A full circuit of the eighth highest mountain in the world, over a 5,106m pass, on a trail that still feels like the Annapurna Circuit did thirty years ago.
Manaslu is 8,163m and the eighth highest mountain on earth, sitting north of Gorkha with the Tibetan border along its far side. The circuit walks up the Budhi Gandaki gorge, round the north of the massif, over the Larkya La at 5,106m, and down into the Marsyangdi valley at Dharapani, where you step straight onto the Annapurna Circuit.
That last detail is the one people find most telling. You can finish Manaslu, walk onto one of the busiest trails in Nepal, and immediately notice the difference in how many people are on it.
The valley is Nubri and Tsum country, Tibetan Buddhist and closer in feel to Upper Mustang than to the Annapurna foothills. Gompas, mani walls, and villages at Sama and Samdo where the architecture and the language are both from the other side of the border. The Tsum valley branches east partway up and is worth the extra days if you have them.
Our local staff are paid a decent living wage, get provided with all the right gear and are always well looked after. We pride ourselves on this.
Why this is filed off the beaten track
Manaslu is not remote in the way Kanchenjunga is. It starts with a drive from Kathmandu rather than a flight and two more days in a jeep, which makes it one of the more accessible big treks in the country.
What keeps it quiet is the paperwork. Manaslu is a restricted area, and a restricted area permit cannot be bought by a trekker at all. It is issued to a registered agency, against named trekkers and a named licensed guide, and there is no counter anywhere in Kathmandu where you can go and get one yourself. That single rule filters out most of the independent traffic that fills the Annapurna Circuit.
Until recently it also required a group of at least two. That has changed, and restricted area permits are now issued to solo trekkers across all restricted areas, so a single trekker with a guide can walk this circuit legitimately for the first time.
The permits, and why they add up
Manaslu carries more paperwork than anywhere else we run, because the route passes through three separate regimes on its way round:
- Manaslu restricted area permit, US$100 per person for seven days, which is the one that has to come through an agency.
- Manaslu Conservation Area permit, for the protected area the circuit spends most of its time inside.
- Annapurna Conservation Area permit, because the trek finishes by dropping into the Annapurna region at Dharapani. People are regularly caught out by this one.
- A local government entry fee, collected on the way in.
Current figures are on permits and park passes. If you book the fixed all-in price below, every one of them is already inside it, which on Manaslu is a larger saving than the same sentence would be anywhere else.
The Larkya La
The pass is the day the trek is remembered for. A long, cold start from Dharamsala in the dark, several hours of moraine and false summits, and then a genuinely enormous view north into Tibet and west to the Annapurnas. The descent to Bimthang on the far side is steep and long, and it is the part people underestimate.
It is high enough to demand real acclimatisation, and the itinerary builds that in around Sama Gaon rather than assuming you will be fine. If the weather closes on the pass there is no way round it and no road out, which is the honest argument for walking this one with somebody who has crossed it before.
When to walk it
October and November for the clearest air and the most reliable pass conditions, and March to May for warmth, fewer people and rhododendron down in the gorge. The Larkya La holds snow well into spring and can close in either season, so the days either side of it are the ones worth keeping loose. Winter is possible for the experienced and genuinely cold. More in when to trek in Nepal.
Do you need a guide?
Yes, and not only for the usual reason. Restricted areas have required a licensed guide since long before the 2023 rules made it general, and here it is enforced at the checkpoints on the way in rather than left to chance. The plain version is on do you need a guide to trek in Nepal.
Common questions about the Manaslu Circuit
Can I trek the Manaslu Circuit alone?
You can now, with a licensed guide. Restricted area permits used to be issued only to groups of two or more, and are now issued to solo trekkers as well. You still cannot obtain the permit yourself: it goes through a registered agency either way.
How does Manaslu compare to the Annapurna Circuit?
It is harder, higher at the pass, considerably quieter and more Tibetan in character. The teahouses are simpler and there is no road shadowing the trail the way there now is on much of the Annapurna Circuit. If you have read that Annapurna is not what it was, Manaslu is where people go instead.
Is the Tsum valley worth adding?
If you have four or five spare days, yes. It is a side valley running east towards the border, with its own permit, its own dialect and very few trekkers. It is a cultural detour rather than a scenic one, and people who take it tend to talk about it more than about the pass.
How fit do I need to be?
Fitter than for Everest Base Camp. The days are longer, the ascent out of the gorge is relentless, and the pass day is a long one at altitude with a punishing descent. If you can walk seven hours on consecutive days on hills at home, you will manage it.
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