Trekking Nepal’s road-free alternative to the Annapurna Circuit: the Nar-Phu trail connects two remote Tibetan-influenced villages
- The Nar-Phu is a rugged trekking trail in Nepal, linking two isolated villages: Nar and Phu, and unlike the popular Annapurna Circuit, it has no roads
- The route takes you through mountain passes and gorges, past goat pastures and monasteries; accommodation can be found at basic guest houses
The policeman in the Nepalese hamlet of Koto was correct – the phone signal disappears as we cross the churning grey Marsyangdi river and leave the well-trodden Annapurna Circuit.
The path strikes out north from Koto – a row of understocked shops and a small monastery on an unpaved road, and the last place we see wheeled transport – following the milky-blue Nar River towards Tibet. The river is flanked by pine-clad slopes, which steepen as we move up the valley.
The Nar-Phu is a rugged trekking trail linking the two isolated Himalayan villages of Nar and Phu. Unlike the better known and trekked Annapurna Circuit, the Nar-Phu has no road.
Over the past two decades, the Circuit – a classic, month-long Himalayan adventure that encircles the Annapurna Massif – has seen roads have progress up these mountain valleys. Now, only three to four days of the original Circuit remain off road.
Today, the only other group on the Nar-Phu trail are locals, who, when we meet, are trying to dislodge a plant from the top of a huge rock with a long stick. After some success, Chitr Phurba shows me and my Nepali friend (and guide) the thick, green leaves, and explains that the plant’s root can be ground up and used to treat wounds.
We fall into step with this trio from Nar – the elderly Chitr is accompanied by a friend, Tashi, and a young girl called Dolkar – as we are all heading to the tiny village of Meta, where tomorrow our paths will separate. We will walk two more days north to the village of Phu; the others will take the path northeast to Nar.