The Annapurna Circuit is often regarded as one of the world’s most popular trekking routes. We put it down to the wide open weather, lovely landscape, and good-natured attractions. It’s a trek hardcore trekkers fantasize about doing someday.” Even then, given a place name palimpsest though that may be, or themes as number-coded as the themed distances between those three thematic points of interest, there’s so much more in that palimpsest than those symbolism hotspots-that-should-not-be-hotspots every (roughly) 23 km and change along the main road for searching minds and explorer hearts: whether it’s lost villages (or unlost villages), having-a-gander, cultural/art hubs, knees-ups or general wonder where you can to go to (figuratively speaking) escape the ocean of lederhosen or Dirndl-garlanded walkers and go even more away from the path less walked further.
For those of us, when we stumble upon these little treasures, you not only add value to your already amazing experience of the How many miles is Annapurna Circuit adventure, but you are taught a lesson, brought back down to earth on the unadulterated and pure history, what trekking should be all about. I’ll share how you can do the same in this guide. I’ll show you where to find / to seek these secret spots on your Annapurna Circuit Trek.
Venture Off the Beaten Path
The villages inside the circuit are Besisahar, Chame, Pisang, Manang, and Jomsom on a regular Annapurna circuit trek. Lovely places, all — but of course, with the hordes come the chains, and the magic’s rarely far from the tourist trudge.
Villages like Dhukur Pokhari and Ngawal, as well as the lovely town of Braga, give you time to experience real local life, virtually no trekkers, and the same mind-blowing view of the Himalayas. In remote reaches that are crying out to be visited and don’t yet receive the same level of traveler visits, at least not just yet. Short story: In places like Dhukur Pokhar, you’re not going to see anything but peace flanked by Annapurna’s mighty faces, without the creature comforts of some of the more touristy thoroughfares still in existence.
So seek you will, for both physically and virtually, to discover these locations. Investigate other trails, take a look at topographic maps, and ask courses or folks who recognize the local landscape like the return of their palms. Most of them are simply an hour or so off the dual carriageway, and, if you have the time on your timetable, they’re well worth the detour.
Explore Local Culture and Traditions
The Trek Nepal Annapurna Circuit region is a cultural hot spot: It’s a Tibetan trading culture. People, it accommodates various ethnic groups – the Gurung, Thakali, Manangi, etc. Some of the more westernised/larger villages/towns have already got used to the throngs of trekkers passing through their daily lives- however the smaller more remote cultural villages have not and are also you are always up against those who like to tell you to keep your ‘tourist shame’ to yourself, when village life out of the cities is all that you are used to.
Sleeping in the back of a small, locally owned family teahouse, eating a meal of dal bhat cooked over firewood, and doing a traditional Buddhist puja ceremony were lessons and emotional experiences no guidebook could ever give. It is for many trekkers the highlight of their Annapurna round trek.
Time your stay with neighborhood festivals if you may: join the revelry in Muktinath during Yartung (summer season), or for Tibetan New Year, Losar, which rotates through the top Panang. They are intelligently gleaming and shining windows into the spiritual and community life of that place. Just be a good guest — join in when invited, and ask before photographing people or ceremonies.
Discover the Beauty of Off The Beaten Path
The Old Favourite Annapurna Circuit Trek The tried and tested old favourite Annapurna Circuit Trek teases you with half an epic Annapurna I, Dhaulagiri, and Machapuchare panorama on the way up before passing thousands or more top draw backdrops. One is the Tilicho Lake Trek — a side trip from the village of Manang will take you to one of the world’s largest and highest (4,919 meters) lake systems. You need to work it to get here, and once here, you won’t see many other hikers, but you cannot argue with the otherworldly factor and the compelling sense of peaceful isolation.
Other natural gems include:
Kicho Tal (Ice Lake) up above Braga –hard work, but the views were nothing short of spectacular.
The blood rock wall and hidden caves of Kagbeni – a little-known gateway to the Upper Mustang.
Beautiful pine forest over Dana and past Ghasa – but generally not enough left over from having to get to/from Jomsom.
Most of these were the lesser-used trails, and this is an opportunity to view the actual views of the great Himalayas. And you don’t even want to try to plan big,” your day is so wide, so open when you’d like to turn or even just drive a little off course.
Talk with the guide and fellow Trekkers.
Don’t forget that human connection on the trail. Lesser still, maybe a chat with other trekkers at dinner in a lodge, or around a cup of tea, will yield some rather unexpected little nuggets of information or off-the-beaten tracks or quiet teahouses or monasteries that aren’t on the mainstream beer-tired teahouses track. And for good reason, seasoned guides almost always have local knowledge tucked into their packs: They know how to take you deep into hidden valleys, or onto quieter byways that are better suited to your desires and your fitness.
You are considering and have made the decision to hike the Annapurna Circuit solo, hang around the trekking club, and on the World Wide Web forum for a while before you book your flight to Nepal. Hikers are great about sharing the passing along of GPX trails, secret spots, tips from previous runs, etc. — stuff you just never get in for-profit guide books.
A guide who’s an expert will understand every twist and turn of the Annapurna Round Trek and be able to create them for you — whether that’s directing you to a silent ridge for sunrise or knowing which of the nearby monasteries has visiting monks for daily chanting.
Loving Change Accepters. Be spontaneous and push the boundaries.
The easiest things can be the best things, but sometimes you even need to make an effort to notice a gem that is lying under your nose, just around the corner. And you have to be ready every once in a while to follow that side trail you weren’t expecting to hike, and to say yes to the stranger willing to give you a drink of tea and to sleep a day longer in a place where your soul feels like it is coming home. Treasure there is, however, for the enquiring heart, but none for the sordid fortune-hunter.
Pack a good map, GPS, or a trekking app like Maps. Mee. Me or Gaia GPS) and pin each one, and then, subsequently, checking every time to be sure that their alternates are, indeed, open and clear. DO ASK local people if you can bushwhack downstream or off a “main” trail. Sometimes that short hike ends up being a leg-stretcher to a killer overlook or a shrine with no name on your map.
May it be as much about the travel as the destination.
Conclusion
For sure, the Annapurna Circuit is a badass world-class trek enough, add one more?.. and it’s heavenly! To discover these off-the-radar gems is what makes an experience-your-own-adventure, whether an untouristed village, an unheard-of cultural ceremony, or a sub rosa natural wonder.
Head with no destination off the beaten path, off the road or footpath, off the trail, and the app, out with the local intrepid culture, off on an adventure where spontaneity is your travel guide, doing new things during a trip of a lifetime. And whichever way you swing — whether you hug the classic circuit or wedge Tilicho into your skimpy time frame — well, the reality is almost always found beyond the map.
Buckle on your bootlaces, grab your spirit of adventure, and have a giggle at the Annapurna circuit in Nepal today! Scratch below the heroic surface, however, and there is much track here to fascinate you.