NAR-PHU VALLEY & THOROUNG LA TREK
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The Nar Phu Valley trek takes you across several high passes, picturesque villages, dense forests, ancient monasteries, and narrow canyons to remote Nar and Phu villages near Tibet. As the trek progresses, you will find yourself among the world’s rare wilderness, past impressive chortens, and herds of blue sheep. After visiting the Nar Phu Valley, you will be rejoining Annapurna Circuit trails
The Nar Phu trek takes you to the remote villages of Nar and Phu near Chame in the Annapurna region. It is one of Nepal’s most untouched and beautiful regions. Nar and Phu are different but close villages inhabited by the Khampas (Tibetan refugees), and you will get to experience their lifestyle firsthand.
In addition to these villages, you can enjoy magnificent views of snow-capped mountains, yaks, deep gorges, narrow canyons, beautiful forests, stunning glaciers, Kang la (5,200m), and Thorong la (5,416m) high passes. You will also take a dip in the natural hot springs at Tatopani.
We start the trek from Jagat after driving to Jagat from Kathmandu. We follow the Annapurna circuit trail up to Meta. From Meta, we cross a bridge over the Marshyangdi River that leads to Nar Phu Valley.
The narrow forest entrance you will be walking through suddenly opens up to a huge expansion of snowy peaks – Kang Garu, Pisang, and several others. You will be passing through several ancient villages and monasteries. Occasionally, you might come across yak and blue sheep herds.
We explore the alpine Nar Valley for a day and then cross the Kang la Pass to reach Ngwala Village. From Ngwala, we rejoin Annapurna Circuit to reach Manang. Further, we trek ahead to reach Yak Kharka, followed by Thorong Phedi. Thorong Phedi is a perfect place to spend the night before crossing the challenging Thorong La Pass – one of the highest passes in the world.
After crossing Thorong La Pass, you will reach Muktinath – a common Hindu and Buddhist pilgrimage site- known for its 108 holy sprouts and an eternal flame.
From Muktinath, you will head to Jomsom and then Tatopani. Tatopani has hot springs, where you can take a dip and relax your tense, tired muscles. After spending a night at Tatopani, you will return to Pokhara. The following morning, you will head to Kathmandu from Pokhara. Your trek ends in Kathmandu.
After early morning breakfast, we begin our journey with a scenic drive from Kathmandu for about 6-7 hours (190 Km) to Besisahar. The local bus out of the valley follows the picturesque Trishuli River. As the drive progresses, you can witness beautiful scenery – terraced fields, traditional villages, and views of mountains, including Ganesh and Manaslu peaks.
Eventually, we leave the main highway that heads to Pokhara and drive north to Besisahar. After Besisahar, we continue our drive through paddy fields and reach Jagat – a Tibetan-style village.
Early morning after breakfast, we follow a trail tha gradually progresses uphill to Chame. Then you will cross a suspension bridge and follow a rocky, steep path to reach Tal Village. You can enjoy the stunning waterfalls at Tal. After savoring the beauty of Tal, we move ahead, crossing a suspension bridge to reach lower Dharapani. Little ahead lies higher Dharapani, where we will stay for the night.
You will enter Nar Phu Valley, which will take around four to five hours. The route passes through pine and fir forests, several monasteries, and traditional villages to Bargarchhap. From Bargarchhap, you can enjoy spectacular views of Annapurna II, Manaslu, and other peaks. The path continues through pine forests before reaching Koto, a small village inhabited by the Gurungs.
After registering our restricted area permits at the police check post at Koto, we travel along the banks of Soti Khola through wonderful pine forests, past several suspension bridges and cascading waterfalls, ultimately reaching Dharamshala in about five hours.
From Dharamshala onwards, the woods become thinner, and the vistas get wider. We continue our trek for about one and a half hours through the forest, ascending steeply to Meta village on the Tibetan Plateau. The views of Annapurna II and Lamjung Himal look great from here.
The path ascends and descends frequently, and by crossing a suspension bridge, you will reach Chyaku. As you continue to climb, you will start to get glorious views of Annapurna before entering Kyang. Kyang provides spectacular views of Pisang Peak and Annapurna II. You will then pass the Phu Khola on a rocky trail leaving behind submarine rocks and perhaps a few campsites before reaching Phu gate – the entry point of Phu Village.
Nar and Phu villages are famous for their distinct blue sheep, unique culture, and religious practices. While we are at Phu Village, we will not forget to visit Tashi Lhakhang Monastery. Phu Village also provides splendid views of several Himalayan ranges – including Himlung Himal.
We leave Phu Gaon and head to Nar village, crossing two high passes – Phu Pass (5,050m) and Nar Pass (5,400m). The trek passes through many suspension bridges over streams, especially the Mahendra Pul. The trail provides you an opportunity to appreciate Pisang Peaks and several others.
We will be acclimatizing at Nar for a day. It is a perfect time to rest and explore the Nar village, its people, traditions, and culture. Nar village has several monasteries and Chortens. You will probably be surprised to know that at least one child from each family at Nar studies Buddhism.
From Nar, we ascend through the lateral moraine of Temdenzon Khola on a pleasant path that passes through yak pastures while providing stunning views of the west ridge of the Pisang Peak. Then, the trek will take you to Jhombu Kharka, also known as Kang la Phedi – the bottom of Kang La pass.
From Kang La Phedi, we will slowly ascend to Kang La Pass. The path is steep, but it’s not too difficult. We estimate that it will take about 2 hours to cross the pass. From Kang La Pass pass, you will get beautiful views of the Annapurna II, Gangapurna, and Tilicho Peak. Then, we will trek about three more hours to reach Ngawal Village, where we will stay for the night.
We leave Ngwal and head to Manang along the banks of Marsyangdi River. As you move forward, you will pass through several forests and villages like Braga and Paugh while enjoying the views of the Tilicho Peak and Annapurna ranges. As we reach Mungli, our path rejoins the standard Annapurna trails. We trek forward till we reach Manang, our destination for this day.
From Manang, we cross a stream and reach Tenki village, then head out of Marshyangdi Valley northwest to Jar Sang Khola Valley. The trail ascends slowly as we pass a few pastures and juniper trees to reach a small village called Gunsan. The houses in Gunsan are made of flat mud roofs. The villagers raise yaks and horses, so you might see yaks and horses grazing in the nearby pastures. After crossing a small river on a wooden bridge, we make our way up the spectacular valleys to an open, peaceful meadow known as Yak Kharka.
Today, we head to the foot of Thorong La pass – Thorong Phedi. From Yak Kharka, you will climb up to a ridge, then head down and cross the Marsyangdi river on a wooden bridge. After continuing on the mountain path, we follow a narrow trail across a slope and descend to Thorough Phedi.
Today, we will cross Thorong La Pass, one of the world’s highest passes and the highest point of this trek. We push ourselves through the icy air, steep climb, and high altitude, but the views from the Thorong La Pass are worth it. Ahead of you, you will see a panorama of majestic Himalayan peaks extending northwards into Tibet. At the back, you can see several Annapurna ranges. We will then descend to Muktinath. The descent to Muktinath is pretty steep and will take between 3 to 4 hours.
Muktinath is a sacred place for Hindus and Buddhists. The Buddhists call it -Chumig Gyatsa -in Tibetan, it means “Hundred Waters.” Sure enough, Muktinath temple premises host 108 water sprouts, in addition to an eternal flame.
We head down first to Ekle Bhatti Village and then to Jharkot and Khingar villages, where there are a few beautiful monasteries that you can explore. We will walk along the banks of the Kali Gandaki river past Kagbeni to reach Jomsom. The view of Dhaulagiri and Nilgiri is splendid throughout the trail.
From Jomsom, we catch a local bus to Tatopani. This rough bus ride passes by some of the deepest gorges in the world and will take you from the arid high elevation terrain to the lowlands with lush jungles and farmlands.
You will also see spectacular views of the Kali Gandaki River, separating Annapurna – the world’s 10th highest peak, from Dhaulagiri – the seventh highest. Tatopani is famous for its natural hot spring. You can take a dip in the nearby hot springs to relax your active muscles.
Early in the morning, from Tatopani, we take a seven-hour bus or jeep ride to Pokhara, passing Beni Bazaar. Pokhara is the tourist capital of Nepal. Here, you can enjoy yourself with all the niceties this city offers. Pokhara has so much to offer.
Today we start the day early and depart on a tourist bus to Kathmandu. The 200 km route first follows the Marsyangdi River banks and then the Trishuli River while offering enticing views of the landscape, traditional villages, and terraced farms. The bus makes a final climb, and you will find yourself in Kathmandu, where your trek started.
USD$1800
