Panchase Hill Trek

Fit enough for three to five hours of hill walking on four consecutive days, with one longer day of six to seven. If you walk at weekends at home you are already there. There is no altitude to cope with and no day that starts before dawn except the summit morning.

Yes, on both counts, and it is the trek we most often suggest for families. We have taken children of eight and walkers in their late seventies over Panchase. The only demanding hour is the stone descent from the summit, and there is an easier way down if anybody would rather take it.

From the summit on a clear morning, yes: Dhaulagiri, the Annapurnas, Machhapuchhre and Manaslu in one long line, with Phewa Lake and the Pokhara valley below you. They are about forty kilometres away, so this is a panorama rather than a mountain looming over you. If you want the second thing, walk to Annapurna Base Camp.

Quiet to the point of oddness. You will pass local people going between villages, occasional Nepali pilgrims, and on many days no other foreign trekkers at all. Nobody books ahead at Panchase Bhanjyang because there is never any need to.

No, and we will not pretend otherwise to make the trek sound serious. You sleep at 2,065 m and reach 2,517 m for about an hour. Altitude illness is essentially unheard of below 2,500 m. There is no acclimatisation day on this itinerary because there is nothing to acclimatise to.

Slipping on wet stone. The steps down from the summit are old, polished and steep, and after rain they are the one genuinely awkward stretch of the route. Poles help, decent soles help more, and your guide will slow the party down. After that it is sunburn and blisters.

Nothing on this route is more than about three hours' walk from a road, and Pokhara has good hospitals roughly two hours away by vehicle. An evacuation here means a jeep, not a helicopter, and it can be arranged in an afternoon. Standard trekking insurance is plenty; you do not need a policy with helicopter cover.

From June to early September they are real, numerous and a good reason to come at another time. They live in the damp forest between Bhadaure and the saddle, drop from wet leaves and get inside boots. Leech socks, long trousers, DEET on your footwear and a tub of salt all work. Outside the monsoon you will not see one.

This is disputed and we would rather be straight with you. Several thorough independent guides report no permit is required, since Panchase is a Protected Forest rather than conservation area land and the Bhadaure approach passes no checkpoint. Other operators list it as required. We buy it for every trekker at NPR 3,000, about $22, and it is inside your price.

No. Nothing on this route inspects one, and across the Annapurna region checkpoints now look at the ACAP permit alone. If you see a Panchase quote with a TIMS line on it, the fair question to ask is which checkpoint will be examining it.

On arrival at Kathmandu airport for most nationalities: $30 for 15 days, $50 for 30 days, payable in cash. Filling in the online form within 15 days of arrival shortens the queue. Bring a passport photo and a passport with six months left on it.

$100 to $150 changed into rupees in Pokhara, in small notes. That covers drinks, snacks, the boat across the lake, any shower you pay for and your tips. No village on the hill takes a card and there is no cash machine after Naudanda.

Basic. A plain twin room with plywood walls, thick quilts, a squat toilet down the corridor and a shower that is hot when the sun has been out. It is clean, the food is grown behind the house and the welcome is genuine, but it is not the Khumbu lodge circuit and we would rather you knew that now.

Both. Panchase Bhanjyang has around seven small teahouses in the saddle and we use one of those. Bhadaure and the villages around Sidhane run community homestays, where you eat with the family in their kitchen. The homestay night is the one most people remember.

There is mobile signal along most of the ridge, and a good one on the summit. There is no wifi at Panchase Bhanjyang at all. Your hotels in Pokhara and Kathmandu have it. Two days without it is arguably the best thing on the itinerary.

Yes. Every stop on this route has mains electricity and charging is normally free, which is not something we can say about our high treks. Bring a plug adaptor for the Indian-style round-pin sockets.

Most people do, and on days this short it is no hardship: a daypack of about 7 kg. If you would rather not, a porter is $18 to $24 a day, shared between two trekkers with a 20 kg limit. Say so when you book and we will arrange it.

Late October and November for the clearest mountains and the emptiest trail, March for the rhododendron and the orchids. February, April and December all work well. June to early September we will not sell you, because of leeches and because you would walk four days inside a cloud.

Two or three weeks is comfortable and four days is possible. There is no flight to Lukla to fight over and no lodge that sells out. If you are already in Pokhara and the forecast is good, come to the office and we will often have you walking the following morning.

Yes, and it is easy on a trek this size. Start from Phedi instead of Naudanda, add a night at Panchase Bhanjyang for the birds, finish over Sarangkot rather than at the lake, or bolt three days at Ghandruk onto the end. From five people a private departure costs the same as joining a group.

Yes. If you are already in Pokhara, or flying into the new airport there, we run a five-day version for $447 that cuts the Kathmandu nights and the domestic flights entirely. It is the same three days on the hill and a good deal less time in traffic.