The journey of Manaslu Circuit Trek starts from Soti Khola at the altitude of 700 meters from seas level, is a charming village at the bank of Budhi Gandaki river. From lush rice paddies terraced fields with water buffalo and thatched huts, we walk north along the incredible, mountain-capped high route, through sprawling Gurung villages perched on high, terraced hilltops covered in Rhododendron, to reach Kutang, or lower Nubri. Here the ethnically Tibetan inhabitants speak their own dialect, partly Tibetan and partly Gurung, and live a lifestyle that spans Nepal and Tibet.
Trekking to Manaslu Circuit is ever higher to upper Nubri, purely Tibetan culture and tradition; we share the trails with yak caravans. Here, trade with Tibet continues as it has for centuries and Tibetan villages have been forged from the wilderness by Tibetan refugees. Inspiring mountain panoramas, dominated by Manaslu itself, are a highlight of the trek as are day hike to Pun Gyen Gompa, Manaslu Base Camp from Sama Gaun and Rui La, a traditional trade route to Tibet at the Nepal-Tibet boarder from Samdo Village, the valley above Samdo near the border of Tibet and the epic crossing the snow-covered Manaslu Larke Pass to Bimtang and Manang region of the Annapurna circuit is life time experiences. This rapid Manaslu Circuit Trek program is planned for those fit and strong people already acclimatized in the Alps or Himalaya with previous trekking experience that allows to experience marvelous Manaslu region in short period of time. If you are looking for relaxing and leisure Manaslu trek we recommend you to chose our 18 days around Manaslu trek program that allows to have proper acclimatization process and trek without rush or Manaslu Trek via Tsum Valley that requires minimum 21 days to complete the trek.
According to trekking professional mark the Manaslu Circuit Trek best among the best treks in Nepal. Although it’s recent grow in popularity, the Manaslu Trek remains remote and less crowded compared to the well established teahouse treks in Nepal. The trek takes you around mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak at 8,163 meters (26,781 ft).
Main features of this trek are:
Public buses leave every day in the morning between 6 to 7 am from Kathmandu to Arughat -Soti Khola. If you are trekking around Dashain festival; local buses are overloaded as more than two million people leave Kathmandu Valley for various destinations to celebrate Dashain festival and visiting their families back to home in the villages during the holiday. It is hard to get a seat in buses for a last our booking if your trek is around festival that usually falls in end of September and October. Except around festival time; there are easy available of bus seats. If you prefer comfortable ride to trekking starting point, we can arrange a private jeep that can be faster and comfortable and will cost around USD 225 to Machha Khola. .
Now; Nepal army has been constructing the road since 2014 the government plans to links roads to Tibet border. So because of road construction, the first part of Manaslu Trekking trail has been affected and trekkers have to walk on unsealed road for first 2 days. And soon in future; they will build the road even further up to Sama Gaun and then link to China (Tibet). A new alternative trail has been researched through the village of Arughat (600m) - Manbu – Kashi Gaon (1800) – Kerauja (2075m) meter) and finally conjoining to the main Manaslu route at Dovan but this new trail has basic logistic and trekking is more aerobic since it involves much up and down but this “off the beaten trail” rewards with experience of varius ethnic of Ghale, Magar and Gurung people, villages and real culture. Trekking through alternative trail will need couple of extra days so you Manaslu trek will be around two weeks long.
Local buses are often full of passenger, even in the passage too. They stop many times to take people in and dropping them off. It is usual that local people travel with basket of vegetable, sometimes chicken and bag of rice. Drivers play nun-stop music during the journey. You might find less leg-room as it is sized to Asian people. Still many of our western clients used it, it is good if you want to experience the local and don’t mind do like as locals do. And of course it comes cheap cost.
Yes, this question can be the first among many Manaslu circuit trek questions. To answer this question; we need to know your trekking requirements. Our standard package price is 859 per person in minimum two people sharing basis for 11 days . The price includes guide, porter, meals, lodges, permits and sharing local bus and local jeep sharing after the trek.
The cost varies in following cases.
It is 177 km in distance also it differs from where you start your trek and where you end the walking, in other hand Nepal is the country where trekking distance is measured in days. Usually Manaslu Circuit trek is 12 - 14 days. If you include more side visit, it needs more extra days. Side trip to Tsum Valley Trek requires one week extra, and there are many other day long side trip destinations such as Serang Gonpa, Kaal Taal (Death Lake), Hinang Gompa, Himalchuli Base Camp, Manaslu Base Camp, Pungyen Gompa, Lajung La etc. Hence; the itinerary is determined according to the time you have, your interest and your previous trekking habit and physical fitness etc. Our 11 days pre-set trip is short version of Manaslu trek that meets budget and time frame of moderate trekkers. For customized trip, pleased contact us.
We are local tour and trekking operator based in Kathmandu so we guaranty small private group departures any dates that suits your date and time. Please kindly contact us for your customized departure date, itinerary and the price. Thank you and Namaste!
If you are interested in doing a trek in Nepal I highly recommend Wilderness Excursions. After shopping around my friends and I settled on using this company for several reason. Pardip is easy to work with, responsive, and offered a fair price. The trip views, guide, and experience were excellent. If you have specific interests for a particular trek make sure to mention those beforehand. We had some difficulty communicating trip adjustments to our guide.
While searching local trekking agency in Nepal for Manaslu trek; I found Pradip online and he was quick to respond and answered all our questions. His English was very good which helped a lot to plan our trip. He worked with me to set up a trek which met our compressed schedule. He provided us with a guide who had hiked the circuit many times and spoke some English. Amazing trek 10/10, very glad we selected this trek.
Manaslu-Trek 2015: From “Namaste“ to “Tashidelek “ - and even beyond! As trekking “rookies” of the Nepal region, equipped with high cultural affinity and staking out eco-friendly claims we intended to trek the Manaslu circuit in October 2015. As known, that region unfortunately got hit very hard by several earthquakes in April and May that year, the peak season for treks in that specific region. Unsure about the latest developments onsite, actual trek conditions, ethical and moral considerations with respect to the local people (we wanted to avoid any crisis tourism relatedness) and surely safety concerns for the entire team (guide, porter and us) we were almost about to postpone our trip. Luckily, only a few weeks before we initially planned to set off, we came across Pradip Tamang from Wilderness Excursions Pvt. Ltd – the best thing that could have happened to us and our trip! Pradip is not only very knowledgeable of the region and its specific characteristics and requirements, trekking in general and in very much detail (very important when it comes to e.g. altitude sickness), local flora and fauna or relevant cultural aspects of the various diverse people along the trek. Furthermore he is very well connected and was hence well informed about the conditions of the trek and always very honest with us on what is possible and what not or where some flexibility would be needed from our side. We very much appreciated this consultative procedure, his transparency and even more his ambitions to always meet our individual needs during the trek: To explore the cultural and natural diversity and manifold of the area while leaving a minimal ecological footprint and considering the current limitations of the region. By any chance, we wanted to avoid the typical touristy spots and adjustments and instead be as close as possible to local life and conditions. Whatever we asked for Pradip made it happen: Being accommodated in home stays as often as possible given the local conditions of some villages still, mutual cooking ofdhal baat, individual momo-cooking lessons or enjoying a good and well-deserved dudh chiya (milk tea) at the wood-burning fire in the local kitchen of our host after completing our again very exciting daily trek section. We enjoyed it all and have gathered a much better understanding of the life in Nepal and specifically the challenges around the Manaslu in general. And after all we simply had a fabulous and absolutely fantastic time – also personally - with Pradip and his much valued assistant Rahul and are looking very much forward to another exciting trekking episode (possibly in Dolpa) soon. About Pradip in short, who is not only guiding you along the trek but also explains and forges links: • Has very much knowledge about treks in Nepal, its flora and fauna, culture and customs • Offers an open communication & transparent and honest services • speaks very well English and can even cover the professional jargon • Is always approachable, very ambitious and eager to meet your individual needs and requirements while considering actual local conditions • Is very experienced and well-connected
It was an absolutely wonderful life time experience. Pradip as our guide is great and very enthusiastic and informative. I trekked ‘Mystique Manaslu Trail Trekking’ with my mom, cousin sister and her husband. We booked our trip with Pradip Tamang, An independent trekking guide. He made our trip special and remarkable. It was my seventh visit to Nepal and I never get enough of travelling to Nepal and hiking Himalayas, Shangri-La, a country of ultimate destination. Definitely, I will come back soon and do some more trekking in Nepal.
Trip Note: This trip can be modified as per your travel needs that meet your time and budget. The package price we have offered here is on double occupancy basis. The trip cost will be according to trip mode and group volume. Using private vehicle to Machha Khola will cost extra 225 (share the price in group). Please kindly do let us know if you want us to include the accommodation in Kathmandu. International tour leaders are highly encouraged to get discounted rates.
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+977 9851042153 info@guideinhimalaya.com