Sikles Trek - 12 Days

Detailed Overview of Sikles Trek

The Sikles Trek starts in Kathmandu where you have a full day guided tour of all the most important UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu Valley, such as Pashupatinath Temple, Boudhanath Stupa, Swayambhunath and Patan Durbar Square. Such a cultural experience is a precursor to a trip more than just walking on mountains but walking in living communities.
The road from Kathmandu to Pokhara passes along the picturesque river Trishuli and Marsyangdi, through village terraces, riverside market towns and occasional views of the ridgeline of the Himalayas. The town of Pokhara will be the overnight base from where the trek starts the next morning with a short drive to Milanchowk on the outskirts of the Annapurna Conservation Area.
The trail steps into another world once you cross into the village of Milanchowk – the quiet winding of village trails is replaced by the highway’s asphalt, the air is full of pine resin and cooking fires, and the gorge of the Seti River opens down below. On the first day on the trek, you will arrive at the small village of Kharpani (1,440m), where you can enjoy a bit of spa-style treatment with the natural geothermal hot spring on the bank of the Seti River, a small mineral water pool with healing properties for skin ailments. Soaking in the warm waters after the first day’s walk is one of the best experiences of the trek and provides you with a relaxed and unhurried feel to come through the remainder.

The second day of trekking is the most arduous, with a long trek up through the river crossings, summer grazing settlements, and dense mixed forest to arrive at the highest point in the whole trek, Ghalegaon (2,713m), the most cultural of the destination points. Ghalegaon is a typical Gurung village perched on the hills surrounded by stone houses, slate roofs, carved wooden windows and terraced millet and barley fields. Here, people have a tradition of letting trekkers stay in the family home for meals and overnight stays which is much more enjoyable than staying in a teahouse. Village ridge views include a wide vista of snow-capped peaks such as Annapurna II, Annapurna IV, Lamjung Himal and Manaslu.

From Ghalegaon, the trail leads southwest into Parche (1,760m), another lovely village situated on the wooded ridges of Bayule Danda, and then up to the main attraction of the trail: Sikles village (1,980m). Sikles perches on a wide spur above the Mardi River, and is the most important Gurung settlement on the trek, with over 400 households, who have kept their culture intact with great fidelity. Ancient stone temples, prayer-flag-draped gompas, hand-loomed Gurung textiles and sounds of dhami-jhankri (traditional healer) drums during festival period all give this place a feeling of its own cultural momentum. The view of the mountains here is stunning during dawn and dusk, with Annapurna II to the northeast, Annapurna IV above and behind and Lamjung Himal to the east.

The descent from Sikles goes down the Madi Rivers, through riverside forests and terraced farmland communities at Kalikasthan (1,080m) and then through the quiet shores of the second largest lake in Pokhara Valley at Begnas Lake, a lake surrounded by wetlands and fishery farms, with barely affected hill communities at its edge. From Begnas the drive back to Pokhara is only half an hour and the evening is free to enjoy the restaurants, cafes and mountain views of Pokhara before the next day’s drive to Kathmandu.
The entire path is as interesting as for its natural variety as for its cultural aspect. In one short compact trip, the trail passes through subtropical riverine forest at lower elevations, leads through broadleaf deciduous forest of oak and rhododendron at mid-altitude and ends up at the meadows and top of the ridges at Ghalegaon. The diversity of birds is outstanding – more than 200 species have been recorded in the foothills of the Annapurna Conservation Area, including himalayan monal, rufous-bellied niltava and a number of laughingthrushes.