Mardi Himal Trek: The Complete Guide to Itinerary, Cost, Permits and Difficulty

Last updated 2 October 2026. Prices, hours and altitudes come from our live package page for the 7-day trek. Where a fact comes from somewhere else I name the source in the text or in the notes at the end.

The short answer: the Mardi Himal trek is a 7-day private walk from Pokhara up a forested ridge to Mardi Himal Base Camp at about 4,500 m, with Machhapuchhre (the Fishtail, 6,993 m) filling the view. It is moderate in effort, short on logistics and quieter than the other Annapurna treks. With us it costs from US$454 per person on Budget, US$849 on Standard and US$1,111 on Luxury for a single traveller, and the price falls with group size. Permits are included. The best months are October to November and March to May.

The trade-offs are real. The climb is steep and fast for a trek this short, the lodges are basic, and the view is easy to lose to cloud by late morning. This guide covers the route day by day, what each tier gets you, the permits, how hard it really is, when to go, where you sleep and how to reach Pokhara. If you already want to book, the page is our Mardi Himal Base Camp trek, 7 days.

What is the Mardi Himal trek?

It is a ridge trek in the Annapurna Conservation Area, north of Pokhara. Wikipedia records that the Mardi Himal trekking route was opened in 2012, with lodges and teahouses up to about 3,550 m and a further climb to "Base Camp" at 4,500 m. Mardi Himal itself is a 5,587 m peak below the much bigger Machapuchare, first climbed in 1961. The "Base Camp" is a high viewpoint, not an expedition camp.

What makes it different from the valley treks is the ridge. You spend most of days three and four on an open crest with the Annapurna range on one side and the Fishtail close ahead. Machhapuchhre has never been climbed to the summit: Wikipedia notes the only confirmed attempt, a British team in 1957, stopped short of the top, and that no climbing permits have been issued since. Mardi Himal Base Camp is about as close as a trekker is allowed to get.

I rate it the best short trek out of Pokhara for people who want mountains without crowds. I would not call it easy, and the next sections say why.

What is the day-by-day itinerary?

This is the itinerary on our live package page, with altitudes and times as listed there. Meals shown are the ones included on Standard and Luxury. On Budget, meals on the trek are not included (see the cost section).

Day	Route	Sleep	Altitude	Time	Meals
1	Drive Kathmandu to Pokhara	Hotel in Pokhara	820 m	7 to 8 hours	Breakfast in Pokhara only
2	Drive to Kande, trek to Forest Camp	Teahouse at Forest Camp	2,520 m	4 to 5 hours	Breakfast, lunch, dinner
3	Forest Camp to High Camp	Teahouse at High Camp	3,580 m	5 to 6 hours	Breakfast, lunch, dinner
4	High Camp to Mardi Himal Base Camp (4,500 m) and back to High Camp	Teahouse at High Camp	3,580 m	Not listed on the page	Breakfast, lunch, dinner
5	High Camp down to Siding	Teahouse in Siding	1,885 m	6 to 7 hours	Breakfast, lunch, dinner
6	Drive Siding to Pokhara	Hotel in Pokhara	820 m	3 to 4 hours	Breakfast, lunch, dinner
7	Drive Pokhara to Kathmandu	None	1,400 m	7 to 8 hours	None

Day 4 has no walking time on our page. Our own mountain blog on the base camp puts the climb from High Camp at three to four hours each way along the ridge, started before dawn so you are on top before the cloud builds. It is the longest, hardest and best day, so plan for a full day with rests.

Two points worth knowing before you book. First, the route goes up from the Pokhara side and comes down to Siding on the east side of the ridge, so you do not retrace your steps. Second, our page lists Forest Camp, not Australian Camp, as the first night. Other operators and some of our older posts split the first day differently, and teahouse stops can vary with the lodges that are open. Your guide confirms the exact stops for your dates.

How much does the Mardi Himal trek cost?

These are the prices on our live package page, per person, for the 7-day trek, including the Kathmandu to Pokhara transport shown in the itinerary. Pricing is the same for a private trek or a group, and it falls by group size only.

Group size	Budget	Standard	Luxury
1 to 4	US$454	US$849	US$1,111
5 to 8	US$404	US$799	US$1,061
9 to 12	US$354	US$749	US$1,011
13 to 20	US$304	US$699	US$999

The treks run from 1 to 20 people, so a solo traveller is welcome. What changes with the tier:

	Budget	Standard	Luxury
Porter	None. You carry your own bag.	One porter for every two trekkers	One dedicated porter per trekker
Meals on the trek	Not included. You pay at the teahouses.	All meals	All meals
Rooms	Shared teahouse rooms	Private rooms	Private deluxe rooms, ensuite where available
Kathmandu to Pokhara	Local transport (tourist bus)	Private vehicle	Private luxury vehicle

On a solo booking, Luxury still gets its own porter. Standard does not: porters are shared one for two, so a single Standard trekker has no porter and the guide carries up to 10 kg of the bag. Budget never has a porter. If you want one on Budget, an extra porter costs US$25 a day, plus 13 per cent VAT and 3.5 per cent bank charge on top.

The price includes the airport pick-up and drop, the transport above, the Pokhara hotel with breakfast, an English-speaking licensed guide, the Annapurna Conservation Area permit and the TIMS card, all government taxes and a first-aid kit with an oximeter. It does not include Kathmandu hotels (quoted separately), your international flight, the visa, tips, bottled and alcoholic drinks, hot showers and charging, or your insurance. Our package page suggests budgeting about US$20 a day for personal extras on the trek.

Booking works like this. A 10 per cent deposit holds your dates and the balance is paid in Kathmandu. Card payment of the balance carries a 3.5 per cent charge; cash in Kathmandu does not. We take US dollars or card, not Nepali rupees, from foreign clients. The deposit is non-refundable. If you need to move, you can reschedule free, with at least 72 hours' notice, to any date within one year. If we cannot run the trip, we refund what you paid less taxes, bank and card charges and any money already spent on permits or flights.

What permits do you need for Mardi Himal?

Two: the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit and the TIMS card. According to the Nepal Tourism Board fee list, the ACAP is NPR 3,000 for foreign visitors (NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals) and the TIMS card is NPR 2,000 (NPR 1,000 for SAARC). Both are included in our price, and we arrange them in Kathmandu, so you do not queue for them.

A word on the guide. Wikipedia reports that in March 2023 Nepal introduced a rule that foreign trekkers may not walk alone in places such as Mardi Himal and must be accompanied by a licensed guide, and it adds that as of May 2024 the rule was not being actively enforced. I would not rely on enforcement either way. On a steep ridge with cloud, weak mobile signal and basic lodges, having a licensed guide is simply safer, and every trek we run includes one.

How hard is the Mardi Himal trek?

We grade it three out of five: moderate, fine for fit first-timers. Two numbers explain the effort, and both come straight from our itinerary.

Leg	Altitude change	Time on our page
Day 2: Kande to Forest Camp	Up to 2,520 m	4 to 5 hours
Day 3: Forest Camp to High Camp	Up 1,060 m (2,520 to 3,580 m)	5 to 6 hours
Day 4: High Camp to Base Camp and back	Up 920 m (3,580 to 4,500 m), then back down	Full day, not listed
Day 5: High Camp to Siding	Down 1,695 m (3,580 to 1,885 m)	6 to 7 hours

The differences are my arithmetic from the altitudes on the package page. Two things follow.

The climb is quick. Wikipedia's altitude sickness article gives the cautious rule for sleeping height as gaining no more than about 300 m a day. Our itinerary sleeps you at 2,520 m on day 2 and 3,580 m on day 3, a gain of 1,060 m in a night. Most fit people are fine at 3,580 m, and High Camp is lower than anywhere you sleep on an Everest trek. But it is not a gentle profile, which is why the guide checks your oxygen with an oximeter and why you must tell us honestly how you feel. If you have struggled at height before, say so before you book and we will talk through a slower schedule.

The descent is the hidden cost. Coming down 1,695 m on day 5 is hard on knees and quads. Walking poles help.

No climbing skills are needed. The ridge has drops either side but the path is a walking path. I would say Mardi is not suitable for you if you have a heart or lung condition that you have not cleared with a doctor, if heights on exposed ridges frighten you, or if you cannot walk five to six hours a day with a day pack. For a comparison with other short treks, see Poon Hill vs Mardi Himal and ABC vs Mardi Himal.

When is the best time to trek Mardi Himal?

October and November for the clearest, most stable skies, and March to May for warmer days and rhododendron colour in the lower forest. Both are good. The monsoon (June to September) brings cloud, rain and leeches in the forest, and December onwards can leave snow on the upper ridge and close some lodges. That is the view from our guides and from our own blogs on Mardi; I have no weather station on the ridge, so I cannot give you ridge temperatures from a source.

What I can give you is the weather in Pokhara, the city where the trek starts and ends, from the World Meteorological Organization and Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (1991 to 2020 averages, via Wikipedia's Pokhara page). Pokhara is at 827 m, so the ridge is much colder, but the rain pattern is the same.

Month	High / low (C)	Rain (mm)	Rain days (1 mm or more)	Sun hours a day
January	19.9 / 7.1	21.6	2.4	6.6
February	22.7 / 9.7	35.1	3.8	7.3
March	27.1 / 13.1	63.7	6.4	7.4
April	30.0 / 16.1	141.7	10.5	7.3
May	30.4 / 18.7	354.7	18.3	5.4
June	30.8 / 21.2	648.2	22.2	3.7
July	30.4 / 22.4	941.0	25.6	3.4
August	30.5 / 22.3	839.4	24.3	3.1
September	29.9 / 21.1	635.0	19.4	4.4
October	27.9 / 17.2	159.2	8.0	6.1
November	24.4 / 12.3	17.2	1.3	7.4
December	21.0 / 8.3	11.5	1.0	7.1

Pokhara gets 3,868 mm a year. The numbers say what the guides say: November is nearly dry, October is drying out, April is the start of the build-up and May tips into the rains, with 354.7 mm and 18.3 rain days in Pokhara even though the days are warm.

Practical advice. Start early every morning, because the clouds tend to build up the valley by late morning. Allow a spare day in Pokhara at the end if your flight home is fixed. And check the current position before you go: as of 29 September 2026, the southern Annapurna trails including Mardi Himal were reported open and walking a normal season, while the late-September rain damaged roads further west. I keep that status on my floods and landslides travel update, and the earlier Kimrong Khola scare is covered in this note. The Mardi route does not touch Nayapul, Birethanti or the Kimrong Khola.

Where do you sleep and eat on the Mardi Himal trek?

In small teahouse lodges. Wikipedia describes three main stops: Forest Camp with seven or eight teahouses, then Low Camp and High Camp, with High Camp having the most guesthouses. Our own guides describe them as simple, seasonal and basic: rooms with plain beds, a warm dining hall, dal bhat and the usual trekking menu. Base Camp itself has no lodge and is a day walk from High Camp.

It gets cold at High Camp once the sun drops. Bring a warm layer and a head torch. Hot showers, charging and wifi cost extra and cost more the higher you go. In the busy months the best lodges fill, which is one reason to book a guided trek with rooms held in advance. Bring the cash you need for extras from Pokhara or Kathmandu, because there are few exchange options once you are on the trail (our package page gives the same advice). For more on the two stops that matter most, see our guides to Mardi High Camp and Mardi Himal Base Camp.

How do you get to Pokhara and the trailhead?

Our package starts and ends with road transport. Day 1 is a 7 to 8 hour drive from Kathmandu to Pokhara (6 to 8 hours is the range given in the package text), by tourist bus on Budget and by private vehicle on Standard and Luxury. Day 2 is a drive from Pokhara to Kande, where the walking begins. Day 6 is a 3 to 4 hour drive from Siding back to Pokhara, and day 7 is a 7 to 8 hour drive to Kathmandu.

If the drive does not appeal, you can fly Kathmandu to Pokhara. Our flight guide gives about 25 minutes and about US$124 one way for a foreign visitor, and flights can be arranged for an extra fee. The flight replaces a 7 to 8 hour drive each way, but it adds baggage limits and weather delay risk. Details are in Nepal domestic flights for trekkers.

What should you pack?

You carry a small day pack with water, camera, sunscreen and a warm jacket; the rest goes in a duffel of at least 60 litres. On Standard and Luxury a porter carries it. On Budget, you carry everything yourself, so pack light. The lodges are cold at night above 3,000 m, so bring a warm sleeping bag liner, a down jacket, warm gloves and a hat, plus a rain shell and good boots with grip for the steep, muddy forest sections. Walking poles are worth having for the 1,695 m descent.

Insurance is not optional. Our package says travel insurance is mandatory and must cover medical costs and emergency helicopter rescue up to 6,000 m. Buy it in your home country before you travel, and give us a copy before the trek.

Is Mardi Himal better than Annapurna Base Camp or Poon Hill?

It depends on what you want. Poon Hill is six days, rises to 3,210 m, and is the easier, busier walk with better teahouses. Annapurna Base Camp is longer (our package is 9 days) and walks into a closed amphitheatre of peaks. Mardi is the high ridge with sustained views, a higher top at 4,500 m and simpler lodges. If you have a week and want fewer people, I would pick Mardi. If you want comfort and a gentle gradient, pick Poon Hill. Compare the three side by side on the Poon Hill vs Mardi Himal and ABC vs Mardi Himal pages, or see our Annapurna Base Camp trek and Poon Hill trek pages. Our own introduction to the Mardi Himal trail covers the ridge walk in more of a story form.

Who should not choose Mardi Himal?

Skip it if you want comfortable lodges, hot showers and a long menu every night. Skip it if you have only clear skies in mind and cannot spare a day if cloud sits on the ridge. Skip it if your knees dislike long steep descents. And do not book it if you cannot tell us honestly about any altitude problems in the past, since the climb to High Camp is fast. In those cases, Poon Hill is the better short trek.

How do you book?

Tell me your dates and group size on WhatsApp, +977 9810351300, or email [email protected]. Our Mardi treks run as private treks by default, so you walk with your own group only. I will confirm the stops, the current trail status and a price for your tier. The page to start from is the Mardi Himal Base Camp trek, 7 days.

Notes and sources

Itinerary, altitudes, times, tier contents, permits included, group prices, insurance and daily budget: our live package row for the 7-day Mardi trek, read 2 October 2026. Mardi Himal route opening in 2012, lodge altitude, the teahouse stops and the March 2023 guide rule: Wikipedia, Mardi Himal. Machhapuchhre elevation, the 1957 attempt and no permits since: Wikipedia, Machapuchare. Altitude gain guidance: Wikipedia, Altitude sickness. Permit and TIMS fees: Nepal Tourism Board. Pokhara climate: WMO and Nepal DHM 1991 to 2020, via Wikipedia, Pokhara. Flight time and fare: our flight guide. Trail status: our travel update of 29 September 2026. Tier rules, deposit and refund terms: our standard booking terms.

About The Everest Holiday

We are a family company in Kathmandu, three generations of Himalayan guides, registered in 2016 and a member of the Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal, number 1586. When you book with us you deal with the family, not a call centre.

Every booking helps fund our Nagarjun Learning Center. We fully run the centre at Saldum, where 70 children learn with a teacher I pay for personally.

Written by Shreejan Simkhada, CEO of The Everest Holiday and third-generation Himalayan guide. TAAN Member #1586.