Muldai has Poon Hill's panorama, 400 metres higher
Muldai stands at 3,637 m, one ridge east of the famous viewpoint, with Dhaulagiri and Annapurna I on the same skyline and perhaps a dozen people there at dawn.
By the Lakeshore team · 6 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
Every guide in Pokhara knows the Muldai trade-off, and most visitors never hear about it. Poon Hill is 3,210 m and gets several hundred people at sunrise in October. Muldai is 3,637 m and a short way east. It looks at the same mountains from higher up, and it gets a dozen.
It costs you one extra day and slightly simpler lodges. Anyone who mentions crowds to us gets sent here.
The loop
We usually run it as a four-day loop. Drive to Ghandruk, walk up through the rhododendron forest to Tadapani and on to Dobato, then climb to Muldai before dawn and drop down to Ghorepani and out.
Walked in that direction, you get Muldai on the quiet morning and can still add Poon Hill the next dawn if you want to compare it with the famous one. Most people who do both prefer Muldai, and they tell us so.
The stretch from Tadapani to Dobato is the prettiest walking on the route: high forest, mossy and quiet, with langur monkeys most mornings and the odd gap onto Annapurna South.
The view from the top
Dhaulagiri at 8,167 m to the west, Annapurna I at 8,091 m almost due north, then Annapurna South, Hiunchuli, Machhapuchhre and the whole Nilgiri group. That's two eight-thousanders in one sweep.
Because you're 400 m above Poon Hill, you look over the ridges in between instead of along them, so the view is deeper and less foreshortened. It makes a better picture as well as a less crowded one. It's also colder and more exposed at dawn, with no tea shop and no shelter at the top. Take a flask and a warm layer you wouldn't need at Poon Hill. Our Muldai trip includes a down jacket if you need it.
Who it suits
Anyone thinking about Poon Hill who has an extra day. That's our advice, and giving it costs us nothing.
It also works as a step up for people who did Poon Hill on an earlier trip and want something more without committing to Annapurna Base Camp.
It's a touch harder than Poon Hill, with a little more altitude, longer days and simpler lodges. None of that is much for a reasonably fit walker.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
Is Muldai better than Poon Hill?
It's higher and quieter, with a deeper view, and it costs you a day and some comfort. For the view itself, yes, we think so. Poon Hill wins on lodges, food and warmth.
Can I do both?
Easily, and that's the version we usually suggest. Muldai at dawn on one day, Poon Hill the next, then out. You get the comparison and the story.
How high is it exactly?
3,637 m. Poon Hill is 3,210 m, so you gain a little over 400 m of height and lose most of the crowd.
Do I need to book lodges ahead?
At Dobato in peak season, yes, and we book it for you. The rest of the route has room.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates and how much walking you've done, and we'll tell you whether Poon Hill Sunrise Trek is right for you. If it isn't, we'll say so.
Nothing to pay online. We confirm your dates first.
Or call the office +977 61-457830