a series of villages — Ghandruk, Chhomrong, Bamboo — each a couple of hours apart, all with comfortable teahouses serving dal bhat. Above Chhomrong the trail crosses to the west side of the valley and climbs through bamboo and rhododendron forest to Bamboo (2,300 m), Deurali (3,200 m), and the avalanche-prone gorge below the Annapurna Sanctuary. Machhapuchhre Base Camp (3,700 m) is the last teahouse before the final climb; from there it's only 5 km but 400 m up into the cirque to ABC itself. Most groups arrive at MBC for lunch, walk up to ABC for sunset, sleep at ABC for the famous starscapes, and walk back down to MBC and beyond the next morning before afternoon clouds close the views.

Trek seasons are September–November (clearest skies) and March–May (rhododendrons in bloom). Monsoon (June–August) brings landslides and heavy rain; winter (December–February) sometimes closes the upper sanctuary with avalanche risk. Two permits are required — ACAP and TIMS, both arranged in Kathmandu or Pokhara. Teahouse beds are NPR 500–1,000 (~$5–10) and you'll be expected to eat where you sleep. As of 2023 Nepal's tourism board requires a licensed guide for all foreign trekkers — easily arranged in Pokhara for around $25–30 per day. Altitude is modest by Nepal standards but the rapid gain from Bamboo (2,300 m) to ABC (4,130 m) over 36 hours catches some hikers; build in a flexible extra day in Chhomrong or Bamboo if you have time.