Field note · Nepal · Kaski, Gandaki Province

Ghandruk

Ghandruk used to be a two-day walk from the nearest road and is now a jeep ride from Pokhara. Shared jeeps leave Hari Chowk from before dawn until early evening and take about two hours; the cheap local bus leaves Baglung Bus Park and takes three to five. Both stop at the ACAP check post at Nayapul, and both stop below the village, so the last ten minutes are stone steps whatever you arrive in. Walking is still the point for most people: Nayapul, Kimche and Landruk are all trailheads into the same village, and above Ghandruk towards Chhomrong and Annapurna Base Camp there is no road at all.

Researched: 21 September 2026
Reviewed: not yet
Ways of moving: 8, 32 sources
Not confirmed: 7
Fares seen: 2025–2026

The place

Ghandruk is a picturesque traditional village nestled in the Annapurna Rural Municipality, Kaski District of the Gandaki Province of Nepal. Situated 32 km north-west to Pokhara, this traditional Gurung settlement sits at an elevation of 2,012 meters (6,601 ft) and serves as a key stop on several iconic trekking routes, including the Annapurna Base Camp and Annapurna Circuit treks.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The place page has what to see, do and eat, and every way there from the planner.

How transport works here

8 ways of moving, each with its rule

We confirmed seven ways of moving to, from or around Ghandruk: two by road, one hired or on demand and four under your own steam, from 32 sources. One entry is not a service at all but a rule that decides whether travel happens: a permit, a closure, a border, a season or an authority's say-so. Two of them run only on demand or when the seats are full, so there is no timetable to show; the rule is written where the timetable would be. One needs a phone call or a message before you turn up.

The fares were seen in 2025 to 2026; a fare from an older year is a floor, not a price. We rate 6 of the 8 high confidence, our own judgement of the sources. The entry was checked on 21 September 2026, and ends with seven things we could not confirm.

2 ways

By road

minibus

Pokhara Baglung Bus Park bus to Ghandruk

Baglung Bus Park, Pokhara, out on the Baglung highway to Nayapul, then up the Modi Khola road through Syauli Bazaar and Kimche to the lower end of Ghandruk

Baglung Bus Park is the local-bus yard north of Pokhara at the start of the Baglung highway, a different place from the tourist bus park. Buses run through the day. They stop at the ACAP check post at Nayapul, where everyone gets out and shows their permit, and again below Ghandruk, from where it is a walk uphill on stone steps into the village.

When: Through the day; Travelling Mandala found buses and jeeps running all day between Pokhara and Ghandruk
Takes: 3–5 hours, depending on how bad the upper road is
Fare 2025: NPR 450 per person

SeasonYear-round, but the upper section is unsealed and during the June to August monsoon parts of it wash out in landslides. Buses turn back at Nayapul or Kimche when that happens. BookingNone. Pay on the bus. Run bylocal bus committees operating out of Baglung Bus Park.

share jeep

Pokhara – Ghandruk shared jeep from Hari Chowk

Hari Chowk, Pokhara, direct to Ghandruk via Nayapul and Kimche, about 57 km by road

The jeeps gather at Hari Chowk in Pokhara, not at Baglung Bus Park. They are shared, they leave when the seats fill, and they run from about 05:00 to 18:00. Take an early one if you want to walk on from Ghandruk to Chhomrong the same day. The jeep stops at the Nayapul check post for permits and drops you at the lower end of Ghandruk.

When: From about 05:00 to 18:00, leaving as soon as each jeep fills
Takes: About 2 hours; some operators quote 3–4 hours, which is closer to the truth after rain
Fare 2025: NPR 5,000 for the whole jeep, split between passengers. With eight aboard that is about NPR 625 each. Nepal Hiking Team puts shared transport from Pokhara to Ghandruk, Nayapul or Siwai at USD 10–30 per person in 2026

SeasonYear-round. Slower and less reliable in the monsoon; in winter the road is fine but cold and the last stretch can ice up. BookingNone needed. Turn up at Hari Chowk and take the next jeep. Pokhara guesthouses will phone ahead and reserve a seat. Run byprivate jeep owner-drivers, organised through the Hari Chowk jeep stand.

One way

Hired, booked and on demand

private hire

Private jeep charter Pokhara – Ghandruk

Anywhere in Pokhara to Ghandruk, or to the other Annapurna road heads at Nayapul, Siwai, Jhinu Danda and Hile

Any Pokhara guesthouse or trekking agency books one, and the Hari Chowk drivers will take a charter rather than wait for a full jeep. Worth it for a group, for an early start, for luggage, or when you want to be dropped at Siwai instead of Ghandruk. Confirm whether the price is one way or return, because return pricing is common and the driver may wait.

When: On demand, any hour, though drivers avoid the upper road after dark
Takes: About 2 hours to Ghandruk
Fare 2026: USD 80–150 and up per vehicle. Eco Nepal Trekkers quotes around USD 100 for a private jeep

SeasonYear-round, subject to the same monsoon landslides as the bus. BookingThrough a Pokhara guesthouse or agency the day before, or directly with a driver at Hari Chowk. Run byPokhara jeep owners and trekking agencies.

4 ways

On foot, by bike, or otherwise

walking trail

Nayapul and Birethanti to Ghandruk on foot

Nayapul on the Baglung highway, over the bridge to Birethanti, then up the Modi Khola through Syauli Bazaar and Kimche to Ghandruk, about 3–5 hours of steady ascent

Take any Baglung Bus Park bus or a shared jeep as far as Nayapul, about 1.5 hours out of Pokhara, clear the ACAP check post at the bridge in Birethanti, and start walking. Be aware of what this trail is now: most of it follows the jeep road, and with jeeps running all day it is dusty and not especially pleasant. Travellers who know the route mostly ride to Kimche or to Ghandruk and start walking there instead. A separate village footpath exists but is unmarked and hard to follow.

When: Walk when you like; the transport to the trailhead runs through the day
Takes: 3–5 hours Nayapul to Ghandruk. Some itineraries still split it over two days with a night in Birethanti or Syauli Bazaar
Fare 2026: Free to walk. The bus or jeep leg to Nayapul is the same service and fare as the Ghandruk runs above

SeasonYear-round. Leeches and mud from June to August, ice on the stone steps in January and February. BookingNone, but the ACAP permit is checked at Birethanti and Ghandruk. Run bynone.

walking trail

Kimche to Ghandruk, the bus-plus-walk combination

Kimche, the last road village below Ghandruk, up the stone staircase to the village, 1–2 hours

This is the cheap way in and the one most budget trekkers use. Take the Baglung Bus Park bus or a shared jeep and get off at Kimche rather than paying through to Ghandruk, then walk up. The path is short, steep and unmistakable, through forest and terraced fields. It puts you into the top of the village rather than the bottom, so if you are staying at one of the upper lodges you save the internal climb.

When: Same services as the Ghandruk bus and jeep; anything going to Ghandruk passes Kimche
Takes: 1–2 hours uphill, about 45 minutes coming down
Fare 2026: Free to walk; the ride to Kimche costs a little less than the ride all the way to Ghandruk

SeasonYear-round; slippery in the monsoon. Run bynone.

walking trail

Landruk, Tadapani and Chhomrong: the trails that are the transport

Landruk to Ghandruk across the Modi Khola; Ghandruk on to Tadapani and Ghorepani; Ghandruk on to Chhomrong and the Annapurna Sanctuary; Ghandruk down to Jhinu Danda and its hot spring

Above and around Ghandruk there is no road, so these paths carry everything: trekkers, villagers, school children and supplies. They are signposted and stone-paved in places, and every junction has a teahouse. The Landruk link drops from Ghandruk to the Modi Khola, crosses a suspension bridge and climbs steeply up the far side. Tadapani is the way to Poon Hill; Chhomrong is the gateway to Annapurna Base Camp and everything beyond it is carried in on backs.

When: On foot, any daylight hour
Takes: Landruk 2–3 hours; Jhinu Danda 4–5 hours; Tadapani 3–4 hours uphill; Chhomrong 5–6 hours; Ghorepani 6–7 hours via Tadapani
Fare 2025: Free to walk. Teahouse rooms in Ghandruk and the neighbouring villages ran around NPR 1,300 for room, dinner and breakfast in 2025

SeasonBest October to November and March to April. June to August is wet, muddy and cloudy. December to February is clear and cold, and the higher links towards Chhomrong and the Sanctuary carry snow. BookingNone for the trails. ACAP permit checked at village posts. Run bynone.

porter

Porters and guides hired in Pokhara

Pokhara or the trailhead, up to Ghandruk and on into the Annapurna Sanctuary

Porters and guides are hired through a registered trekking agency in Pokhara or Kathmandu, which is also the legal route: a foreigner on a tourist visa cannot employ trekking staff directly. One porter normally carries a duffel shared by two trekkers. On the Ghandruk approach itself a porter is barely needed because the jeep goes to the village, but above Chhomrong, where there is no road, porters and their loads are the whole supply chain and are why a bottle of water costs several times the Pokhara price at Annapurna Base Camp.

When: Arranged the day before; agencies can usually produce someone the same evening in season
Takes: Engaged by the day for the length of the trek
Fare 2026: Porter USD 15–20 a day, about NPR 2,000–2,500. Guide USD 25–35 a day, about NPR 3,000–5,000. A tip of 5–10 percent of the trek cost at the end is customary

SeasonYear-round; rates and availability tighten in the October–November and March–April peaks. BookingThrough a registered agency. Check that the agency insures its porters and guides for medical care and evacuation. Run byTAAN-registered trekking agencies in Pokhara and Kathmandu.

One way

Rules, permits and closures

permit

ACAP permit and TIMS card, the gate on the trail

Checked at Birethanti and Nayapul on the way in, and again in Ghandruk

Ghandruk is inside the Annapurna Conservation Area, so the permit is needed even for a day trip by jeep. Buy the ACAP entry permit online through the NTNC e-permit system, which issues it by email, or in person at the Nepal Tourism Board office in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, or the permit counter at Damside, Pokhara. Bring your passport. It can be issued at the Birethanti check post but at double the fee. The TIMS card is bought online at tims.ntb.gov.np, which replaced the counter system on 1 April 2023. Reports from the Annapurna Base Camp route say TIMS is not consistently checked there, but carry it.

When: One permit per trip; ACAP is single entry
Takes: Online ACAP is issued by email within minutes; the Pokhara counter takes under an hour
Fare 2026: ACAP NPR 3,000 for foreigners, NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals, tax included, plus 2.9 percent if you pay online. Double at a check post. TIMS NPR 2,000 for an independent trekker and NPR 1,000 for a group trekker; SAARC rates are lower. Children under 10 need no ACAP permit

SeasonYear-round. Bookingepermit.ntnc.org.np for ACAP with Visa or Mastercard, tims.ntb.gov.np for TIMS, or a registered agency for both. Since March 2023 trekkers in remote regions must also hire a licensed guide or join a group. Run byNational Trust for Nature Conservation (ACAP) and Nepal Tourism Board with TAAN (TIMS).

Not confirmed

What we could not find out

7 things the researcher looked for and did not find, in their own words, with where to ask instead. None of this goes into the planner; it stays here until someone confirms it.

01
Mule and pony trains were not confirmed by any source found. Every operator page describes supplies above Chhomrong as carried by porters, not by animals, and none of the Ghandruk or Annapurna Base Camp pages mentions mules on this side of the range. Mule trains are well documented on the Annapurna Circuit and the Jomsom road; whether they work the Ghandruk–Chhomrong trail could not be verified. Ask at a Ghandruk lodge.
02
No helicopter charter to Ghandruk itself could be confirmed. Operators sell an Annapurna Base Camp helicopter tour out of Pokhara, and insurance-funded medical evacuation from the trail is routine, but no published charter route or fare for a Pokhara–Ghandruk landing was found.
03
The two published times for the Pokhara–Ghandruk jeep disagree. A 2026 first-hand account says about 2 hours; several trekking operators say 3–4 hours and the Nepal Tourism Board page says 4–5. The difference is probably road condition and season rather than any change of route.
04
TIMS fees are quoted differently by different arms of the same system. TAAN's English page still gives the old group and individual split of NPR 1,000 and 2,000 with SAARC rates of 300 and 600; TAAN's own 2023 Nepali notice gives NPR 1,000 for SAARC and NPR 2,000 for non-SAARC through the online system. Confirm at tims.ntb.gov.np before paying.
05
Whether TIMS is actually enforced on the Ghandruk and Annapurna Base Camp route is unclear. Nepal Hiking Team states that implementation on this route is inconsistent and that the card is not always issued or checked.
06
Winter snowline on the Ghandruk approach is not documented precisely. Ghandruk at 2,012 m sits below normal winter snow and December temperatures run about minus 3 to 8 degrees; the snow problem starts higher, above Chhomrong towards Machhapuchhre Base Camp. No source gives an elevation.
07
The brief describes the Baglung Bus Park buses as running to Nayapul and Kimche. They now run through to Ghandruk itself for NPR 450, because the road reaches the village. Nayapul and Kimche remain useful places to get off and start walking.

In the planner

What the planner can route today

The options above live on the place page, not in the departure board: a boat that comes when you phone has no time to show. What the board can do for Ghandruk is this.

Y: Scheduled flightsPokhara (PHH), 30 km
N: Trains and coachesno timetable feed known for this country
Y: Ferriesferry terminal, 23 km; sailings estimated
Y: Driving and taxiOpenStreetMap roads; cab fare from the country band
N: Bike and scooter shareno share feed known
N: Cruisesno open itinerary source anywhere

Y routable now · F found, not yet implemented · N no source known. Nearest place with more: Pokhara, 20 km.