The Manaslu Circuit Trek is a physical challenge, and more importantly for your mind than body at this point. After weeks of walking through opposites, forests, and deserts, the trek concludes with some of your favorite days ever, as you are brought as low as you can go before being awarded with glory and incredible achievement. This guide describes the crux final ascent so you know what to expect on the hardest and most wonderfully mystical parts of this epic trans-Himalayan trip.
The Manaslu Circuit: in the direction of the skip
The very last section of the Manaslu Circuit is the climax of your whole trek. It is when your weeks of physical preparation and acclimatization are most severely tested. It is where the previous day’s trail leads you from Samdo: Dharamsala, a cluster of basic teahouses at 14,632 feet (4,460 meters). This is no time to picnic; it is a base camp, you fool, for your pre-dawn assault against the pass. Facilities here are basic, usually just a room with a basic bed and some blankets, but a welcome refuge from the cold and the wind. Your final night is spent sleeping in peace and staying hydrated. The air is cold; the mood is taut.
Across the Larkya La Pass: Test of Adventure
The day you cross the Larkya La pass is the day that defines your Manalsu Trek. It begins in the dead of night — long before dawn. Early is pleasant to avoid the hardcore winds you will encounter near the top of the mountain later in the day. The ascent is constant, unrelenting, over extremely steep rocky terrain and might regularly be snow or ice-covered. You’ll rely on your headlamp for a couple of hours, and all you will hear is the sound of your boots on the trail and your metronome of breath. The views will be some of the best for the whole Manaslu Circuit Trekking, and you’ll see the surrounding peaks lit up by the golden sunlight of sunrise. The final pull to the prayer-flag-decked summit is a mental and physical triumph.
The Triumphant Descent to Bimthang
While summiting Larkya La Pass is a huge achievement, the trek is only half over. The descent to Bimthang is long and hard and can be as difficult as the up. It’s a steep path right over a slippery scree and glacial moraine, so it’s definitely one to rock up there with at least a block of solid waterboss. Your poles end up being a tool that you can’t do without, and not only do they help with balance, but they can also take a lot of the weight off your knees and ankles. As you descend, the craggy edges of the high pass are replaced by the jaw-dropping Bimthang Valley – a wide grassy plain set in an amphitheatre of colossal mountains. It’s magical, but for its very small, low-altitude, scenic hill town, that is positive and uplifting coming back down to a kinder world. The village has basic but welcoming teahouses and is a place to relax, enjoy, and contemplate the amazing achievement of having crossed the pass.
Leaving the High Alpine Behind
The final few days of the trip are a beautiful transition from the rugged alpine to the serene green valleys. From Bimthang, it’s a long, relentless downhill – the first of two incredible changes of terrain and weather. (Red and white blazed) This red and white blazed trail churns downhill through some of the finest pine and rhododendron oak forests in the East, giving up the sounds and smells you may have missed above the tree line. Here you will travel through dozens of smaller settlements, providing a fresh hit of colour, life, and air that is ever warmer and stickier as you descend. At a Glance – Part of the Manaslu Circuit Trek – These hours are a reflection period, a few hours to soak in the grand high pass experience and mentally ready you for the end of your trek on foot.
Chapter Four: The Final Leg – Heading back on the Annapurna Circuit
After your final day of trekking, you will reach Dharapani, a vibrant crossroads village and the location where your Manaslu Circuit takes you from there onto the Annapurna Circuit. This village is very different from the lonely hamlets you have been living in for weeks. This one feels almost like civilization, with more teahouses, trekkers from another trail, and a road. Plus, you need a final examination of your trekking permits – including the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP). It’s a symbolic ending to your hike, your transition from the more remote Manaslu region to the somewhat more plugged-in (and often more packed) world of the Himalayan trekker.
Endless Trek Back to Kathmandu
Returning to Kathmandu is the last segment of your adventure on Manaslu. The drive to Dharapani is a long one, on a rough dirt road followed by smooth new pavement. That can take all day or more, and as good as it feels to be off your feet, it’s also one final scenic dazzlement. The drive offers a glimpse of agricultural practices in central Nepal and a final view of the varied terrain of Nepal. It’s a moment of reflection, of everything you have seen and done, the lively street markets of Kathmandu, the serene peace of the high mountain passes. The drive back home is a dark sign of where you’ve been and how you fucked yourself up.
Conclusion: The Payoff And The Long-Lasting Memories
Completing the Manaslu Circuit is a feat to be happy with, clearly for navigating the space, but the praise is set extra than simply reaching the top. It’s the remnant thoughts that stay with you. You’ll think back on the quiet mornings, the meals you shared in teahouses, the camaraderie of your guide and of other trekkers. That’s a trip that you will remember and cherish for the rest of your life: your knees will be killing you, but you won’t forget the magnificent views from the top of Larkya La (5,135m) and the feeling of total liberty in the vast valleys.
The Manaslu Circuit Trekking is a tiny investment when you weigh it against the rewarding sense of accomplishment and the overwhelming amount of cherry-filled memories you will take home, from what could well be described as the trek that changed your life. It’s not a day hike that you do – it’s something you experience and have to endure for the rest of your life.