Three weeks of teahouse trekking on Nepal's quietest 8000-er. You'll loop the eighth-tallest mountain on earth, cross a 5,160m pass, and finish in apple country with a different kind of altitude headache.
Manaslu is a restricted-area trek: permits are guide-mandatory, group minimums apply, and the route is genuinely remote. We've run this circuit every autumn since 2011 and we know which lodges keep their kitchens clean past 4,000m. Expect long acclimatization days at Samagaon and Samdo, dramatic Tibetan-Buddhist culture in the upper villages, and the kind of pass-day exhaustion you tell stories about for years.
Off the highway after Arughat, the road tightens to a single track along the Budhi Gandaki. Welcome dal bhat at the lodge.
Sub-tropical to start — banana groves, rope bridges, the river always to your right. Easy first day to find your rhythm.
Hot springs at Tatopani if you've earned it. Jagat is your permit checkpoint and the start of the Manaslu Conservation Area.
Cliff-cut trail above the gorge. The Ganesh range opens up to the east. Tibetan-influenced villages from here up.
Long climb through pine and rhododendron. Acclimatization briefing at the lodge tonight.
Manaslu (8,163m) finally on the skyline. Optional afternoon hike to Pungyen Gompa.
Short day on purpose. Acclimatize, drink tea, watch the prayer wheels.
Day hike to Pungyen Gompa or up to Birendra Tal. Pulse-ox check before bed.
The last permanent village before the pass. Old salt-trade route to Tibet visible across the valley.
Optional hike to Samdo Peak viewpoint (4,800m). We watch weather windows now.
Half-day to the high camp. Early dinner, early bed — tomorrow is long.
Alpine start at 03:30. Pass topped by lunch, then a 1,700m drop into Bimthang. The day everyone remembers.
Mostly downhill through old-growth forest. Apple brandy and a hot shower in Tilije.
Jeep to Besisahar, vehicle change, then back to Kathmandu. Farewell dinner at Bhojan Griha.