Manaslu Circuit Trek 14N 15D Itinerary

Upon arrival at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu, you will be welcomed by one of our representatives and transferred to the hotel. Check-in and get refreshed. Later, our representative will hold a short briefing session to explain the further program details. We will take this day to acquire the permits and TIMS card. If the time is not enough, we will work for the permit tomorrow, which is the case usually.

Overnight at the hotel in Kathmandu.

• Accommodation: Hotel
• Place: Kathmandu
• Altitude: 1400m

While our permit, MCAP, ACAP and TIMS are being ready, we will take a brief tour of the city. We will visit Patan Durbar Square, Kathmandu Durbar Square and Swayambhunath Stupa. These are few of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu valley, where we will get acquainted with the ancient cultures, tradition, arts and architecture of different casts in Nepal. The evening is for the final preparation for the trekking program.

• Meals: Breakfast
• Accommodation: Hotel
• Place: Kathmandu
• Altitude: 1400m

Morning breakfast at the hotel, then we set off our first trip to Sotikhola- the gateway to our Manaslu Circuit Trek. We will take the Prithivi Highway up to Dhading bridge in Malekhu and turn right towards north to cross the bridge and take the road to trespass Dhading Besi and Arughat and finally arrive at Sotikhola at 730m. The total drive is of 6-7 hours over paved roads until Arughat, followed by an off-road drive for 2 hours through the hills, forests, rivers and few settlements until Sotikhola. We will rest for the night at the lodge in Sotikhola.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Sotikhola
• Altitude: 730m

Morning breakfast. Today, we will take the first step of our Manaslu Circuit Trek. Our exciting trail crosses the bridge to reach on the western side of Buddhi Gandaki and climbing to the ridge through the beautiful forest and villages. As we climb, we will small village of Armala, build on top of a huge rock wall over 100m. Next, we will pass Liding. Walking beside the roaring Budhhi Gandaki river in the huge narrow gorge the climbing trail opens the valley again taking us to Lapu Besi. We will stop for our lunch in one of these places depending upon our time. We continue our walk in between these huge narrow valleys, where a wide field is almost impossible. After around 5-6 hours of walk, we will arrive at Machhakhola. We will stay here for the night and dine.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Machhakhola
• Altitude: 900m

Warm breakfast in the morning. We continue our walk along the base of huge valleys beside the Budi Gandaki river, passing Machha Khola will arrive at Tharo Khola and further ahead is Khorlabesi. With so many ups and downs, we will reach a small natural hot spring- Tatopani. We will take a hot bath here and enjoy our lunch. Next, Dobhan is 1 hour from here and we continue our ascending and descending path crossing a bridge, we will reach Dobhan. The trail is almost alongside Budi Gandaki with ascending and descending tracks and at times into the forest and somewhere through tiny settlements in between the deep long gorges. After crossing Yaruphant and walking almost 6-7 hours, the trail under these wriggling valleys finally arrives at Jagat. We will take a rest here and enjoy our dinner.  

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Jagat
• Altitude: 1410m

Morning breakfast and we continue our trek. The trail is similar but before reaching Sirdibas Bazar, the valley suddenly opens wide. We cross Nagjet, ahead of Sirdibas Bazar. Crossing a suspension bridge a bit ahead of Nagjet will take us to a small village Gurung full of vibrant prayer flags and small monasteries. This village is called Philim. We will have lunch here. After a longer part in the gorge and forests, after crossing Pewa, we will emerge to a flatter patch of land with some fields and a lodge, the place is called Deng or Dyang. It takes 1.5 hours from Pewa to reach Dyang. We will have our usual evening ‘daal-bhat’ dinner and overnight stay here.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Deng
• Altitude: 1804m

Warm breakfast in the morning. From the heights of Deng, we will climb down to the river just to climb up again on the other side where the trail will be far above the riverbed. Slowly the area will get more alpine style and the mountains could be seen nearly all the time. We also enter the Buddhist region with prayer flags and the first mani walls. And the women are seen in Tibetan like jewelries with corals and turquoises. Cross Bihi, we will arrive at Ghap. We will have lunch on a small teahouse along the way. After a long climb in the afternoon, we will finally reach Namrung and spend the night over.

It takes 4.5 hours from Deng to Ghap and 3 hours from Ghap to Namrung.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Namrung
• Altitude: 2630m

From Namrung, we have fully entered the Buddhist cultural area and also the valley finally widened. We passed beautiful little villages like Lihi from where we one can see a beautiful mountain like a razor blade. It’s the Simnang Himal (6251m). The other village is Sho from where the first mountain of Manaslu massif appears. But shortly after passing the village of Sho, we will have the first sight of the majestic 8163m Mt. Manaslu. Next, we will reach a village called Lho. Lho is one of the three biggest villages in the upper valley of Budhi Gandaki. It is on 3020 m. While leaving Lho, we will soon enter a forest along an icy rivulet and steady climb about an hour. Then we reach the plateau of the high mountain pastures of Shyala entering the site through a beautiful chorten. Continuing from Shyala, we will walk in hilly terrain through bushy forests. We would feel that we had gained in altitude as we walk.

Finally, the valley opens wide and, in the distance, the next larger village Sama Gaon appeared from 3390m to 3530m. Samagaon offers a magnificent view of Manaslu massif and other mountains.

There the valley turns to the north which will be the way for Samdo the next day. We will call it for a day and acclimatize here.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Samagaon
• Altitude: 3530m

Today is the acclimatization day. We will have a rest to let our bodies acclimatize to the altitude. However, we will take the benefit of this day by visiting the village of Sherpa to get familiar with their culture and lifestyle in this high-altitude. We will give a visit to Pung Gyen Gompa/Monastery which is the vantage point of the glaciers as well. Time permitting, we will walk to the Manaslu Base Camp (4400m) to get the stunning view of great Manaslu up close. We walk back to the lodge for dinner and overnight stay.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Samagaon
• Altitude: 3530m

Morning breakfast. At Samagaon, our trail in the valley makes a quick turn towards the north that leads the track to Tibet. Being in the rain shadow of the Himalaya, the valley is more dryer comparatively. In the middle of Samagaon and Samdo lies the pasture of Khermo Kharka with a very long mani wall. It’s here that the trail to the Manaslu Base Camp branches off. There is a beautiful lake to the west of Khermo Kharka, called Birendra Lake. After 4-5 hours of walk, we will reach Samdo. Samdo is at an altitude of 3690m and is the last village before the Larkya La offering a beautiful view of Mt. Manaslu and the glacier, Simnang Himal, Pang Phuchuli and more. The trails connect Samdo with Tibet as well. In the summer, a big trading fair is held just a kilometer further up with many Tibetan traders selling and buying goods. Perhaps one of the reasons, that many Tibetan refugees found here their new home. 

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Samdo
• Altitude: 3860m

The day before crossing Larkya La. We will leave from Samdo to the high mountain pasture of Dharmasala which is also known as Larkya Phedi or Larkya Base Camp. The trail to the Larkya la is easy to find even if there is snow as we will find high poles at regular distances which will show us the way to Larkya La. Soon we will cross the first little snowfield and at 4000 m the altitude will probably start to slow us down. The awesome Samdo Ri at 6335m appears in the east above Samdo.

Soon the landscape is pure high Himalayan in a side valley to the south an enormous glacier comes down from the Larkya Himal. This is Larkya Glacier. After a while, we reach the alb of Dharmasala with the shelter houses and lodges. We will settle here before the final crossing day.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Dharmasala
• Altitude: 4460m

Today, we will dare the most challenging route of the entire trek.

In the beginning, the trail leads on the right side of the glacier moraine for a while but in the end, we will just walk mainly on the snow. The slope is not that steep and tough so walking without using crampons is possible but safety’s first. Arrive at Larkya La Pass at 5106m. Enjoy the breathtaking view of Samdo Peak, Larkya Peak, Mt. Manaslu, Cho Danda, Ratna Chuli, Cheo Himal, Peri Himal, Larkya Glacier and many more. Our trail curves from the north heading to the west passing the Larkya La and the descending trail will lead to Bemtang heading towards south. Steep and slippery descent will slow our pace while leaving Larkya La Pass from over 5000m down to the lower valley through the moraine. It will take another hour or two to reach Bemtang. Bemtang or Bimtang, situated at 3590m, is a flat meadow between the big moraine and the slope. After walking for around 8 to 9 hours, we will finally arrive at Bemtang. We will throw ourselves in the lodge here and hold for the night and warm dinner.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Bemtang
• Altitude: 5106m, 3720m

Breakfast in the morning and we continue our descent along the moraine and cross the glacier stream Dudhkhola to descent further into the forest. Passing a few villages and guesthouses like in Yak Kharka, Kharche, Goa, etc. we finally arrive at Tilche. From Tilche, further descent walks passing another village of Thoche will lead us to arrive at Dharapani, where the section of Annapurna Circuit Trek route merges, the junction where the Dudhkhola mingles with the Marsyangdi Khola. We will settle the night in Dharapani.

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Lodge
• Place: Dharapani
• Altitude: 1860m

After breakfast in the morning, we will hit the Besisahar-Chame road. En route, we will cross several Marsyangdi River bridges, pass villages, terraced fields, forests, etc. We will drive through Tal (1700m), Chamje, Syange (1080m), Arkhale, Bhulbhule, Khudi Bazaar and arrive at Besisahar. It’s around 52km and takes 3 hours approx. From Besisahar, we will continue driving south all the way down to Dumre to join the Prithivi Highway that will lead us to Kathmandu, which is around 171km and takes almost 5 hours.

Arrive at Kathmandu and check-in at the hotel. In the evening, we will celebrate together with a Nepali cuisine dinner. 

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
• Accommodation: Hotel
• Place: Kathmandu
• Altitude: 1400m

Breakfast at the hotel. Transferred to the Kathmandu airport depending upon the flight departure. We bid a warm farewell for your return departure and gratefulness for your presence being with us while in Nepal.

Thank you very much!

• Meals: Breakfast