The problem with the Annapurna Circuit Trek
Snowcat
Perhaps the biggest problem with the world famous Annapurna Circuit Trek is that there is no clearly defined and universally accepted version of what it is.
We get enquiries every day saying, "we want to do the Annapurna Circuit" and we then find ourselves having to ask, "what is your interpretation of the Annapurna Circuit Trek?".
It sounds like an odd question to ask, but what used to be widely accepted as the Annapurna Circuit Trek is no longer the case.
Rather what most people seem to mean when they say they want to do the Annapurna Circuit Trek is actually more like, "we just want to do a bit of it", not unlike our Best of the Annapurna Circuit Trek itinerary.
The encroachment of roads on the Annapurna Circuit Trek have definitely changed things (see further below for more) on this world famous Himalayan trek and not for the better and additionally this has led to problems actually defining what in 2024 the Annapurna Circuit Trek actually is!
The "ORIGINAL" Annapurna Circuit Trek
Some of us at Snow Cat Travel have been in the trekking and adventure travel industry since the early 1980's! That's pretty much when a few specialist adventure travel related tour operators first came into existence.
Who knows whom came up with the name, "Annapurna Circuit Trek". It's not a legal entity or a licensed name for a specific thing and if you're being pedantic the use of the word, "circuit" is incorrect. The trek never started and finished in the same place. It's not a circuit at all. Rather it's an "open jaw" or "horseshoe" trek.
Still, Annapurna Circuit Trek sounds better than the Annapurna Open Jaw Trek.
All the same, the original Annapurna Circuit was certainly a partial circuit of the Annapurna range and indeed was of a very lengthy duration, taking around 23-24 days to complete.
The original Annapurna Circuit Trek was a road head to road head affair and in those days Nepal only really had 3-4 roads.
Thus the Annapurna Circuit began at Besisahar and ended at Nayapul, although some ended the trek at Baglung just to confuse things.
However, the Annapurna Circuit Trek could clearly be defined into three distinct sections.
1. STAGE ONE being the ascent up through the Marsyangdi River Valley to Manang.
2. STAGE TWO being the trek from Manang to Jomsom via the Thorung La and Muktinath.
3. STAGE THREE being the descent through the Kali Gandaki Valley to Tatopani and then a climb up to Ghorepani to then descend into the Modi Khola Valley and to Nayapul via Ghandruk. Some would avoid the steep climb from Tatopani and stay in the Kali Gandaki Valley to head to Baglung instead.
As previously mentioned this was a road head to road head trek. The whole of the Annapurna Circuit was devoid of the presence of roads from the start until the end.
Roads and the Annapurna Circuit Trek
1. Nowadays there is a road from the original main highway and all the way up through the Marsyangdi River Valley to Manang. That is the previously described STAGE ONE. It is all now possible by road!
2. As far as STAGE TWO goes, a jeep road extends beyond Manang in the direction of, but not as far as the Thorung La. We aren't sure, but we don't think there are any plans to extend this road over the Thorung La itself. So, perhaps from Letdar to Muktinath may remain unaffected by the presence of a road. Thus two and a bit days of the full Annapurna Circuit are the only days where there is no road! Finally on this stage from Muktinath down to Jomsom there is actually a metalled road i.e. a "smooth" tarmac" surface.
3. For STAGE THREE a road runs down the entire length of the Kali Gandaki Valley. In fact you can drive from Jomsom all the way to Pokhara if you want, or as many people do just hop on a plane at Jomsom and fly back to Pokhara in 18 minutes.
So, pretty much all the Annapurna Circuit can actually be done by road!
Arguably the only bit left of the original trek is the trek over the Thorung La. Perhaps you may now appreciate why we ask, "what is your understanding of the Annapurna Circuit Trek?"
In actual fact you can start the trek pretty much anywhere on the road up to Manang.
You can end it at Muktinath and be driven down to Jomsom to fly to Pokhara or even be driven all the way from Muktinath to Pokhara down the entirety of the Kali Gandaki Valley. Or carry on walking from Muktinath and choose to end the trek anywhere you choose in the Kali Gandaki Valley e.g. Marhpa, Kalopani, Tatopani etc.
In 2024 the Annapurna Circuit Trek can be whatever you want it to be
Start it and finish it wherever you like. Do the whole thing in just a few days if you want as a jeep tour (with sensible acclimatisation) and just a couple of days trekking.
One option has always been to make a detour from the main Annapurna Circuit trail at Manang and head up to Tilicho Lake and then rejoin the main trail further above Manang. However, we are aware that this route may indeed ultimately become a road link between the Kali Gandaki Valley and Marsyangdi Valley systems. As a road link via the Thorung La seems unlikely. Some work has been done from the Kali Gandaki side, but at the time of writing hasn't reached Tilicho Lake and from the Manang (Marsyangdi) side the road currently seems to have only reached Khangsar.
Dhaulagiri on the descent from Jomsom
Is the Annapurna Circuit Trek ruined as a trek?
That's a matter of personal opinion.
For one if you never got to experience the Annapurna Circuit Trek how it used to be, then it's pretty much impossible to make any comparison. It is what it is.
The presence of roads has certainly changed things. But, the roads haven't changed the dramatic scenery.
Our opinion remains though that the presence of roads significantly detracts from the experience of trekking in the Himalayas as a whole.
Yes, there are sections where you can trek away from the roads. But, there are also sections where you have no real choice but to trek on the roads. Most of the Annapurna Circuit is after all in two narrow valley systems with giant peaks above.
Our Snow Cat Travel Guides suggest that in the Spring season of 2024 they estimated that approximately 40% of the Annapurna Circuit Trek is unavoidably on roads. Here we are referring to the Full Annapurna Circuit Trek, not random bits of it.
What we are definitely not saying is, "don't do the Annapurna Circuit Trek". What we are saying though is that it isn't anything like it used to be.
However, the jeep roads can also be "used" if you're able to consider a different perspective and be open to more than trekking alone.
It is possible to "reinvent" the Annapurna Circuit Trek and make it a multi-activity adventure and combine trekking with some mountain biking and rafting.
See the Ultimate Annapurna Adventure for more.
There is and always have been many other great treks in Nepal. The Manaslu Circuit Trek has always been one of our favourite circuit treks and as such preferable to the original Annapurna Circuit Trek.
Our Annapurna Circuit Trek or Manaslu Circuit Trek explains our perspective on this in more detail.
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