Every season someone sits down in our Thamel office with a week free and asks the same thing: which short trek from Pokhara should I do? The three names that come up are almost always Poon Hill, Mardi Himal and Khopra Danda.
Our guides have walked all three more times than they can count, and they answer the question with questions of their own. What follows is roughly how that conversation goes over tea.
How many days do you have?
That is always the first question, and it rules things out fast.
With four or five days, it is Poon Hill or Mardi Himal. With six or seven, all three are open, and Khopra starts to make sense. Khopra on four days is possible on paper. In practice it means long climbs, a rushed night up high, and no margin if the weather turns.
People always want to squeeze. The mountains do not care about your flight.
How do you feel about crowds?
Here the three treks really split.
Poon Hill
The Ghorepani Poon Hill trek is the busiest short trek in the region, and in October the sunrise viewpoint at 3,210 m can hold a few hundred people at once. Lodges are plentiful and comfortable by trekking standards, with hot showers in most places and a stove-warmed dining room every night.
If it is your first trek, or you are with parents or children, choose Poon Hill without feeling bad about it. The crowds are part of it. You make friends at dinner.
Mardi Himal
The Mardi Himal trek used to be the quiet option. It is less quiet now, and the lodges at Low Camp and High Camp fill up in peak weeks. But it still feels wilder than Poon Hill. You walk through thick forest to Forest Camp, then come out onto a narrow grassy ridge with Machhapuchhre straight ahead, getting bigger every hour.
Mardi is for people who want to feel the mountain close, not just see it from a hill.
Khopra Danda
The Khopra Danda trek is the quietest of the three by a long way. The route leaves the main Ghorepani trail and climbs through forest to Dobato and up onto Khopra ridge, where a community-run lodge sits at around 3,660 m facing Dhaulagiri and Annapurna South. Some days you share the ridge with a handful of trekkers and a few grazing yaks.
Khopra is for someone who has done Poon Hill already, or who hates the idea of a queue at a viewpoint.
How are your knees, and your lungs?
This is where honest answers matter.
Poon Hill is the gentlest on altitude. You sleep at Ghorepani, around 2,860 m, and only go higher for the sunrise. The hard part is the stone staircase up to Ulleri on day one or two, which is relentless for an hour or more.
Mardi Himal climbs fast. High Camp is around 3,580 m and most people go up to the upper viewpoint at roughly 4,200 m in the early morning. That is a big jump in a few days, and we see more headaches here than on Poon Hill. The ridge path is also steep and, in a few places, exposed. Coming down from High Camp on wet or icy ground needs care and poles.
Khopra Danda sleeps highest, at around 3,660 m on the ridge. People who add the side trip to Khayer Lake, a sacred lake at roughly 4,500 m, need a full extra day and should be properly acclimatised. The climb up from Swanta or Dobato is long but steady.
If you have never been above 3,000 metres, we will not push you to the Mardi upper viewpoint on day three. We go slower, or we choose Poon Hill. No shame in either.
What do you want to see?
All three show you the Annapurna range. The angle is what changes.
- Poon Hill gives the widest panorama: Dhaulagiri on one side, Annapurna South and Machhapuchhre on the other. It is a view from a distance, framed by forest.
- Mardi Himal puts Machhapuchhre right in your face, with Annapurna South and Hiunchuli beside it. The sea of clouds below High Camp on a clear morning is what most people photograph.
- Khopra faces Dhaulagiri across the Kali Gandaki gorge, one of the deepest valleys on earth, with Annapurna South close on the other side. Sunset there is often better than sunrise.
What kind of nights do you want?
Poon Hill has the most comfortable lodges, the most choice on the menu, and the noisiest rooms. Mardi’s high lodges are basic, crowded in season, and cold; in peak weeks you may share a room with strangers or sleep in the dining hall if you arrive late without a booking. Khopra’s community lodge is simple, warm in the kitchen and freezing everywhere else, and the money you spend there goes back to the village.
On Khopra you hear the wind and nothing else. Some people love it. Some people ask on the second night when we are going down.
When are you coming?
October and November bring the clearest views on all three. March and April bring rhododendron forest in flower, especially around Ghorepani and on the lower Mardi trail. In winter, Mardi High Camp and Khopra ridge can get snow and hard ice, and Poon Hill becomes the safer choice. In the monsoon none of them show much mountain, and the forest sections have leeches.
The short answer
After all the questions, the advice usually lands somewhere like this:
- First trek, family, or under five days: Poon Hill.
- Fit, keen on mountain scenery up close, five to six days: Mardi Himal.
- Done Poon Hill before, want quiet, six or seven days: Khopra Danda.
And sometimes the honest answer is a combination. Khopra connects to the Ghorepani trail, so you can see the Poon Hill sunrise and then leave the crowds behind for the ridge.
Permits are the same for all three: the Annapurna Conservation Area permit, which in 2026 costs NPR 100 for Nepali citizens and NPR 3,000 for foreign nationals. Guide rules for foreigners have been changing, so check with us for the current position.
If you are still unsure, tell us your dates and your fitness honestly, and we will tell you honestly what we think. Message us on WhatsApp at +977 9851141663 or email peacejourneytravel@gmail.com. The tea is on us if you are in Thamel.
