Routes

Please see the photos of the map we used. There are three possible routes with some distances and times.

End points

There are three main start or end points: Beni, Sulichaur and Musikot. I'll deal with each of these in turn.

Beni is a starting point for a number of routes (including the Dhaulagiri Basecamp Trek described elsewhere on this blog). It is easy to get to by bus from Pokhara (it takes about 3-4 hours), and has places to stay and eat. 

It is also a common exit point for the Annapurna Circuit for those who are not going up to Ghorepani and continuing round to the Sanctuary. However its use for the Guerrilla trek (whether as a starting or ending point) requires dealing with the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (DHR).

The DHR requires a permit which is not obtainable in Pokhara. Typically they don't try even a little bit to make things easy. So you need to get it in Kathmandu. I don't know the details of how or where that is done, but it will be doable somehow.

It costs 3000 NRs (according to the last account I heard), which means a trekker who is passing through in a couple of days pays the same as a hunter who is there for a much longer time and is actually hunting. This is not much of an encouragement to trekking. 

That cost (in addition to the usual doubts as to where the money goes) makes it seems both excessive and unwarranted. For this reason we skipped going in via Beni. 

Looking at the map it may just be possible to walk around it, but we didn't have time to explore that option. The alternative of trying to bypass the checkpoints is fraught with some difficulty due to poor information (both as to their location and alternative paths). So for now that goes in the too-hard basket.

Sulichaur was where we started. See Getting there in the Logistics section. It is not a bad little place (as these places go). There are one or two places to stay, places to eat and some shops for last minute supplies, though I wouldn't rely on them for anything mission critical.

Musikot (also called Khalanga) was where we ended. This is the district capital, and a town of some substance. It even boasts an airstrip but having seen the angle of the runway and given the disastrous history of aviation in Nepal I’d be disinclined to push my luck. You need all of that for the bus ride. See Getting away in the Logistics section.

Back in February the day I arrived in Pokhara yet another plane crashed into the hills to the west. This left that airline with only the last of some dozen planes it had been gifted back in the 50s and which it had gradually used up ever since. Probably a mixture of bad weather and poor maintenance.  

Having chosen a start and end point there are some variants within the paths connecting them, and there are of course different ways to break up the days. All will depend on the time you have available and the speed at which you are capable and willing to travel.

Our itinerary

We completed this in two weeks with just one rest day for a festival.

Day 00: Pokhara to Bhalubang by bus (via Butwal)
Day 01: Bhalubang to Sulichaur by bus. Walk to Lubang.
Day 02: Lubang to Jelbang. Jelbang to Jemthang.
Day 03: Jemthang to shelter on way up to pass (very short day due to illness).
Day 04: Hut to Thawang. Pass Bhangma cave. Cross Jaljala (3090m)
Day 05: Thawang to Lukum Cross Syaubari pass (2670m)
Day 06: Lukum to Upallo Sera. Cross Tila pass (3050m)
Day 07: Upallo Sera to Okhma (bridge construction site)
Day 08: Okhma to Archalgaon
Day 09: Archalgaon to Chargaon (Kharang)
Day 10: Festival day in Chargaon (Kharang)
Day 11: Chargaon to Pokhara
Day 12: Pokhara to unknown village
Day 13: Unknown village to Syarpu Lake
Day 14: Syarpu Lake to Musikot (Khalanga) via Gilbang

Note!

The Pokhara mentioned on the route is not the Pokhara city near Phewa lake in central Nepal - i.e. the one everyone knows. Instead it is a small and quite pleasant village. 

For reasons that I can’t quite fathom names get repeated frequently in Nepal. Possibly because they are simply descriptive of common features and the people who give them don't travel far. Tatopani (Hot Water) occurs wherever there is a Hot Spring. Dhaurali occurs often also and always seems to mean "the first (or last) pass on the trail".