Manaslu Circuit Trek

Met at Tribhuvan International Airport and transferred to your hotel. Evening welcome dinner and briefing. Manaslu is a restricted area, so we confirm your permit paperwork tonight and go through the rules: a licensed guide is compulsory and the permit requires a minimum of two trekkers.

Altitude: 1,400 m.

Guided sightseeing at Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Swayambhunath. In the afternoon we collect the Restricted Area Permit, the Manaslu Conservation Area Permit and the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit, repack duffels to the porter limit and pick up anything missing in Thamel.

Walking: 3 to 4 hours of sightseeing.

West along the Prithvi Highway, then north from Dhading Besi on a rough unsealed road that follows the Budhi Gandaki into the hills. The last two hours are slow and bumpy and the road condition changes with every monsoon.

Soti Khola is a small roadside village where the walking begins tomorrow.

Drive: 8 to 9 hours.

The first walking day, low and warm. The trail crosses the river and climbs through sal forest, passes the Gurung village of Labubesi and drops back to the wide, stony riverbed. Waterfalls come down the far wall and the gorge begins to close in.

Machha Khola means fish river. Expect heat, humidity and, after rain, leeches on the forested sections.

Distance: 14 km. Walking: 6 hours. Altitude gain: 190 m.

Up the narrowing gorge, crossing and recrossing the Budhi Gandaki on suspension bridges. At Tatopani there are natural hot springs beside the trail, worth ten minutes even this early in the trek.

Through Doban and Yaru, climbing steadily, to the stone-paved village of Jagat, where the restricted area officially begins and your permits are checked and stamped for the first time.

Distance: 22 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude gain: 510 m.

The trail climbs to Salleri, then descends to Sirdibas and crosses a long suspension bridge to Philim, a substantial Gurung village. Beyond Philim the valley narrows into a gorge again and the trail passes the junction where the Tsum Valley route branches north.

Deng is a small settlement of a handful of houses, and it is the first place that feels distinctly Tibetan rather than Nepali: prayer flags, chortens and mani walls.

Distance: 20 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude gain: 394 m.

A steady climbing day through pine and rhododendron forest, crossing the river several more times and passing the villages of Rana and Bihi. Mani walls become longer and more elaborate the higher you go.

Namrung sits at a checkpoint with a gate across the trail. The lodges here are a noticeable step up from those below, and on a clear evening Himal Chuli and Ganesh Himal are visible from the village.

Distance: 19 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude gain: 826 m.

The big-mountain day. Through Lihi and Sho, the valley opens out and Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world at 8,163 m, appears directly ahead and stays in view for the rest of the day.

At Lho the Ribung Gompa above the village is worth the climb, particularly at sunset. From there the trail crosses open pasture through Shyala, with Himal Chuli, Ngadi Chuli and Manaslu ranged around, to Samagaon, the largest village on the route.

Distance: 17 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude gain: 900 m.

A rest day at 3,530 m, spent walking rather than resting. The hike to Pungyen Gompa climbs east above the village to a monastery on a moraine shelf beneath the Pungyen glacier, with the south face of Manaslu filling the sky above it. It is a four to five hour round trip and takes you to around 4,000 m.

The alternative is the easier walk to Birendra Lake, a milky glacial lake below the Manaslu glacier, about two hours return. Either way you sleep back at 3,530 m.

Walking: 4 to 5 hours. Climb high: 4,000 m, sleep at 3,530 m.

A short, gentle day up the widening valley on an old trading route towards Tibet. The trail passes Birendra Lake and climbs gradually through juniper and dwarf birch, crossing the Budhi Gandaki one last time.

Samdo is the last permanent village before the pass, a Tibetan settlement of about forty houses whose people came over the border in the 1960s. The Tibetan border itself is a day's walk north.

Distance: 8 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Altitude gain: 330 m.

The second acclimatisation day, and the one that makes the pass manageable. The standard hike climbs towards the Larkya Bazaar and the old trading route to the Tibetan border, reaching around 4,400 to 4,700 m depending on how the group is going, with views back down the valley and up to the Larkya glacier.

Blue sheep are common on these slopes and snow leopards are present, though almost never seen. Back to Samdo to sleep.

Walking: 4 to 5 hours. Climb high: up to 4,700 m, sleep at 3,860 m.

A short day, and it needs to be. The trail crosses the Budhi Gandaki and climbs steadily onto the moraine, contouring beneath the Larkya glacier to Dharamsala, also called Larkya Phedi.

Dharamsala is not a village. It is a handful of stone huts and basic lodges at 4,460 m with limited beds, no heating and a shared dining shelter. In October it fills up, which is why we book ahead and depart on fixed dates. Eat early, drink plenty and sleep as much as you can: tomorrow starts at 4 am.

Distance: 7 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours. Altitude gain: 600 m.

The crux of the trek and one of the longest days on any Nepal circuit. Away by headlamp around 4 am, climbing gradually onto the moraine and then across a series of frozen lakes and rock shelves. The final section to the pass is a steady slog on snow and scree, four to five hours in total.

Larkya La at 5,106 m is a broad saddle strung with prayer flags, with Himlung Himal, Cheo Himal, Gyaji Kung and the Annapurna II massif spread out ahead. It is bitterly cold and windy and nobody lingers.

The descent is the hard part: 1,400 m of steep, loose scree and often snow-covered ice on the shaded upper section, taking four to five hours down to the meadows at Bimthang. Our guides carry microspikes for the group when conditions require them.

Distance: 24 km. Walking: 8 to 10 hours. Altitude: up 646 m, then down 1,386 m.

An easy day after yesterday. Down through rhododendron and pine forest, crossing the Dudh Khola on a wooden bridge, past the pasture at Karche and through the fields at Gho to Tilije.

The air is thick, the temperature climbs and most people find their appetite comes back somewhere around lunchtime.

Distance: 19 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude loss: 1,420 m.

Over a small ridge to Thonje, where you join the Annapurna Circuit at Dharapani and the character of the trail changes immediately: more trekkers, better lodges, and a jeep road alongside.

The trail follows the Marsyangdi downstream to Tal, a village built on a flat sandy plain that was once a lake bed, with a large waterfall at its head.

Distance: 15 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude loss: 600 m.

The last walking day, following the Marsyangdi down through the gorge past Chamje and Jagat, with waterfalls on both walls and the river loud below. Warm, green and subtropical again.

Syange is the road head where the vehicle meets you.

Distance: 16 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude loss: 620 m.

A long drive out: jeep down the rough road to Besisahar, then the highway east to Kathmandu. Afternoon or evening arrival, and a farewell dinner with the team.

Drive: 8 to 9 hours.

Transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport about three hours before your flight, or onward arrangements if you are extending your stay in Nepal, Bhutan or Tibet.