Manaslu Circuit Trek

Your arrival in Kathmandu is the first day of the trip. We will welcome you at the arrival gate of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu and transfer you to the trip hotel. You will have free time mostly on your own today. We will surely offer you necessary guidance on wandering around on your arrival time. We will also brief you about the entire adventure trip and answer your questions if you have any. Feel at comfort; relax and try to acclimate in the Nepalese atmosphere. Things may look and feel completely strange to you but that’s the beauty of a new place so find yourself at easy and slowly soak into the local ambience.

Kathmandu has a history of more than 2,000 years. We will take you for a tour of the historical, cultural and spiritual places in Kathmandu that are enlisted in the cultural heritage list. A guided visit to Swoyambhunath, Patan Durbar Square, Pashupatinath and Boudhanath will give you an understanding of the history, culture, spiritual practice and lifestyle of Kathmandu valley. It will be a good starter of the trip. An insightful day of exploring the cultural and historical wonders of Kathmandu will come to end after returning back to the hotel around late afternoon.

We will drive to a small town called Soti Khola, 139 kilometers west of Kathmandu, today to enter the Manaslu region. The drive goes past beautiful towns, villages and surroundings along the highway. We eventually enter the Budhi Gandaki River valley and head towards Soti Khola. Once we reach the destination, we prepare for the trek to start tomorrow.

It is the first day of trek that will take us to Machha Khola today. We walk along the river valley following the river course. The first day of walk will take us through terraced rice fields, jagged cliffs along the river valley. We will trek past beautiful villages of Lapubesi and Khanibesi before reaching the destination.

We will trek to Jagat as our overnight destination today. The walk will take us past beautiful village of Khorlabesi, Tatopani and Dobhan. Beautiful green surroundings along the river valley and serenity of nature make the walk a pleasant adventure. Walking through the meandering trail and enjoying the wonders of nature, we eventually reach Jagat to stay overnight.

Our trek for the day today will take us to Pewa as the overnight destination. We will trek through meandering trail up the hill and head towards Deng village above Deng Khola. A peaceful day of walking through beautiful nature makes the day pleasant. Eventually, we reach Pewa where we will have some time to explore around.

We will trek to Ghap on our walk for the day today. The trekking journey continues towards the destination through beautiful surroundings of the river valley. This is another day of peaceful trekking through the middle hills in the region. We trek along the river valley and eventually reach Ghap to stay overnight.

It is a big day of walk, in terms of elevation gain, to Lho Village today. We gain almost 900 meters of elevation on our walk to the destination. The walk takes us past a beautiful village of Namrung. We leave the river valley behind and enter a beautiful mountain valley called Nubri valley in the high altitude of Manslu region. We can see a different civilization here than in the lower parts of the Budhi Gandaki River valley. Lho village is a beautiful ethnic village in the region where we stay overnight.

Sama Gaun is the destination of our trek today. The trail goes towards Lihi and Sho villages through beautifully forested area. As we walk along the trail, we can enjoy spectacular views of Manaslu North and Naike peak. Once we reach the wonderful place of Sama Gaun, we can again enjoy the Mt. Manaslu view. Sama Gaun is a village with incredible mountain cultural riches of Nubri valley.

It is our acclimatization day today. For the acclimatization purpose, we can go for some hiking exploration of the surroundings. If we feel good enough and want a little challenging day, we can take a day trip to Manaslu Base Camp. It will be a long day trip there and back to Sama Gaun. Or we can take another easier option of hiking to Pungyen Gompa and return back to Sama Gaun. Or the easiest we can do is to explore the surroundings of the village and Birendra Lake.

We will set off on the trek to Samdo today. It will take us deeper and higher into the Nubri valley where we can enjoy wonderful landscapes, views and cultural riches. Upon reaching Samdo, we can explore around the village of thatched-roofed mud and rock houses. As we wander around the village, we can enjoy stunning views of the mountains.

We will trek to Dharmashala today. The trail will take us on a descent and then an ascent towards the destination. Dharmashala, also known as Larke Phedi, is the base of the famous Larke pass. We will stay in a guest in the grassy pastureland of Dharmashala below the pass and prepare for the ascent of it tomorrow.

Eventually, the highlight trek of the trip comes today as we trek over the Larke Pass. We get ready to trek over the highest elevation of the trip. We will continue our walk towards Larke pass that stands impressively at the elevation of 5,106 meters above sea level. As we trek towards the pass, we can enjoy the views of mountains in the surroundings. Before reaching the pass, we will trek past beautiful glacial lakes. The pass will bring us spectacular view of the mountainous surroundings. Later, we trek all the way down to Bimthang, on the other side of the pass, to stay overnight.

The trek for today takes us to Goa. After a big day of adventure walk over the Himalayan pass, the walk today feels easy. About 5 hours of trek will take us to the destination. It is a beautiful Gurung village in the region where we can explore around once we reach there.

We will walk to meet the Annapurna Circuit Trekking trail today. Tal village, the destination for the day, lies on the bank of beautiful Marshyangdi River where we stay overnight today. We will trek past Dharapani village and reach Tal to stay overnight.

We will drive back to Kathmandu today. The drive will take us about 8 hours before we reach Kathmandu.

As the last day on this beautiful adventure trip, we will drive you to the airport for your departure flight as per your flight schedule. If this is not your departure day, the service for this trip ends here. If you have extra days to spend in Nepal and need any other assistance, please do let us know. We will certainly help you in whatever way we can.

The walking adventure to the Manaslu Circuit goes through the trail that meanders up and down the mountains frequently. Although this is not an extremely difficult trip, you will certainly feel some challenges of walking in the high altitude during the trip. We would rate it as a difficult trip in difficulty level as you will be walking over a high mountain pass of Larke La at the elevation of 5,106 meters above sea level.

Walking hours vary from day to day on this trip. You walk from 4-8 hours every day depending on the distance you cover. You can expect the walking hours to be around 6 hours on average.

Since it is walking adventure trip, you do not need any climbing skills, experience or equipment. However, you will need a high level of determination to traverse the mountain trail in the wilderness for several days. This is just a trekking trip, not a climbing adventure.

The walking route to the Manaslu Circuit comes under restricted area. The trail is well-trodden but has fewer people trekking there unlike the popular trails like Everest and Annapurna. However the popularity of this adventure is growing every day. You will find enough teahouses along the trail where you normally spend the overnights. Teahouses along the route are basic lodges with accommodation and dining facilities where the trekkers spend overnight. These teahouses are comfortable but not super luxurious. The overnight places for each day are specified in the itinerary. However, your trip guide can change the overnight places on his/her sole discretion if s/he thinks it necessary for your comfort and better experience.

Dal Bhat is the staple food in the mountains. This combo of rice, lentil soup, vegetables, curry etc. is available everywhere you go. In addition to this Nepali food, you can enjoy momos, noodle soup (Thukpa), chowmein, sandwitch, bread, soup etc. along the trail. Options of vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods are also available. We highly recommend you to go for vegetarian food during the trek.

When you go for the walking adventure trip, you will pack two different bags – one big backpack that your porter will carry for you and the other, a small daypack for yourself to carry with necessary things that you need for the day. You can refer to our Things to Carry page for a complete guide on what you need to have when you are in the mountains.