The view from Khopra Ridge was amazing.
Trekking Nepal’s Khopra Ridge with kids was an amazing adventure for our family. We combined combined Poon Hill with Khopra Ridge for an 8 day trip.
Our 8 day trek in Nepal was full of amazing mountain views, friendly people, glimpses of Nepali culture, and lots of family time. This trek was not a ‘backpacking’ trip into remote wilderness. Our trek in Nepal had a mixture of time spent along the main trekking routes through villages, and some more off the beaten path. We had a great time and I was stoked at how friendly locals were to kids and felt our kids were totally safe the whole time.
Trek Overview – Nepal’s Khopra Ridge With Kids
We wanted to do a trek that was a bit longer than just 4 or 5 days, but didn’t want to go for one of the longer, harder treks that go to high elevations. After looking at our options and talking with our guide we came up with a unique trek that would combine parts of the Poon Hill Trek with the little used Khopra Ridge trek.
Poon Hill is one of the most popular, easy treks that offers spectacular views of the mountains. The Khopra Ridge trek is a new trek that has been developed by locals and at the top there is only one communally owned teahouse.
For more information about logistics and planning check out this other post.
Our 8 Day Trek On Nepal’s Khopra Ridge With Kids
Pre-Trip Planning And Training
Prior to our trip we knew we had to make sure that we were all in shape. We took our kids (8 and 10) on hikes every weekend, gradually building up to longer and longer days. By the end they (and all of us) could comfortably hike for 6 hours or so. We were ready to hike Khopra Ridge with kids.
For more information about logistics and planning check out this other post.
We Hired A Guide
Since we knew we had a limited amount of time and we would be exploring this area with our youngish kids we decided to hire a guide. We were very happy with him and would recommend him to others.
Our family with our guide at Ghandruk at the start of day 2. WOW!
In addition to the guide we hired two porters to carry most of our stuff, leaving us with only our daypacks. The guide took care of all the booking of teahouses along the way and took care of all the logistics.
Our guide was named Binod Mahat and he owns his own small company, called Hike Nepal.
A simple map of the Khopra Ridge trek.
Day 1 – Nayapul (1,070 meters ) to Ghandruk (2,000 meters), 8 hours
We woke up early and took a hired jeep from Pokhara to Nayapul. This is the little village where we would both start and end our trek in the Annapurna region of the Nepal Himalayas.
This day was super hot and we were walking uphill the whole way so we got tired and sweaty! It was hot, but it felt great to finally be starting our trek to Khopra Ridge with kids in Nepal. I just have to write that again because it was so cool to do.
Walking along the road to start our Nepal trek with kids.
The first half of the walk followed along a ‘road’ that heads from Nayapul most of the way up to Ghandruk. We chose to walk it as opposed to spending a couple of hours cramped inside of some jeep or old bus as it chugged up the steep switchbacks along the rutted dirt track.
The first day of our Khopra Ridge trek did have beautiful stretches passing by fields and villages.
As we walked along and got off the road we passed by little villages, tons of school kids returning home from school along the same trail, fields of rice and millet, and beautiful views.
Our kids enjoyed giving stickers to the local kids. It was a cool way for them to interact on our Nepal trek.
Along that stretch our kids began offering ‘tika’ stickers to any school kids that wanted them. It was neat just to watch them interact. Our kids were super shy about it at first, but became braver as they saw the local kids were friendly and happy to receive these free stickers.
A pretty great view of the mountains and Ghandruk.
Day 2 – Ghandruk (2,000 meters) to Tadapani (2,600 meters), 6 hours
Waking up in Ghandruk was such a cool feeling, to be surrounded with amazing mountains and a lovely village.
Ghandruk was a beautiful village with sweet views.
The views from our tea house were spectacular and as we strolled around Ghandruk I marveled at the majestic views. This little village, and as we soon found out everywhere along our trek, was a crazy mixture of traditional and modern.
I had been to Nepal in the late 1990s and had this romanticized version of it in my head. In my memory Nepal and the Himalayas were untouched by the modern world. I recalled a place free from the hustle and bustle of the modern world and the ubiquitous cell phones and access to technology. However, many years had passed since my visit and the Nepal I found proved to be different than my memory.
At one point as we walked along the trail our guide’s cell phone rang. He answered it and began talking to someone, taking care of business as it turned out. That just blew me away at the time because we had travelled so far to embark on this epic trekking adventure. I felt like we were far from the modern world in the Himalayas and here was our guide on his cell phone, conducting business.
He laughed when I told him how I felt and told me that he just felt that he was walking around his home and he found nothing odd about using his cell phone along the trails.
Every teahouse had a place to charge cell phones.
It turned out that all the guides and some of the porters had cell phones, which they would charge at night at the tea houses. Most of the tea houses had a spot that looked like any modern hostel as it was piled high with cell phones charging amongst a twisted pile of cords.
Some of the teahouse at Tadapani.
Day 3 – Tadapani (2,600 meters) to Dobato (3,400 meters), 6 hours
Tadapani is a small cluster of tea houses set along a ridge top crossroads. From here trails head to Poon Hill Trek, Khopra Ridge Trek, and the Annapuran Base Camp trek.
Our teahouse at Tadapani was comfortable.
The view from our teahouse at Tadapani.
Most of the trekkers would continue along to Annapurna base camp or head back the other way, but we wanted to take a road less travelled and headed from here towards Khopra ridge. Our destination was a cluster of a two or three tea houses perched much higher up on the ridge called Dobato.
Prior to this day we had done some climbing, but the ascents were still at a lower elevation. This day would be the first day that we started getting quite high in elevation and I began to feel the effects of the altitude.
The guides and porters always ate meals by themselves and with their hands. This is our lunch spot on the way to Dobato.
There are two things I want to mention about this day that stand out in my mind. First is the fact that I began to feel the altitude and didn’t like it. At our stop for lunch around 3,000 meters I noticed that I was a bit light headed. I wasn’t getting especially winded or anything, but I just didn’t feel right.
This is one of our two rooms at the teahouse in Dobato. Nothing fancy, but it worked.
That night was the first of 5 nights where I was sick. Lying down in bed I felt like the room was spinning and I felt nauseous. This was a super bummer for me because I love hiking and the mountains, but now I couldn’t handle the altitude. I took some medicine, drank lots of water, rested, and felt better.
The second thing that stands out in my mind is the shower. The shower was a little building like an outhouse that stood apart from the other buildings. The ‘door’ closed, but wouldn’t lock so we took turns standing guard while someone else showered. To get the hot water you had to turn on the gas then flick another switch and then wait for the trickle of water coming out the hose to get warm. It was far from luxurious, but it worked to get you clean.
Day 4 – Dobato (3,400 meters) to Khopra Ridge (3,600 meters), 8.5 hours
Look at that amazing view from our table as we sipped some warm liquids at Dobato.
This day we woke up feeling like we were really high up in the mountains. The dining room was perched on the side of the ridge and the windows looked out to spectacular views.
A flat section on the Khopra Ridge trail. This is towards the top of the climb coming from the ridge as we went down the next day.
Our walk this day was the longest and hardest of the entire trek. It was not a simple matter of walking along at a very steady climb of 200 meters. Instead out trail dropped off the ridge we were on and went down a long ways as we entered another valley. Then after traversing through some forest, and crossing a creek we had our big climb.
The views from the teahouse at Khopra Ridge made the walk totally worth it (this is the next morning when the sky was clear).
We had already walked for over half the day and the end of this day meant a trail that went up steeply for a long, long ways. This is the point when somehow I found myself going slowly and the kids who were running ahead had to stop to wait for us. Our fears the kids may have had a hard time with the trek were ill founded and instead we were the ones struggling.
Day 5 – Khopra Ridge (3,600 meters) to Swanta Village (2,200 meters), 6 hours
A peaceful, relaxing lunch after the big descent from Khopra Ridge.
The walk down from Khopra Ridge went much faster than the walk up. We managed to get down to this nice spot for lunch in no time.
Swanta village was a lovely little village off the beaten path that was more like a home stay. After checking into our room at Swanta village we had time to wander around the village with our guide. This village was still a village and not a huge cluster of teahouses accommodating tons of trekkers.
A fun swing that Aster tried out in Swanta village.
We wandered by a ‘swing’ fashioned out of tree limbs, meandered through fields, and watched some locals playing a serious game of volleyball.
Day 6 – Swanta Village (2,200 meters) to Ghoreapani (2,700 meters), 6 hours
This day was the day that we returned to the major trekking route. Leaving Swanta village we headed across a river to the other side of the valley where another major trekking trail was. This trail starts down at a road and then heads up to Ghoreapani, creating another easy way for trekkers to get into this area of the Annapurna range.
Ghoreapani is another place with amazing views of the mountains.
Ghoreapani is the place where most trekkers spend the night before waking up to walk the short way uphill to Poon Hill to see the sunrise.
The view from Ghoreapani at night is spectacular!
Day 7 Ghoreapani (2,700 meters) to Ulerri (1,200 meters), 6 hours
From Ghoreapani you are on the main trekking route. There are lots of teahouses and shops like this to buy food and drinks.
From Nayapul there are two main ways to head up to do the Poon Hill trek. One comes up from Ulerri by a series of never ending steps (3,500 steps is what some sign says and I believe it). The other way is the way that we began our trek, heading towards Ghandruk.
Taking a well deserved break on the way down, down, down.
Our day from Ghoreapani was the beginning of the end of our trek as we descended a long, long, long way this day. We passed many people making their way up the trail and I was very glad we were going down and not up.
On this day I felt that we were leaving the little villages perched high up in the Himalayas and were returning to the lower, more populated areas.
Unfortunately, I have to say that Ulerri was my least favorite spot along our trek. This is nothing more than a little road side village along a major river. It simply happens to be a good stopping point between Ghoreapani and the road, where it’s possible to catch a car at Nayapul.
Day 8 Ulerri (1,200 meters) to Nayapul (1,070 meters), 2 hours
This was really our final day of trekking that was nothing more than a short stroll along a road until we arrived back in Nayapul.
We got tikka as we crossed a major bridge at the end of our trek.
At Nayapul we stopped by the conservation area office to check out. Then we crossed over the bridge that we had crossed 7 days ago to begin our adventure.
It always looks different when you are returning from a long trip to the same area you started. In the beginning everything is new and fresh and I’m excited and full of energy. Then at the end I always feel a bit tired, spent, sad to be done, and happy to have finished such a great adventure, trekking Khopra Ridge with kids.
What an amazing adventure. We hope to bring our kids to Nepal someday.