Trek to Australian Camp, Pokhara (Nepal)

The Himalayan Kingdom Nepal has many tourists places to offer, and one of them is ‘Pokhara’  the crowning glory of Nepal. The town is surrounded by snow-clad Annapurna mountains of the Himalayan range,  with a pristine Phewa lake in the centre of it. Undoubtedly, it is the best place to rejuvenate and connect with mountains.

Apart from its scenic beauty, Pokhara is famous for its various trekking trails and the adventure sports like Paragliding and Bungee Jumping. The long treks in the Annapurna mountains are very popular amongst trekkers especially westerners.

One of the quickest trek to the most beautiful spot is Australian Camp which is a trek in the beautiful mountains of the Annapurna. The trekking offers gorgeous views over the valleys and the Annapurna mountain range. This trip can be done all the year-round and is also suitable for people without any hiking experience (like me) as the highest point is around 2000 meters.

The trek gives a great impression of the Himalayas magnificence. From sunrise to sunset, the changing colours offer the most incredible views. One can have a close view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Himchuli, Machhapurchhre (Fish Tail), and other mountains. One can go camping too. The hike is through dense forests, along the hillsides and rice fields, up to the mountains and through villages.

Apr 2021, I visited Pokhra along with my family. We took this trek and spent a night in a small resort at the Australian Camp.

Australian Camp and Dhampus Village are the major attraction of this trek. Our guide Bharat told us that “Australia’ has nothing to do with the place. The place was initially located by a few Austrians, locals started calling Australia instead of Austria (Homophonic effect).

Kande is the starting point of this trek which is one hour drive from Pokhara town. The trek is through beautiful jungles and the villages, I found the hike a little steep, with lots of steps made from stones. It might be an easier trek for regular trekkers but was definitely not for me ;).   We completed the trek in more than 2 hours. The whole track was filled with dry leaves which I believe was because of the hot summer. I think in the rainy season the trek would be very slippery.

Once we reached the site, the view simply took our breath away. We were almost dancing because it was beyond our imagination. The mountains appeared so close as if our next-door neighbour. The tall mountains were almost talking to us. The camp was like a tabletop raised in midst of the mountains. The weather was sunny, hence the snow-clad mountains were very clearly visible.

There are few resorts at the location. Our resort was very clean, with basic amenities and very good food. In addition, a very good Wi-Fi. Our caretaker arranged for a Barbeque in the night. The night was very cold but then mountains were clearly visible.

The next morning we woke up around 5 am, to view the Sunrise which is the highlight of the camp. Pokhara is famous for its Sunrise view. Normally visitors view it from Sarangkot which is close to Pokhara main town, but from the Australian camp, one can have a very close view of the Sunrise.

We waited, holding our breath as the mountains appeared dark with Orangish sky. We could hear the birds chirping. Suddenly everything went silent. Soon, the mountains started changing colours, the sun rays were visible and the Sun came out like a small fireball from behind the mountains. The mountain tops started dazzling. There is no word to explain what we saw, we went silent in admiration, mesmerized and exuberant.

Australian camp is a place to stay minimum for a week or months. It’s like a place you carry a laptop or books or kids playthings and can spend the whole day watching the divinity of the mountains. Also, one can go to many other nearby treks.

None of us wanted to leave the place but our stay in Pokhara was for a few days only. We left the place after breakfast. The trek down from the Australian camp was easier as it was from another route. We crossed two mountains and reached the village Dhampus. From Dhampus we got a taxi to Pokhara.

Australian camp is one of the most fascinating experience for me, the views of the mountains will stay with me forever. I believe it is one of the best, enthralling and memorable place to see in this world.

Rakhi Sunil Kumar

Check out Phewa Lake, Pokhara 

Sunrise at Australian Camp, Pokhara (Nepal)

Annapurna Mountains, Australian camp at Pokhara (Nepal)