This Trekking Guidebook for the Annapurna area describes the NATT- trekking trails (= Natural Annapurna Trekking trail) which avoid the newly open roads.
It includes Annapurna round / circuit, Tilicho lake, Annapurna Panorama trek & Poon Hill, Annapurna Basecamp trek ABC and the new Khopra Danda and Mardi Himal trek. The second edition was completely revised, several chapters added and doubled its size.
For many years the Annapurna circuit in Nepal was one of the most beautiful treks in the world. But in 2004 a general program was started in Nepal to connect all district headquarters by road. The headquarters in this area were Jomsom and Manang and so the construction of the road I Marsyangi and Kali Gandaki Valley was started. Soon it was clear that the road should continue up to Muktinath and Manang.
For Nepali people a road means progress and many village communities pressed politicians for a fast development. What Nepali did not understand, is that trekkers don’t want at all walk on a dirt road with dust, horning buses, jeeps and motorcycles. When the road to Jomsom was opened for traffic in 2008 many trekkers did not want to walk down from Muktinath anymore which is a pity and had also a dramatic negative effect on many people living from tourism in the valley. It is then that ACAP started to find, plan and construct alternative trails which would avoid the road.
The authors have walked extensively these Natural Annapurna Trekking Trails (which the authors call NATT-trails) often together with ACAP guides and marked many of them with the NATT signs. In spring 2012 they visited again the Jomsom area and marked some more trails. As the road on the Manang side was opened in 2012 ( to Manang in 2013) they visited again the Manang trek in January 2013. Prem Rai visited and marked the Khopra Danda and Mardi Himal trek in spring 2013.
In this book you will find a description of these trails helping you to trek beside and often far away from the road and again enjoy one of the finest trekking areas of Nepal and the world.