The Annapurna Sanctuary

A few days hike up the Modi Khola river past the thriving centers of Gandhruk and Chhomrong, lies the Annapurna Sanctuary valley. Formed at the confluence of several glaciers, it provides a stunning 360 degree panorama of Himalayan peaks. The four main peaks of Annapurna to the west and the distinct peak of Maccapuchare "The Fish Tail" mountain to the east are the highlights. Glacial ridges running along the bases of Tharpu Chuli and Hiunchuli are closer and imposing, but not quite as awe-inspiring as the far away mountains.

At 4100m, the Annapurna base camp is just over half way up Annapurna (I). A slight hill just overlooking the base-camp huts provides a stunning vista of this valley. On the following page I have joined together nine photographs taken from this single point into a full circular panorama. The picture differs from the other photographs in this presentation in that it is larger than the screen and you can scroll through it. When the mountain picture has loaded, try clicking anywhere on it and dragging the image to the left or right. You will be able to pan across the whole valley and back around to the start again. Click on the 'Show Map' button to display a map in the top right. The red triangle on the map shows the approximate field of view so you can see what mountains you are looking at. Click as often as you like on the 'Show Map' button to show or hide the map.

There are three different resolutions available. The normal one is the first one you see. Pressing the 'Huge Image' or 'Small Image' buttons will bring up the others. I should warn you that the huge images will take some time to load on a slow internet link. The small image shows almost the whole panorama in one go.

While you were reading this page, some of the images are being downloaded onto your computer so that the presentation will start a little faster. That's what the three grey boxes at the bottom of this page are doing. There is no need to wait until this downloading process has finished before proceeding to look at the sanctuary.

If your screen is set to 1024x768 or larger (recommended), click here

Or for 640x480, click here. On a 640x480 screen the map obscures most of the image so it is useful to switch it off while you look at the images.