Finding a trekking partner for the Annapurna Circuit

You find a trekking partner for the Annapurna Circuit by posting your dates, pace, budget style and guide plan, then talking to matches before anyone commits, and the thing to match on above all is how each of you handles altitude between Manang and Thorong La. On FindTrekkingPartner the service is free, contact details stay hidden until both trekkers agree, and it is not an agency. The Annapurna Circuit partner page lists open trips, and the trekking partner hub explains how matching works.

The Annapurna Circuit route page has the 14-day plan: a nine-to-ten hour drive to Dharapani, the Marsyangdi valley to Chame, Upper Pisang, Ngawal and Manang (3,540 m), a rest day, Yak Kharka (4,050 m), Thorong Phedi (4,540 m), the Thorong La crossing at 5,416 m, then Muktinath, Jomsom, Kalopani, Tatopani, Ghorepani and Poon Hill. It is rated hard on the pack, and the Annapurna region page covers the wider area. A partner helps with the cost, the company on the long Thorong La day and the decisions around the pass.

What a partner saves

The guide and porter are shared lines. The pack's dated cost data (checked 18 October 2026) gives a guide at NPR 2,700 to 4,000 a day and a porter at NPR 2,100 to 3,400 a day, with 14 guide days and 12 porter days. At NPR 134 per USD:

A pair sharing one porter pays NPR 12,600 to 20,400 each for 12 days. The ACAP permit (NPR 3,000 for foreigners, per the NTNC e-permit page; double at a check post) and a TIMS card where required are personal. The pack also lists transport: Kathmandu to Besisahar by bus at NPR 1,300 to 2,700 or by private jeep at NPR 20,000 to 29,500 per vehicle, and Pokhara to Kathmandu by tourist bus at NPR 800 to 2,500; the jeeps from Besisahar to Dharapani and from Tatopani to Pokhara have no published fare in our sources. A shared jeep per seat is where a partner saves most outside the guide. Our guide and porter splitting guide has the rules, and the teahouse prices guide lists lodging and food.

The guide rule

The circuit lies in the Annapurna Conservation Area, so the Nepal Tourism Board April 2023 guide rule applies: 2026 operator reports say the ACAP checkpoint checks for a licensed guide (checked 19 October 2026). The written rule is the Nepal Tourism Board announcement of April 2023, and we found no separate Department of Immigration or DNPWC notice, so enforcement reports come from operators rather than an official notice. The circuit is not a restricted area, so no restricted-area permit applies, and a licensed guide through a registered agency is part of a permit only in restricted areas. The guide rule by region page keeps the dated wording; see also our ACAP permit guide and guide rule explainer.

What to match on

Match on the Manang day. The plan has one rest day, at Manang (3,540 m), with a short acclimatisation hike to Gangapurna Lake or Ice Lake and a Himalayan Rescue Association altitude talk. A partner who wants to skip it is a poor match; our guide to rest days on EBC and the Annapurna Circuit explains why, and the clinics guide says what the Manang clinic offers.

Match on the sleeping plan above Manang. The sequence Yak Kharka (4,050 m) to Thorong Phedi (4,540 m) is a gain of about 500 m, and some groups continue to High Camp at 4,880 m. Agree which you will do, and agree that anyone with symptoms descends rather than climbing on; read altitude sickness basics together.

Match on pace and fitness for the crossing: the pass day starts at 4 or 5 am, climbs a steep zigzag to Thorong La at 5,416 m and descends to Muktinath, a day of 8 to 10 hours. Match on your appetite for the lower sections too: the plan finishes with a 7 to 8 hour, 1,700 m climb from Tatopani to Ghorepani, then Poon Hill at dawn, so both of you need legs for the last days.

Choices you can make together

The circuit has more options than most routes, and a partner makes them easier to settle. From Upper Pisang the plan takes the upper route through Ghyaru and Ngawal (about 3,600 m) with views of Annapurna II, which is steeper than the valley path but gives a better view, so agree it in advance. After Jomsom the plan walks through Tukuche and Marpha to Kalopani and then drives down the Kali Gandaki to Tatopani, with a jeep optional on the walk; decide together whether the walk or the jeep suits both of your legs and your calendar. The finish, Ghorepani and Poon Hill, adds a pre-dawn climb of about 45 minutes to 3,210 m for sunrise over Dhaulagiri and Annapurna I, which some partners skip after Thorong La. None of these choices is wrong. The point is that each has a cost in time, money or effort, and that those costs are shared, and two people who have agreed the rules will make them without friction.

If you cannot find a partner before you fly, the circuit is also one of the easier routes on which to meet people on the way, because the lodges at Manang and Yak Kharka fill with trekkers on the same schedule. Treat anyone you meet that way as a candidate, not a commitment: walk a day or two together, then decide, using the same checks you would use online.

Seasons and conditions

For planning, remember that the first day is a long drive of nine to ten hours to Dharapani, so you start the walking with a tired body and a tight schedule. Agree whether to break the drive at Besisahar and start the walk a day later.

October to November and March to May are the best months. Snow and wind can close Thorong La outside the season, so ask the guide for current conditions before the Phedi night, and read snow and high-pass conditions. Our best time for the Annapurna Circuit guide compares the months.

Agreeing the plan and settling up

Agree these in writing before you book: dates and spare days, the guide and porter split, who pays the agency, who may call a descent, what happens if one of you turns back before Thorong La and how the shared days are settled. Pay the agency directly and never send money to someone you have not met. Our what to agree with trekking partners checklist, vetting checklist and red flags guide cover the rest. If one partner has to leave, what if your partner cannot continue explains the settlement.

Circuit or Manaslu, solo or with a partner

If you are deciding between this and Manaslu, read Annapurna Circuit versus Manaslu Circuit; the Manaslu circuit is a restricted area where a guide and agency are part of the permit, which makes finding a partner even more useful. For comparing with Everest, see Everest Base Camp versus the Annapurna Circuit. To plan the logistics, read Kathmandu to Besisahar for the Annapurna Circuit and the itinerary day by day.