Annapurna Sanctuary

The Annapurna Sanctuary is the name given to the upper valley of the Modi Khola river, a high, oval shaped basin above 4,000 metres ringed almost entirely by peaks over 7,000 metres, including Annapurna I, Annapurna South, Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre. Its only entrance is a narrow gap between Hiunchuli and Machhapuchhre. Annapurna Base Camp sits inside the Sanctuary itself.

Jimmy Roberts was the first outsider to walk into the basin, in 1957, and the Gurung of the surrounding villages held it as the home of their deities, so entry was restricted long before any conservation rule existed. Annapurna Base Camp sits at about 4,130m on the basin floor. Because the rim is so high and so close, the Sanctuary gets only a few hours of direct sun in midwinter and is genuinely cold. It is reached in seven to ten days from Nayapul.