Manaslu 20 Days Trek from Kathmandu

Day 01. After your arrival to Kathmandu Airport, you will be met by the tour representative and transferred to your hotel. You will get spare time to get ready for your new adventure. Day 02. You will start your day with a breakfast in the hotel and afterward, you will spend full day sightseeing of Kathmandu valley. You will visit Kathmandu Durbar Square, marvelous Swayambhunath (also known as Monkey Temple), Pashupatinath Temple and UNESCO World Heritage Site Baudhanath Stupa. Then you will return to the hotel and you will have some free time to shop trekking equipment if necessary. Day 03. After an early breakfast, you will be transported from Kathmandu to Pokhara. The ride takes 7 hours and goes through both highway and through many vibrant villages and irrigated terraces to Arughat. In Arughat Bazaar (570m), you will get the first experience of Nepal´s rural landscapes. This will be the first overnight stay at a guesthouse. Day 04. Another day will be started by breakfast at the lodge. A 6 hours trek from Arughat Bazaar to Soti Khola (530m) will be waiting for you. The trek goes over a flat leveled path along the bank of Budhi Gandaki River, through mostly terraces, numerous villages, green hills and all the time you will be surrounded by lush green forest with bushy foliage. You will take a lunch at Arket Bazaar, which is on the half way to Soti Khola. This place is great to relax and you will get an opportunity to enjoy swimming and to ease your limbs from the hiking. Day 05. When finishing your breakfast, new trek from Soti Khola to Machhakhola (890m) may begin. It is 7 hours trekking path through an unspoiled forest, colorful villages, around clean streams, spectacular waterfalls and green dales until Lapu Besi will be reached. This is a village mainly inhabited by Mongolian inhabitants. Then the trek continues through zigzag paths until Macchakhola, where you will oversleep in a guesthouse. Day 06. After having breakfast at the lodge, you will cross Machhakhola to Jagat (1350m). The trek will last 7 hours and you will be head upstream to the tiny village of Khorla Bensi and the hot springs at Tatopani. The valley sides are steep until they are impassable and the route then switches to the left bank by way of a suspension bridge. The trail is quite exposed and challenging in some places, but this is the beauty of the wild. After a short section of forest paths, you will reach a single teahouse at Doban. Above Doban, the Budi Gandaki descends on an impressive series of rapids. Beyond this steep section, the river is much more placid, meandering across a broad gravel bed. At Lauri, you will cross the river on a suspension bridge, and then climb on a high path to the fields of Jagat and overnight at the guesthouse. Day 07. Today’s trek from Jagat to Philim (1700m) will take 3 hours to complete. The trek is short and pretty likable. The early part of the trek moves gently uphill and then somewhere through a flat leveled path. You will cross a suspension bridge over Budhi Gandaki before you will enter Philim. Philim is a big village mainly inhabited by the Gurung community. Small serene monasteries, chortens and prayer flags fluttering in the sky, along with graves and typical mountain shanty but sturdy houses will be seen around hereabouts as you will begin to get up front ideas of what it is like to be in these remote outposts where the local folks have become grossly hardened to the harsh conditions of the environments that they have been living in for centuries. Day 08. After your breakfast, you will complete the trek from Philim to Deng (2095m). The 5 hours way treks over a flat leveled path, mostly through the forest of pine, rhododendron, and fir. While walking, you will cross a few bridges and can see colorful looking brown thatched roof villages at a far distance. A few houses are also seen at Deng. From here you will enjoy a pretty cascading waterfall lying at some distance. Deng is famous for its potatoes, buckwheat, barley, wheat, cabbage, and spinach as people are mostly involved in agriculture in this area. You will stay over at the guesthouse. Day 09. After having a breakfast at a guest house, you will start the trek from Deng to Namrung (2900m), which lasts 5 hours. The trek begins on a flat leveled path and then the trail moves uphill all the way to Namrung through lush forest. From here, you will enjoy the impressive views of Mt. Manaslu, rock hillocks, a green glen, and ridges. Namrung is a Buddhist village where there are monasteries, a water turbine hydroelectricity powered house, Mani walls, chortens, and prayer flags can be seen fluttering in the sky whispering odes of prayers to the gods for the departed souls on the peaks of Manaslu. You will get ready for another day at the guesthouse Day 10. The next trek from Namrung to Lhogaon (3100m) takes 4 Hours. After having breakfast at lodge, you will start the trek over a winding path which moves through the inner Himalayan range, On the way, you will enjoy mountain views of Rupinala pass, Mt. Manaslu, Gorkha Himal, Dwijen Himal, Saula Himal, Lajing peak, and many other silver grey mountains and peaks. As you will go up, the vegetation decreases due to the increase in altitude and the thin air. In the afternoon, this part becomes quite windy and chilly. While walking, you will come across Mani walls, chortens, prayer flags and monasteries. Before you will reach Lho Gaon, you will pass a Tibetan village and Lihi Gaon. There is a monastery named Chon on a ridge and also a Buddhist school at Lho Gaon run by Buddhist monks. You will overnight in a guesthouse. Day 11. Today´s journey will be from Lhogaon to Samagaun (3390m) and will take 4 Hours. After having a breakfast at the lodge, you will start the trek by leaving the village, you will follow the right bank of the river, with views of Peak 29 ahead. As you will continue on the main trail, you will reach soon the fields of Samagaun, where you will overnight at guesthouse. Day 12. You will rest at Samagaun for Acclimatization and give your weary limbs some respite from the intense hiking. This also allows you to rest your lungs so that your respiratory systems would adjust with the changed elevation. Surrounded by mountains in a peaceful forest, you will take a breather to acclimatize and relax. You can hike to Manaslu Base Camp for excellent views of Samdo (Pang Phuchuli); Nagdi Chuli, Simnang Himal, Manaslu glacier, Manaslu ice fall and you will be able to see Birendra Kunda which is an ice lake nearby the Manaslu Base Camp. You will end up your day in a guesthouse. Day 13. Another trek from Samagaun to Samdo (3690m) lasts 4 Hours. After breakfast, amidst the lovely surroundings, you will trek gently uphill all the way to Samdo through a desert path and windy valley. The Tibetan border is just four kilometers away from Samdo, but visitors are not allowed to pass the border. There is a Tibetan refugee village at Samdo. This is an excellent viewpoint for Mt. Manaslu, Samdo (Pang phuchuli), Nagdi Chuli, Simnang Himal, Manaslu glacier, Manaslu ice fall and several other awesome peaks, afterward you will sleep over in a guesthouse. Day 14. Today, you will hike from Samdo to Larkya La Phedi (4460m), which will take you 3 Hours. After having a breakfast at the lodge, you will start the trek. The trail is rocky and zigzags all the way to the final destination. Before you will reach Larkya La Phedi, there is a market called Larkya Bazaar (market) where seasonal fairs are held for the local folks. People bring goods from Tibet to sell it here. You will finish your day in a guesthouse. Day 15. Trek from Larkya La Phedi to Larkya La (Pass) (5135m.) to Bimthang (3590 m) lasts 8 Hours. After breakfast at the lodge, you will start today trek. Today will be a pretty tough call in this part of your adventure as you are going to pass the Larkya La today, early in the morning you will begin to trek a steeply ascended path until Larkya La through a rocky and winding trail. You will carry a packed lunch because this area would be difficult to set up a dining camp. From the top, you will enjoy the views of Larkya peak, sunrise, Mt. Manaslu, Ratna Chuli, Cheo Himal and many other snow-capped mountains and peaks. Crossing this pass, you will hike to a steep downhill path through rock and ice. On the way, you will encounter many icy lakes that make you feel chilly. Bimthang is a broad and level ablation valley with a number of Mani walls and deserted houses. You will get ready for next day at a guesthouse. Day16. Today, you will go from Bimthang to Dharapani (1860m), which is a 7 Hours trek. After having breakfast at the lodge, you will start your trek and cross this high pasture, you will descend the valley of the Burdin Khola to the area of the Base Camp for the West side of Manaslu. From a ridge at 4150 meters, you will have excellent views of Manaslu to the South East and Annapurna II to the South West. Beyond a bridge over the headwaters of the Dudh Khola, you will descend into a rhododendron forest and follow a trail through a narrow valley until you will reach the highest cultivated land in this valley at Karche, 2785 meters. Walking down, you will cross a stream to reach Tilje. There is an apple orchard and it is quite famous for local wine. Leaving Tilje, you will trek about another hour to reach Dharapani, where you will overnight at guesthouse. Day 17. Trek from Dharapani to Jagat (1800m) lasts 6 Hours. After having a breakfast at the lodge, you will start the trek and today, you will trek all the way over a descended path along the bank of Dudh Khola (river) and Marshyangdi River. On the way, you will walk through pleasant villages such as Taal which is an attractive village with a pretty waterfall and you will be able to enjoy the sight of lush green hills. Eventually, you will come across Jagat which is a stone village situated on a shelf, that juts into the precipitous Marshyangdi valley. You will end up your day with an overnight at guesthouse. Day 18. Today, you will spend 6 hours on the way from Jagat to Bhulbhule. After breakfast at the lodge, you will start the trek and today, you will more or less to end part of your trail in your wonderful tryst with these massive mountains, where you will spend your last day. These mountains will be home to you all of these days. A steep trail descends from Jagat through Marshyangdi valley and all the way to Bhulbhule. Today calls for a celebration with your crew. They will cook up some delicious meals and snacks and you will taste some ‘’chang’’ (local mountain brewed beer fermented with rice) and you will do a jig to some Sherpa dance steps. You will retire to bed for a blissful sleep under moonlit starry skies. Day 19. Today, you will be transported back from Bhulbhule to Kathmandu. You will spend 7 hours on the ride. It is a picturesque drive on the way back to Kathmandu along the banks of the Marshyangdi and Trishuli rivers with splendid views of green hills, mountains, farming terraces and colorful villages on both sides of the road. Tonight, you will sleep over at Hotel in Kathmandu. Day 20. The last day, you will be transferred to the international airport for your final departure back to your home.