Manaslu Circuit Trek

When you arrive in Kathmandu on your airplane, our friendly guides and staff will greet you. Then, you’ll take a quick ride to the center of the city where your hotels are. Once you’ve settled into your nice rooms and freshened up, come to the hotel lobby. There, we’ll have a meeting with the whole group to tell you important things about the trek and other helpful info to make your time in Nepal fun and nice.

We’ll need your passports and pictures to make special papers for your trip. These special papers are super important for getting permission to be in Nepal. Once we have those papers ready, you can go explore the town by yourself if you want. Later, we’ll all get together for a meeting with your guide. They’ll tell you about the trip and introduce you to everything you need to know.

Our amazing Manaslu Circuit adventure begins with a long and exciting road trip. We’re heading to a place called Arughat, which is in the Gorkha district. It’s a town with a warm and kind of tropical climate. We’ll drive on a bumpy dirt road for about an hour to get to our first stop for the night. This place is called Soti-Khola, and even though it used to be a small farm village, it’s starting to become a bit more like a town because of the roads that cars can use.

In the morning, we leave the fishing villages and start our day by walking along the Budi-Gandaki River. We go upstream for a few hours, passing by a small farm village called Khorla Beshi. Then, we follow a winding path that takes us to Tatopani village, which has a natural hot spring. If we have enough time, we can take a nice and warm bath there. After that, we continue our walk uphill to reach Jagat village, where we’ll spend the night. Jagat is a lovely village with lots of shops, stores, and simple but good places to stay.

After our nice break in Jagat, we keep on walking higher. We pass through several farm villages and then go downhill to cross a bridge. This bridge takes us to Nagjet and Philim, which is a big village with lots of farmhouses spread out all around. After leaving Philim, we walk through fields of golden wheat and barley on farm terraces. Then, we climb up a rocky ridge and enter an area with lots of bamboo trees. This is where we’ll spend the night in Dyang village.

In the morning, we leave Dyang and head into a cooler area where you’ll notice that we’re getting higher up in the mountains. As we enter the Himalayan alpine region, we start walking downhill and reach a riverside. There, we find a small village called Bihi Bazaar. From here, we keep walking and come across more villages with a strong Tibetan culture. The trail is not too steep; it goes up and down a little bit. Finally, we reach Namrung village where we’ll stay overnight.

Once you leave Lo Gaon, you’ll notice that there aren’t many trees around. There are just a few short juniper bushes and some willow trees. But don’t worry, the path is still nice, and you can see some tall peaks in the distance. At the end of the day, we’ll reach Sama Gaon, where we’ll spend the night. It’s a big village up in the mountains, and it’s on the way to places like the Manaslu base camp, Larke-la pass, and even the border with Tibet.

On Day 8, we’re having a break in Sama Gaon, which is a perfect spot for us to get used to the high altitude before we go up even higher to the Manaslu base camp. While we’re in Sama Gaon, we’ll take some time to learn about this cool village that’s a lot like Tibetan culture. We’ll see how the people here live and do things in their traditional way.

We’ll use this day to rest and let our bodies adjust to the high altitude, which means being up in the tall mountains. It’s important to do this so that we can stay safe and feel good as we go on our adventure. So, we’ll take it easy and explore Sama Gaon to learn about the local culture and how people live in these amazing mountain places.

After a pleasant break in Sama Gaon, our journey continues as we head towards Samdu. It’s not a very long walk, and we can reach Samdu in just a few hours. But here’s the thing: because we’re so high up in the mountains, the air is dry, and that can make walking a bit slower.

As we make our way, we slowly approach Samdo village. This is the last village we’ll come across before we get to the Larke-la base and pass. Samdo is a really interesting place because it’s strongly influenced by Tibetan culture. That’s because it’s very close to the border with Tibet, and people from both sides still trade with each other. We’ll stay overnight in Samdo and get to experience this unique village.

Our adventure begins in the morning as we walk downhill to reach the Budhi Gandaki River. After that, we cross the river and start going uphill again. We pass through a place called Larkya Bazaar and walk in the direction of Salka Khola Valley. Our next stop for the night is Dharmasala, which isn’t really a fancy hotel but a simple place to rest. It’s about 7 kilometers away from where we started, and on a regular day, it takes about 4 hours to get there. If we’re lucky, we might even see some blue sheep along the way. Dharmasala is also sometimes called Larke Phedi, and that’s where we’ll sleep for the night.

We start really early in the morning to get to Larke-La Pass, which is super high at over 5,106 meters. First, we walk up a winding path that goes uphill gently, and then it gets really steep as we get closer to the tippy-top. When we reach the very top, it’s like a colorful party with lots of Buddhist prayer flags and piles of stones. From up there, we can see some amazing mountains like Himlung, Cheo Himal, Kang Guru, and Annapurna II.

After we enjoy the incredible view, we start going down. We’ll walk on snow and rocky stuff and eventually reach a valley called Garcia. Then, we keep walking on a rocky trail until we get to Tambuche, which is at 3,900 meters. From there, it’s just a short walk to where we’ll spend the night, Bhimtang. It’s a lovely place in a big open valley, and there are some nice lodges where we can stay.

After a pretty long walk to Bhimtang yesterday, today’s trek is much easier. We’re leaving Bhimtang and heading towards Dharapani. Along the way, we’ll go through a thick forest with lots of pine and rhododendron trees. We’ll also catch glimpses of snowy mountains.

The path goes downhill into the forest, and we’ll pass by small summer camps where people stay during the warmer months. Then, we’ll climb up through terraced fields to reach a place called Karcher La, and from there, we’ll go down to the Marsyangdi River. After walking for a few hours, we’ll reach Tilje village, following the Dudh (milky) river downstream and passing through several villages, including Thonje.

From Tilje, we’ll hike up for about an hour, cross a bridge, and join the main trail of the Annapurna circuit. This will lead us to Dharapani village, which is quite big and feels more like a town compared to the wilderness we’ve been through. Here, you can celebrate with a cold beer and even get a hot shower at one of the lodges.

After having an amazing adventure in the high hills and mountains, we start the day with a drive back to Kathmandu. Our wonderful adventure comes to an end here, in Kathmandu. In the afternoon, you have some free time to relax or do some last-minute shopping for souvenirs and handmade crafts to remember your trip.

On your last day in Nepal, start your day with a yummy breakfast to get ready for your final adventures. You can also use this special time to do some last-minute shopping in the lively streets of Kathmandu. There are lots of treasures and things to remember your trip by waiting for you.

Don’t worry about getting to the airport on time. We’ve got that covered! We’ll make sure you get to Kathmandu International Airport with plenty of time before your flight back home. It’s sad to say goodbye, but you’re not just taking your stuff with you. You’re also carrying the warm memories of an incredible journey and a bunch of awesome pictures to show your family and friends.

As we wrap up our services, we hope that the experiences you’ve had in Nepal will always stay in your heart and inspire you to go on more adventures in the future. Have a safe trip, and we look forward to meeting you again on new exploration adventures!