Treks and travels: Annapurna circuit trek, Day 1: Kathmandu to Besisahar and to Bhulbule

The original plan was to trek to Everest Base camp. But weather played spoilsport to our plans. The flight that took off from Kathmandu could not land at Lukla due to bad weather. And not even a single flight could fly next day. The weather forecast did not look promising in the coming days. Our return date from Kathmandu could not be changed and buffer days we planned were all consumed. I and Subbu decided to head to Annapurna circuit.

About Annapurna circuit

It is ‘circling’ Annapurna massif. It takes about 18 days to complete this trek. But thanks to road construction many people now complete the trek in 8-12 days.

Kathmandu to Besisahar

Besisahar near Pokhara is the starting point of Annapurna circuit. It is about 180 km from Kathmandu. The Bus was supposed to start at 7:50AM but it was 9:30AM by the time we came out of Kathmandu as the bus was not full and bus driver and conductor were always looking out for passengers!! Then a massive traffic jam on the ghat road slowed down the journey. It was 4PM when we reached Besisahar. Lunch was at a road side restaurant in Benighat.

TIMS card and permit

At Besisahar, trekkers have to register themselves and provide TIMS card and permit. For more information on TIMS card and how to obtain it, refer this website. It is also possible to obtain TIMS card at Besisahar check post but it is only for individual trekkers.

Permit is required as the area we trek comes under Annapurna conservation area. More information on that is provided in this website.

Obtaining TIMS and permit may seem complicated but it is not. You just need couple of passport size photographs and passport copy. For Annapurna circuit, you can easily get it at Besisahar itself. If you are trekking on your own, do not think of getting it from travel agents. They simply charge hefty service fee on top of the standard rates.

Another question is about guides and porters. According to me guides are not needed especially if you are travelling during April-May and October-November. The trails are clear with many villages all along the way. It is a tea house trek meaning that at the end of the day you will get a bed to sleep and food to eat!!

But if you are trekking alone, then it would be better to either have a guide or porter more from a safety point of view.

Besisahar to Bhulbule

It takes about three hours to walk from Besisahar to Bhulbule. But mini buses now ply on this route!! With an hour of day light left, it was not possible to reach Bhulbule before dark and hence we took the bus. The road was horrible and it took 1.5 hours to cover this distance!! At many times we felt that it would have been better to walk than struggle in the cramped bus.

The bus stopped in front of Thorung guest house and we promptly took a room there. Though it was the first day of the trek, we hadn't started walking yet!!