Accommodation in short Annapurna Base Camp Trek
Tea houses in Annapurna Base Camp Trek route is one of the best and most commercial than other trekking routes in Nepal. Due to this, accommodation on your short five days Annapurna Base Camp Trek will be decent.
There are more than ten tea houses at every stop on the ABC Trek Route. Whether on the base camp or at Chhomrong, you'll get beds with soft mattresses, warm blankets, and routinely washed pillowcases and bed sheets at every tea house.
Often, in the peak trekking season of Annapurna Base Camp, carrying sleeping bags on your own can be the best option. It's because the tea houses get filled with vast numbers of trekkers, and thus, the blanket supply often becomes an issue. With your sleeping bag, you can get the optimum comfort, being warm and curling.
The rooms you'll get in 5 days of Annapurna Base Camp Trek will be twin sharing, one double bed, and one single bed. At higher altitude places like Bamboo, Himalaya, Deurali, Machhapuchhre Base Camp, and Annapurna Base Camp, during peak trekking months, October to late November, and March to May, you may have to accommodate group sharing. Even at group sharing, you'll get the best available individual beds with proper hygiene.
Most rooms have attached bathrooms and running hot showers with electricity. You can also recharge your mobile phones and batteries at the dining hall or in your room at the tea house. But in most parts, you have to pay the additional cost for battery recharge and hot showers.
Meals in five days express Annapurna Base Camp Trek
Practically, your short Annapurna Base Camp Trek 5 days starts from Chhomrong; even you take a jeep ride almost to Jhinu and hike to Chhomrong. Chhomrong Tourism Management Committee regulates and approves the meal menu on the entire Annapurna Base Camp Trekking route.
The meals menu in 5 days Annapurna Base Camp Trek serves a wide variety of meals, whether Nepali cuisine or western cuisine.
Annapurna Base Camp Trek itinerary breakfast includes cereals with almost six varieties like oat porridge, muesli, fruits, cornflakes, and more. You can also have types of toast, Pancakes, milk tea, coffee, hot lemon and ginger tea, and much more.
The lunch menu includes Mo: Mo, Macaroni w/o cheese, Spaghetti, Lasagne, Burger, Sandwich, Nepali Dal Bhat, Biryani, Pizza, and a bunch of Korean Meals. Thukpa and noodles with plain rice and some salads can also be the best combo of carbohydrates, protein, and warm liquids for hydration.
The dinner meal remains almost identical to the lunch meal. However, trekkers can also ask for fried rice, soups, macaroni, pasta, a thick soup of beans and potatoes, thick soup, and Dal Bhat.
At the end of dinner, your trek guide serves you fruits and some salads as dessert items before you go for a comfortable overnight sleep.
Read our Meals in Annapurna Base Camp Trek 5 days Blog to get a better idea of every meal you'll get at different tea houses en route.
Drinking water in five days Annapurna Base Camp Trek
Throughout the short 5 days Annapurna Base Camp Trek, you won't have any challenges getting drinking water. There are several ways with which you can refill your water bottles en route.
First, tea houses are the best places to refill your water bottles and hydration bladder. You can get both hot water and cold water at tea houses. They won't charge you for cold water, but you must have to pay some extra for hot water.
Second, the running taps throughout the route. You'll encounter many fixtures and water sources while hiking on the Annapurna Base Camp Trek route. These waters are also safe to drink, but we recommend using water-purifying tablets and electrolytes.
Remember that trekkers cannot use mineral water bottles in the Annapurna region, past Chhomrong, to the base camp region. Hence, carrying a thermos, hydration bladder, or refillable water bottles becomes handy.
Ethnicity and Diversity of Annapurna Region
Just like Sherpa to the Everest region, Annapurna region is home to Gurung, Thakali, and Magar ethnic communities. The culturally enriched Gurung communities are an element to admire in 5 days Annapurna Base Camp Trek.
While trekking, you can see people wearing their ethnic attires and a significant sack-like attire on the back, mainly to collect wild mushrooms and other essentials if they’re going to farmlands. Red and white attires of the Gurung community are also significant attractions among trekkers.
Most tea house owners here belong to the ethnicity within the Annapurna region. So, their style of speaking, greetings to trekkers, and warm hospitality are heart stealers.
The traditional homes, stone roofs, stone paved trails, terrace farmings, and smiling faces throughout make the Annapurna region an enriched cultural hub.
Diversity in flora and fauna
Naturally gifted Annapurna region hosts nearly 22 varieties of forest at different climatic zones. One thousand two hundred twenty-six plant species in this region also include 55 other plants only found in Nepal, making Annapurna Conservation Area a treasure of western Nepal.
Not to mention, more than 100 varieties of mammals live in this region. If lucky, you may encounter some rarest animals like Blue Sheep, Tibetan Wolf, and Tibetan Argali. ABC region is the only place in Nepal where you can find all six varieties of Pheasants. Endangered species like Snow Leopard and Red Pandas live on the foothills of Annapurna.
The five days Annapurna Base Camp Trek is not limited to trekking but also wildlife research, birdwatching, and conservation activities for these regions.
Sustainable & carbon-free 5 days Annapurna Base Camp Trek
Sublime Trails has always advocated carbon-zero and sustainable trekking and tourism in Nepal. From our start, we've dedicated our efforts to making every trip to support the local community. We support local community development by giving 1% of every trip we make.
We've also associated ourselves with carbon reduction projects. Due to this, our shortest Annapurna Base Camp Trek 5 days are planned according to these initiatives.
We also encourage our valued clients, joining express Annapurna Base Camp Trek in Autumn 2022 and Spring 2023 to abide by our motto.
Essential Annapurna Base Camp Trek Permits
For the 5 days of Annapurna Base Camp Trek short itinerary, for foreign nationals, two trekking permits are essential. These are the Trekkers Information Management System (TIMS) and Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) permits.
TIMS Card is the crucial short Annapurna Base Camp Trek permits as it carries detailed information about the trekkers. The authorities use the TIMS card for various informational and security purposes. TIMS Card costs around USD 20, but the cost may change for various reasons.
Next, ACAP, in five days ABC Trek, lets you hike any number of days you want inside the Annapurna Conservation Area. This Annapurna Base Camp Trek permit, ACAP, costs around USD 25.
Upon booking this trek with us, our team manages the essential permits for you before you start the short ABC trek. Thus, you don't have to take the extra burden of getting Trek permits from the authorities.
Baggage and weight limit for porters
Our five days shortest Annapurna Base Camp Trek start from Pokhara. Hence, our trek porters carry your baggage and essentials throughout this trek.
Throughout this trek, our porter carries not more than 25 kg weight baggage when sharing the baggage with two trekkers. For any weight more than that, you need to hire an additional porter. We only provide one porter to two trekkers for this trek.
Since the Annapurna Base Camp Short Trek is only five days long, you don't need to carry much gear and a backpack.
For flights, you don't need to worry about the weight limits. Once you land at Kathmandu airport, you can take a taxi to Pokhara before starting the trek. If you wish to take a domestic flight, you can carry around 15kg, 10 kg of luggage, and 5 kg on hand carry.
Flight delays and transportation
Since 5 days Annapurna Base Camp Trek starting from Pokhara takes you to Chhomrong and lower Sinuwa on the first day, there won't be any involvement of domestic flights.
Before starting this trek, you can take a flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara once you land in Kathmandu. The Kathmandu Pokhara flight barely gets delayed on a given day. Hence, you won't have to worry about potential flight delays.
Trekkers' safety and security
We always put safety as a goal to maintain on every trek and tour. We deliver our best to regulate trekkers' health safety from injuries, altitude sickness, food and water-related issues, and other issues.
Our trek guides come with first aid and basic mountain medicine knowledge. Apart from this, their years of experience in high altitudes will be handy in guiding you at every step.
Theft and robbery are almost zero throughout Annapurna Base Camp Trek from Pokhara. If you want, you can also use zip locks and pattern locks on your backpack for better safety and assurance.
You'll get the best possible evacuation at the right time during health emergencies and natural mishaps. Even during the worst case, you'll get helicopter evacuation from any point en route to the base camp.
Guides and porters' safety and security
Our trek guides and porters are crucial assets of our company. Hence, we always put their safety and security as the highest priority. There's no denying that the best experience of a short Annapurna Base Camp Trek for trekkers joining the group is only when the trek guides and porters are in the best physical shape.
Our trek guides and porters come with health insurance to benefit from the services during emergencies. Also, we ensure that our trek guides and porters get paid as per industry standards throughout the trek.
International Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance is the most crucial document you must have for every tour and trekking in Nepal. Even though it's just five days, you'll hike nearly 4,130 meters. And it's near mountains with low oxygen and a risk of landslides and avalanches.
We encourage our valued clients to join our five days Annapurna Base Camp Trek from Pokhara by purchasing travel insurance that covers helicopter evacuation and hospitalization costs if you need it. Your worries hike is only possible when you have a decent insurance backup.
Travel insurance benefits you from bearing the expenses of emergency rescue and medication bills throughout the trek.
Your 5 days Annapurna Base Camp Short Trek package doesn't include travel insurance. But, if you request our tour manager, we can recommend some trusted insurance partners if you miss buying one in your home country.
Annapurna Base Camp trek altitudes
Since you're on a five-day short ABC Trek, you'll have a short itinerary that starts from Pokhara, a drive to Jhinu, and starts the hike from there.
The first stop, Pokhara, sits at 822 meters. The second destination, Jhinu, sits at 1,800 meters. Jhinu is a beautiful village in Ghandruk Municipality with well-visited natural hot springs that trekkers visit after completing the trek.
Chhomrong, at 2,140 meters, is a beautiful Gurung settlement in the Annapurna region that comes after Jhinu. Lower Sinuwa, our first overnight tea house, sits over 2,200 meters. Upper Sinuwa sits at 2,360 meters, Bamboo village sits at 2,310 meters and Dovan at 2,600 meters. Himalaya sits at 2,900 meters, and our second overnight place, Deurali, sits at 3,230 meters.
The next morning hike for two hours from Deurali takes us to Machhapuchhre Base Camp, commonly known as MBC at 3,700 meters. Another two-hour hike from MBC takes us to our final destination, Annapurna Base Camp, at 4,130 meters.
Trek difficulty and preparations
The five days short Annapurna Base Camp Trek starting from Pokhara and ending at Pokhara is an easy to moderate grade trek.
Even if it's your first time trekking, with some fitness and physical exercises, you can reach the base camp at 4,130 meters. We'll provide a trekking guide and porter to support and guide you throughout this trek.
However, it doesn't mean that entire route sections are easy to hike. There are some sections where you'll get exhausted and need to take multiple rests. The ascend of ABC from MBC and stone paved stairs of Chhomrong can be challenging for you.
Hence prepare for about a month by hiking, participating in marathons, and practicing cardio exercises.
Altitude sickness and prevention
Altitude sickness can be a concern for you if your body doesn't get adapted to high altitude while trekking.
Unlike the Everest Base Camp trek, the Annapurna Base Camp Short Trek from Pokhara with the new itinerary from Pokhara is far safer from altitude sickness. Very few trekkers get this problem for various reasons.
With our new itinerary, you'll hike for four to five hours each day, and the rest of the day, you'll be at the tea house, taking a rest and getting acclimated.
What to do if you get altitude sickness on this trek? First, inform the trek guide about how you're feeling. Tell your guide if you've any headaches, nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and fatigue. These are the most apparent high-altitude sickness to trekkers. The trek guide will give you some medicines that help soothe these symptoms.
You can also contribute from your side to avoid altitude sickness. Drinking plenty of water, slow-paced hikes, breathing via the nose, eating adequate meals every day, 8-10 hours of sleep at the tea house, and anti-altitude sickness medicines are general practices to lower the risk of high altitude sickness. Acetazolamide tablets can be very helpful at high altitudes if you consider consuming them.
If the symptoms worsen, you'll be either carried down to lower altitudes or evacuated on a helicopter to Pokhara.
Gears to pack for Annapurna Base Camp Trek
You need proper trekking gear for a better trek experience and comfortable hikes. You don't need to carry heavy backpacks for this trek, but you must carry essential gear.
For the upper body, you can carry a down jacket, multi-layered sleeves, fleece, neck warmer, woolen hat, thermoset, etc.
For the lower body, you can carry trekking pants, trousers, half pants, socks, trekking boots, knee brace, hip brace, etc. For better warming, you can also carry woolen socks that cover your feet below the knee.
Other essentials include lip balms, moisturizers, sun protection creams, water electrolytes, chlorine tablets, cameras, binoculars, mobile phones, power banks, books, etc.
With these, you'll be warm and comfortable throughout the Annapurna Base Camp Short Trek from Pokhara with a short itinerary.
You can also read our Annapurna Base Camp Trek Packing List Blog for a better idea of things to include in a backpack.
Weather, temperature, and best time
Annapurna Base Camp Trek starting from Pokhara for five days is best in Autumn and Spring. The utmost visible outlook, clear weather, stable temperature, and rain-free days excite your Annapurna trek experience.
The vibrant autumn colors with Machhapuchhre Himal on the backdrop, the cascading rivers, and the towering boulders on a sunny day in Autumn are heart stealers. Also, terrace farming, rhododendron blossom, lively landscapes, verdant forests, water streams, everything becomes aesthete in Spring in Annapurna.
Summer, especially from June to August is not the best time for this trekking. The routes often get blocked by landslides and avalanches. Thus, trekkers don't hike to Annapurna Base Camp in summer to avoid the risk. In winter, the thick snowfall deposits on the entire trekking route past Deurali. Thus, the risk of avalanches and extreme cold can be harsh on trekkers.
The Spring and Autumn days in Annapurna Base Camp averages around 5-10 degree. The nighttime temperature averages around freezing. The summer days become warmer with temperatures averaging around 16 degrees. The winter days remains freezing in the daytime at the base camp and the temperature drops to -10 degree in the nighttime.
Tipping for guides and porters
The final day of your five days Annapurna Base Camp Trek from Pokhara with a short itinerary ends in Pokhara on the 5th day.
This day is extra special, first, the trek ends successfully, and second, it's a day to tip your trek crews. Tipping trek guides and porters around 10% of the total trek expense you've paid for the package is usually in practice.
Your trek guides and porters' tips help them run their livelihood and family. Your tip isn't just money, it's support and motivation by you to our trek crews to deliver fantastic guiding services in the coming days.
You can also offer meals and dinner to the trek crews in the evening at Pokhara.
