Trek the Annapurna Sanctuary

Five-star hotels, Nepal style: The lodges at Annapurna base camp. (Karl Samson)

If it's knock-your-sweaty-socks-off mountain scenery that you crave, there's no better trek in Nepal than the hike into the Annapurna Sanctuary. Set in a high, grassy valley, the sanctuary is completely surrounded by some of the highest peaks on earth, including Annapurna I, Annapurna III, Annapurna South, and the film-gobbling Machhapuchhare (Fishtail Peak), which is hands-down the most photogenic mountain in Nepal. Within the sanctuary are both Machhapuchhare and Annapurna Base Camps, which have been used by mountain climbers but which also have several lodges each. After acclimatizing to the 13,000-foot (3,963-meter) elevation, you can spend several days here bagging some of the lower peaks, searching for Himalayan tahrs (similar to mountain goats), or, if you thought to get a permit before leaving Kathmandu, summiting one of the three trekking peaks that rise above the sanctuary.

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