Ghorepani Poon Hill Trek in March

The flowering moves upward through the month and the timing is the single most important thing to get right. Low forest around Ulleri turns first, then the main Ghorepani and Tadhapani stands at 2,650 to 2,800m from about the 20th onward. A trek in the last ten days of March usually catches the canopy at its peak. A trek in the first week catches bare branches at Ghorepani and colour only near the bottom.

The Ulleri staircase in March is the point at which most people discover this trek is graded easy on altitude, not on effort. It is a long climb of stone steps in warming weather with a full pack, and it is the one section people remember physically. Poles help. So does starting early.

The descent from Tadhapani to Ghandruk runs through the densest flowering forest on the route, and in a good year it is genuinely hard to walk it quickly because you keep stopping. That is the correct response.

March is busy and gets busier. Ghorepani has a lot of beds, but in the last week of March they fill, and the dawn climb to the viewpoint becomes a procession of head torches leaving the village between 4:45 and 5:15am. The tower at the top has a queue for the good corner.

Lodges are fully staffed and the food is at its best. Booking Ghorepani a day ahead is sensible from mid-March, which a guide will do as a matter of routine.

The Pokhara flight is reliable in March and demand for it climbs steeply through the month. Pokhara hotels fill from mid-March onward. Book the flight and the first night rather than arranging them on arrival, which is fine in January and a mistake by the end of March.