Luxury Lodge Vs Camping: Accommodation Options On Annapurna Circuit Trek
Introduction
Annapurna Circuit Trek lies along with the trail of Annapurna Base Camp Trek or alongside It. We can say Annapurna Base Camp Trek takes you to the foothill of the Annapurna peak whereas Annapurna Circuit Trek takes you to the different facets and sides of the Annapurna Region, circulating the Annapurna Range. It became popular as it offers an opportunity to explore the unique geography and the topography as well as the beauty of the Himalayas. This trek is also considered a stannous or very different one to do or be in among the treks in Nepal as It covers the various landscapes and the difficult features of the mountain slopes.
Annapurna Region is itself a diverse place to explore and enjoy the natural aspect of nature. Annapurna becomes one to choose if one wants to properly explore the sides of the region. The Annapurna Circuit Trek becomes the ultimate way to do so. As it carries most of the routes circling the range. For anyone who is a nature enthusiast or if you love to travel or see different spectra of the mountains It could be the best option to choose.
In this, we are talking about accommodation in the trek instead of the trekking journey, as the better options to choose among luxury lodges or camping as an individual accommodation. Both of these are available in the Annapurna Circuit Trek following its popularity among travel enthusiasts and tourists from all around the world. You can find plenty number of teahouses or guesthouses providing lodges and plenty of spots to go camping on nature-based. So, here we provide you with some insights about the pros and cons of both of these options to make your plan or choice a little easier.
Accommodation Options On Annapurna Circuit Trek
Luxury Lodge
Luxury lodges are more focused on providing you with quality services in such altitudes where infrastructure is nearly non-existent for transporting goods. But these lodges managed to get It for you. It mostly provides the facilities with proper basic needs and food.
Luxury Lodge is for those trekkers who want to spend a good night alongside a wonderful trekking journey. It is a better option after a long tired day after a continuous walk. It also offers you the proper lodging facilities and the accommodation over food and drinks. Local cuisine and local foods are their main priority for you to provide. There is also some availability of Western dishes in these luxury lodges.
The rooms in them are also filled with rooms with attached bathrooms or with good sleeping essentials even in shared ones. The choice is of the customer to choose. These luxury lodges are mostly built to provide a luxurious feeling in such high altitudes With proper facilities. These help a lot to save time and relax more than having other work for camping like cooking, making tents and cleaning the spot.
Luxury Lodges are mostly recommended for trekkers or tourists who are traveling with their families and with their children or in pretty big trekking members. Luxury Lodge is one of the best options in the trekking journey to get proper rest after a continuous and tiring walk.
Pros
- You can find a better accommodation facility and services than you can have in teahouses and your camping itinerary as it is built to provide such facilities for travelers. You can find these luxury lodgings and resorts filled with most of the rooms with private washrooms and well-constructed rooms for those who care about their privacy more.
- Availability of a wide variety of local foods to serve. There you can find different flavours of cuisines. There you also get a chance to taste your favourite Western dishes with the flavour of local cooking style which is a unique experience in itself. The facility of hot water 24 hours also in these Luxury Lodges.
- You also find a better internet connection for internet roaming. There they provide pretty good internet service through Wi-Fi as your SIM may not access to proper signal there.
- These Luxury Lodges in Annapurna Circuit Trek are also filled with good cleanness and services for breakfast and lunch as well as for dinner in a proper and managed way. It is also a great option to live in luxury lodges if one cares about cleanliness as washrooms and toilets are much cleaner than what you find and see in the teahouses and homestays.
- It is a unique experience in itself to get some luxury services in such remote and high-altitude regions and it all can be possible in Annapurna Circuit Trek.
Cons
- It gets a bit expensive to live in luxury lodges in Annapurna Circuit Trek as the good services in such remote places is very hard to provide as it is very hard to transport such goods through such difficult routes and animals because modern transport infrastructure there is nearly non-existent. So, it becomes more expensive than you expected to have a good time there in luxury lodges. And if you are a budget trekker then It could be a hard thing to manage for you during your journey.
- For your internet roaming or access to the Wi-Fi you need to pay some extra charges for the access and for the charging facilities for your electronics too as it is very hard to store and operate the electricity in these lodges due to the scarcity of electricity power in the Himalayan Region of Nepal and most of the trekking routes like in Annapurna Circuit Trek have no access to electricity. And all they rely on and depend on the solar charging system and unpredictable weather there in the region makes it usually very hard to maintain a constant supply of electricity to manage it properly.
- The another and picky disadvantage of the luxury trek is the consistency. It means you will sometimes be unable to find luxury lodges as you go higher in altitude. It becomes rarer to find such lodges as the altitude of the trail rises. And sometimes you need to rely on teahouses and normal lodges with no proper facilities as what you seek and get in the luxury trek. And you may know it can be a bad experience to live a day in luxury and another in a hard shift during your wonderful journey. But you also take It as a beautiful experience. But also it may disturb your plan and schedules to stay in luxury Lodges and may not work properly as you plan.
Camping
Camping is an accommodation option an travel enthusiasts or for those who want to have a more adventurous journey. It is also a great way to have a nature-based night stay after a long tiring day. It offers a very unique experience of self-traveling or having a great enjoyable flavour to your wonderful journey.
It is also a good idea to have fun and have a good time with your families and friends in such fresh odor of Annapurna Circuit Trek. It also allows you to test your survival ability and cooperating nature in itself. Carrying your food, camping gear equipment, and essentials can make you more adventurous than what you feel in a luxury trek or teahouse trek. Camping as an accommodation option is more chosen by trekkers who love to find themselves in nature or want to have a taste of the camping journey.
Pros
- It gives you the ultimate way to find yourself in nature and enjoy the unspoiled odor of the Annapurna Region.
- It is a great idea to enjoy the open sky and the gazing stars and galaxies above you having some fun as the sky of the Annapurna Region is mostly clear thought-out the year. Sleeping inside a tent after the lunch is prepared can be a unique experience in itself on such an adventurous journey.
- It is a great way to spend quality and cooperative time with family and friends.
Cons
- It may be difficult to carry your essentials and camping gear as well as other equipment. Even if you hire a potter you also should carry extra clothes and materials with you. As the Annapurna Circuit Trek is already a stannous hard trek It may make it even worse with those hanging weights at your back. And it also feels uncomfortable to enjoy your walking journey with such a backpack with you which can ruin your wonderful trekking journey.
- It may be hard to find the right spot for camping as timing may vary to reach the scheduled time and date as it is common in group treks due to the difference in ability to walk. And you just cannot camp anywhere as the Annapurna Circuit Trek already lies over very difficult Himalayan geography and it also consists of dangerous cliffs and slopes.
Which Is Better?
There is no actual answer for this as it depends upon the choice and personal interest which vary from person to person. Some may find lodge trek to be easier and easier to manage whereas some find camping a more adventurous and nature-based journey. It differs from person to person as taste differs.
If you are willing to have an easier and better night stay on your journey then you can have luxury lodges as an option in your accommodation through the trek. It is more recommended for those groups who are with their family members or more with children as camping is very hard to manage in such difficult routes. It also brings you another headache in your journey than a joyful time.
And if you are willing to have more adventurous and memorable moments in your wonderful journey then there is camping waiting for you. As it consists of self-working and self-preparing nature for accommodation it also could be a great opportunity to have cooperative time with your family and friends. It also gives you a chance to challenge your ability to handle and manage stuff. It brings you an adventure as well as a journey to make more flavorous in your wonderful journey.
Conclusion
Annapurna Circuit Trek is a diverse course of adventure and a wonderful journey. It can be a lifetime experience for anyone who lives to travel or a travel enthusiast. All of the above accommodations are little insights into what you will get in these options. It is only to help you and make your decision easier. It does not determine which one is the right choice for you to have.
So, it is your time to find by yourself. It is already a wide range of choices as both carry equal pore and cons. It is your turn to get and try for yourself to get what is good for you. You can try any of them as a luxury lodge or camping on your journey. Try it out. You can make it another great story of journey with Annapurna Circuit Trek. Enjoy!