Manaslu Circuit Trek
By: Discovery World Trekking
Tags: Outdoors, Vacation, Nepal, Manaslu Circuit Trek, Tourism

The Manaslu Circuit Trek opened in the year 1992 and it immediately grew in popularity because of its captivating natural essence, the exclusiveness and the untouched beauty. Situated along the border of Nepal and Tibet, we will experience and witness the culture and lifestyle of both Hindu’s and Buddhists. The off beaten trails take us through many verdantly rich forests of rhododendron trees blooming beautifully, alpine woods like pine, cedar, birch and juniper and delightful meadows.

The Manaslu Trek (or Manaslu Circuit Trek) is a 16-day tea-house trek which circumnavigates the 8th highest peak in the world (8,156 m). The trek has all the elements of other treks in Nepal including both Hindu and Buddhist culture, protected wildlife, rhododendrons and wildflowers, raging rivers, precarious bridges and stunning mountain scenery. The off beaten trails take us through many verdantly rich forests of rhododendron trees blooming beautifully, alpine woods like pine, cedar, birch and juniper and delightful meadows.

The circular tour around Manaslu counts as one of the truly great Himalayan treks. Flanked by the Annapurna’s to the West and Ganesh Himal to the East it is one of the most graceful of the 8000-meter giants. Less than two percent of trekkers go to Manaslu. This means that even in the high season you will not meet many trekkers. Manaslu is remote, physically demanding, culturally enriching and scenically uplifting. The circuit takes you from the steamy lowlands with their terraces of rice and millet, through the mighty gorges of the Budhi Gandaki with its turquoise waters and amazing waterfalls. Suspension bridges here are in a league of their own for both length and height, and the yearly monsoon often wash minor bridges away leaving trekkers to use semi-submerged rocks

The Manaslu Circuit Trek begins with a scenic drive from to SotiKhola via Arughat which approximately takes the whole day. On the following day, our trek begins to MachhaKhola. During the trek, we will be walking through beautiful forests, climbing onto ridges, walking past rice terraces and crossing suspension bridges. After trekking for about four days, we will be arriving at Deng, which starts to give us appearances of snow peaks. As we continue trekking, we will be crossing a small village then further reaching to Namrung village where it’s an amazing viewpoint for Ganesh Himal (7,422m) and Mt. Himalchuli (7,893m). Trekking a bit further, we will arrive at the highest village in Budi Gandaki valley; the Samagaon village. We will acclimatize at this village the following day and then continue our trek, heading towards Samdo followed by Dharamsala. At this point, we will be rewarded with the astonishing views of Larkya Glacier and the Larkya peak. The challenging trek awaits as we will be trekking around Manaslu crossing the Larkya La Pass (5100m) eventually reaching Bhimthang then to Gho. Further moving to Dharapani we will pass through fields and villages, following the Annapurna Circuit trek in reverse. On the last day, we will drive back to Besisahar then back to Kathmandu to your respective hotels.

The challenging Manaslu Circuit trek is the best choice for an adventurous journey for trekking enthusiasts as it offers not just beautiful scenery of nature and the mountains, but it gives us an insight into two different cultures; Buddhism and Hinduism that bond together. For further more experience, trekkers may wish to view other options such as 12 Days Around Manaslu Circuit Trekking, 21 Days Tsum Valley and Manaslu Circuit Trekking, 16 Days Tsum Valley Trekking. Also Check Out special Everest base camp and Annapurna base camp trek to add options to your bucket list 2020.