Ulleri (2,070 m), a sprawling, sun-soaked Magar village draped across a steep hillside in the Annapurna foothills, is one of the most dramatically beautiful settlements on the classic Ghorepani–Poon Hill trail. Built almost entirely of neat stone houses with bright blue roofs and surrounded by terraced wheat and millet fields, it commands a front-row, heart-stopping view of the 7,000 m giants Annapurna South and Hiunchuli that seem to rise straight out of the valley floor just a few kilometres away.

Famous (and feared) for the endless stone staircase of over 3,300 steps that climbs relentlessly from Tikhedhunga through rhododendron and magnolia forest, Ulleri is the first big “welcome to the mountains” test for thousands of trekkers every season. Yet once you reach the top, the village instantly rewards you: warm teahouses with flower-filled balconies, smiling Magar families offering homemade apple raksi, children playing on ancient stone courtyards, and sunrise light that turns the entire Annapurna South wall flaming pink and gold. In spring the hills explode with red rhododendron; in autumn the air is crisp and the sky limitless. Ulleri isn’t just a stopover—it’s the moment the trek truly begins and the mountains start feeling close enough to touch.