Mardi Himal Trekking

When you arrive in Kathmandu, we will meet you at the airport. We shall see to it that your travel needs are met while you are in our hands. Since there are no planned activities for the day, we will assist you in finding the ideal accommodations. You can decide between unwinding in each of your guestrooms or having a walk about the area.

You'll go out on a relaxing road trip to Pokhara today. This picturesque journey along the Prithvi Highway passes through high forested hills, rural settlements, terraced farmlands, and lush valleys. You will be picked up in a private vehicle the following morning after breakfast and driven to Pokhara, which is located west of Kathmandu. After having lunch at Malekhu, we continue along the route. Due to its proximity to the Trishuli river, Malekhu is well known for its fried fish. We are free to spend the evening in Pokhara exploring the city or taking it easy in our accommodations after a long day of travel.

Today, a one-hour journey to Kande marks the start of the actual Mardi Himal Trek. After breakfast, we pick you up from your hotel with your bags and drive you to the village of Kande. From Kande, we ascend the trail to the Australian Camp where you get a panoramic 360-degree view of the surrounding vistas and mountains and the Pokhara valley. View of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Himchuli, and Fishtail can be seen.  Some hikers stay at an Australian camp which would be the climax of their trip. Walking through the village of Dhampus, we reach soon the village of Kotana where we grab lunch. The trail takes us through rhododendron forests and gets a view of the Modi Khola Valley. Monkeys can be seen frequently in the trees on the route.  Soon we reach Pitam Deurali village which showcases an excellent view of Mt Dhaulagiri. We stay overnight at Pitam Deurali.

After breakfast, we move towards Kokar camp. There are two routes available for you to choose from. One route takes you through Landruk while the other takes you directly to Kokar Forest Camp. We recommend the walk through Landruk which is slightly longer but is more fruitful to explore. 

Option 1: Walk through Landruk 

When walking through Landruk, we walk through the Gurung villages of Tolakha and Landruk. Even though the walk is longer, the teail through the villages is more lively and interesting as we get to view the traditional lifestyle of people in these villages untouched by the burdens of modern civilization.  We can get excellent views of the mountains from here. 

Option 2: The shorter route takes us mostly through forest trails that have a few tea shops lined up. After we grab tea at one of the tea shops on the route. Lunch will be at our destination of Kokar forest. This route is seldom taken.  

We reach Kokar Forest Camp either early or late depending on the route we take. You can explore the areas surrounding Kokar forest Camp if you have time. We will stay overnight at a lodge here. 

Again, after an early breakfast, we move towards Low Camp through one of two routes. A direct route to Low Camp and one that takes you through Rest Camp

We walk through dense rhododendron forest trails. Monkeys can be seen on the trail and if you are lucky you might even get a glimpse of sloth bears. We reach Low camp just in time for lunch through both trails. After lunch, we can explore the area around the low camp. While exploring we can reach up to the lower view camp where we can see amazing views. The exploration trip also serves as an acclimatization method to get our bodies used to the thin air. 

We return to our lodge for our night. The lodges here are local community-run and are basic in terms of amenities. 

The next day we wake up early and eat breakfast and ascend the trail to High Camp. The trail goes through forest trails. Numerous viewpoints on the trail show the wonderful vistas surrounding the valley. The trees here are oak. Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges are seen along with Mardi Himal and Fishtail while walking on the trail. Yaks can be seen on the route to High Camp also. We reach High Camp around lunchtime as there are no teashops or stops while on the trail. After lunch, we hike around the valley to get our bodies used to the thin air. Some symptoms of altitude sickness are normal to be seen at this altitude. We stay overnight at the lodge.

Early in the morning we grab breakfast and start our ascent. We see the Annapurna base camp from the trail and get 360 views of the surrounding which includes the Dhaulagiri range and Annapurna range along with Pokhara Valley. Annapurna I is the main peak that dominates our view when walking the trail and a viewpoint exists here from where the sunrise is seen to be amazing. The vegetation here starts to get sparser. If we choose we can walk upto Mardi Base camp. If we choose to do so after walking for some time, we reach the Mardi Base Camp where we grab lunch.  We can explore the Mardi base camp and after a while we return back to High camp for the night. 

After an early breakfast, we start our descent through fairy tail-like forest trails to reach Talung Danda. Talung Danda also showcases an excellent viewpoint for Fishtail. Walking from the viewpoint we reach Bhujung where we grab lunch. Slowly we descend to Siding where we see remarkable terraced farmlands. Due to the slick trail, some people frequently describe this path as being extremely unsafe and unfit for hikers. Leeches abound on the forest trail during Monsoon season so the salt can be used to get rid of the leeches that have been hooked.  As an alternative, there is an additional path. This trail traverses through lush woodlands, flowing waterfalls, and steep descents on its way to Sidhing Village. This region is a backpacker's and campers dream. We stay overnight at Sidhing.

Early morning we descend through forest trails to Lumre before the trail opens up to villages. We still have one more stretch to go before we reach our destination after a lengthy and exhausting trip. Take a leisurely stroll to Lumre amid fields and Gurung settlements. The villages of Kalimati and Ghalel are on the route from Siding. Ghalel and Siding, two Brahmin and Gurung mixed villages, make up the majority of the Kalimati population. You will meet a jeep that Wilderness Excursion has reserved in advance to take you back to Pokhara at Lumre. From Lumre, we take a drive back to Pokhara.

Today after breakfast we start our journey back to Kathmandu. We travel to Kathmandu on the Prithvi highway, which follows the Trishuli river the entire way. On the way, we stop for lunch once again at either Malekhu or Muglin. After a long travel, you will be dropped off at your hotel in Kathmandu in the evening when we arrive.

Today's schedule includes visits to Swayambhunath, also known as the monkey Temple, Pashupatinath, one of Nepal's largest temples, and Bouddhanath, a significant stupa.

One of the ancient Hindu temples, Pashupatinath Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva, often known as the "Lord of All Beings." The destructive part of the universe is represented by Lord Shiva. The renowned Bagmati River runs through the Pashupatinath complex. The majority of Hindus in the Kathmandu Valley conduct cremation rites for the departed on the banks of the river.

One of Nepal's most revered Buddhist structures is the Swayambhunath stupa. It is believed that it was made when the Bodhisattva Manjushri carved a canyon at Chhobhar with his flaming sword to drain the waters of the enormous lake that once functioned as Kathmandu in ancient times.

Lord Buddha's four pairs of eyes are placed in the four cardinal directions atop the 2500-year-old Buddhist stupa in the Valley that was built in the fifth century. This stupa is known as Bouddhanath. This stupa continuously observes people and their behavior. As they move around the stupa, Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims may be seen spinning prayer wheels.

After completing the entire Mardi Himal Trek, it's time to bid Nepal farewell. Three hours before to your scheduled international departure for your ultimate destination, a driver will take you to the international airport. We sincerely hope that your time spent with us in the Western Himalayas will be in your memories forever. You can extend your stay if you wish to explore everything that wonderful Nepal has to offer. Sincerely, we hope you will treasure our time together and recommend us to your loved ones and friends who intend to trek in Nepal.