Annapurna
Secrets of Sarangkot
Three days above Pokhara on a working coffee smallholding — picking, pulping, roasting and drinking it, with the Annapurnas across the valley the whole time.
Overview
Sarangkot is the ridge everyone in Pokhara drives up for sunrise and drives back down from by eight in the morning. This trip does the opposite: you stay, and you spend two days on a family coffee farm most of those visitors never notice.
Nepali coffee is a young industry — the mid-hills only started growing it commercially in the 1990s — and the smallholding you stay on is part of a co-operative that processes and roasts its own beans rather than selling cherries on. You will do every stage of that by hand, badly at first.
It is a slow, low-altitude, thoroughly comfortable few days, and it is the trip we recommend to people who are not sure they want to trek at all.
Highlights
- Sunrise over Annapurna, Machapuchare and Dhaulagiri from the ridge behind the farm
- Picking, pulping, drying and hand-roasting coffee with the family who grow it
- A paragliding launch site you can watch from the breakfast table
- Cooking a full Nepali thali over a wood fire
- The walk down to Phewa Lake through millet terraces
Community impact
The co-operative behind this trip has eleven member households. Hosting travellers roughly doubles what a member family earns from the same hectare of coffee.
Your bed and board is paid directly to the host household at a rate the co-operative sets. EEM Travels takes no commission on the homestay portion of this trip.
A share of every booking funds seedlings and shade trees through Sharing Seeds — a little over four hundred planted in the last two seasons.
Suitable for
Anyone. There is no trekking in this trip beyond a gentle hour on the ridge — it suits older travellers, families with small children, and people with two spare days at the end of a longer holiday.
Day by day
- 1Day 1
Pokhara to Sarangkot, and the first harvest
A short drive up the ridge, lunch on the farm, and an afternoon in the coffee rows learning what a ripe cherry actually looks like. Pulping happens the same evening, because it has to.
- 1 hour walking
- 2 km
- 1590 m
- Farmhouse homestay, Sarangkot
- Meals: Lunch, dinner
- 2Day 2
Sunrise, roasting, and a walk along the ridge
Up before six for the light on Machapuchare, then breakfast with coffee you helped process. The rest of the morning is roasting over a wood fire and tasting the results. Afternoon is an easy two-hour walk along the ridge to the viewpoint and back.
- 2–3 hours
- 6 km
- 1600 m
- Farmhouse homestay, Sarangkot
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
- 3Day 3
Down through the terraces to Phewa Lake
A gentle two-hour descent through millet and coffee terraces to the lake shore, where a boat takes you across to Pokhara. You leave with a bag of what you roasted.
- 2 hours
- 6 km
- 820 m
- Not included — onward travel from Pokhara
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch
What's included
- All accommodation — homestays, teahouses and one night in Kathmandu
- All meals on trek, plus breakfast in cities
- Licensed English-speaking Nepali guide
- Porter support, one porter per two travellers
- All national park fees, TIMS cards and local permits
- Airport transfers and ground transport on the itinerary
- Drinking-water filtration throughout
- Guide and porter insurance, wages and equipment
What's not included
- International flights to and from Kathmandu
- Nepal entry visa (available on arrival)
- Travel and medical insurance — mandatory, and we check it
- Lunch and dinner while in Kathmandu or Pokhara
- Drinks, snacks and personal expenses
- Tips for your guide and porters
- Emergency evacuation costs, which your insurance must cover
What to pack
On your feet
- Broken-in walking boots with ankle support
- Trail shoes or sandals for the evenings
- Three or four pairs of wool walking socks
- Gaiters (Oct–Nov and Mar–Apr only)
Layers
- Base layer, top and bottom
- Fleece or light down mid-layer
- Waterproof shell jacket
- Sun hat and a warm hat
- Gloves — thin liners are enough below 3,500 m
Kit
- 35–45 litre daypack
- Head torch and spare batteries
- Reusable water bottle, one litre minimum
- Sunglasses rated for altitude
- Sunscreen SPF 50 and lip balm
- Power bank — village electricity is not guaranteed
Documents & health
- Passport with at least six months validity
- Travel insurance covering trekking to your route’s maximum altitude
- Personal first-aid kit and any prescription medication
- Two passport photos for permits
Photographs
Frequently asked questions
Do I need previous trekking experience?
For most of our mid-hill routes, no. If you can walk comfortably for five hours on consecutive days you will be fine. Our guides set a pace that suits the slowest walker, not the fastest, and there is no prize for arriving first.
What happens if the weather turns?
Every itinerary has slack built into it. Your guide can shorten a stage, swap a pass for a valley route or add a rest day without it costing you anything. Safety decisions are the guide’s to make and are never negotiable.
How does the homestay arrangement work?
You stay in a family home with a private or shared room, depending on the village. Meals are cooked by your hosts and eaten together. Families are paid a fixed nightly rate agreed with the community, not a per-head commission.
Is drinking water provided?
Yes. Every trip carries filtration so you refill from a communal source rather than buying bottled water. We do not sell single-use plastic on any route.
What is your cancellation policy?
Full refund up to 45 days before departure, 50% up to 21 days, and no refund inside 21 days — though we will always try to move you to another date instead. Trips cancelled by us are refunded in full.
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