Annapurna Sanctuary

The Annapurna Sanctuary is a high glacial amphitheatre at roughly 4,130 metres, walled almost entirely by peaks above 7,000 metres. Annapurna I, the world's tenth-highest mountain, looms over the basin alongside the fluted spire of Machapuchare, and the ring of summits catches alpenglow long after the valleys below fall dark.

What makes it special is the sudden transition: trekkers climb through subtropical forest and the deep Modi Khola gorge before the walls part into an open bowl of moraine and ice. Annapurna Base Camp sits at the far end, a cluster of lodges beneath the south face where Chris Bonington's 1970 expedition made mountaineering history.

On the ground the route runs about seven to eleven days from Nayapul or Ghandruk, gaining and losing thousands of metres on stone staircases. It is a teahouse trek graded moderate, with no technical climbing, though the narrow avalanche-prone gorge between Deurali and the sanctuary demands care after heavy snow. Nights near base camp are bitterly cold.

Practical notes: you need an ACAP entry permit and a TIMS card, both arranged in Pokhara or Kathmandu, and a guide is now generally required. The dependable windows are October to November and March to April, when skies are clearest; monsoon brings leeches and cloud, and deep winter closes the upper lodges.