Manaslu Trekking with Nar Phu Valley Trek

We leave Kathmandu by local bus, traveling to Arughat, and then traveling by local jeep to Soti Khola. We pass along the picturesque mountaintop community of Dhading on the route. Be prepared for a bumpy and dusty journey as the road weaves past rural areas, little towns, lush hills, and green terrace farms. It takes about 8 to 10 hours to reach Sotikhola, where you spend the night in a trekking lodge with hospitable hosts and other hikers.

We set out for Machha Khola early in the morning on a 6-7 hour hike from Soti Khola. You hike through the countryside today, passing paddy fields, waterfalls, and remote villages with houses with brown slate roofs. After crossing a hanging bridge over the Budi Gandaki River, we'll continue on a rocky trail to Machha Khola, where we'll stay the night.

The trail leaves Machha Khola and travels through Thado Khola on its way to Khorla Besi. After hiking through picturesque villages and taking in stunning mountain views, you arrive in Tatopani. There's a hot spring in Tatopani where you can relax for a while.

You then cross the Budhi Gandaki River to reach Dovan before continuing the hike to Lauri. As you enter the Manaslu Conservation Area, a picturesque paved town called Jagat awaits you. You hike a total of 7 hours to reach Jagat since you leave your lodge at Machha Khola in the morning.

Early in the morning, you set off from Jagat on a 7-hour walk to Deng. Today, you'll go by the settlements of Salleri, Sirdibas, and Ghatta Khola and cross several hanging bridges. The trail enters a deep, barren gorge after crossing the river at Eklee Bhatti and continues through bamboo trees until it reaches Deng Khola. After crossing this river, you'll arrive in Deng and stay at a teahouse there.

On our way to Namrung today, we will cross the Budhi Gandaki River a number of times. You will pass by historic gompas and a breathtaking mountain view along the way. At some point, you'll reach a suspension bridge from which you can observe the Budhi Gandaki squeezing under a purely natural stone arch. Afterward, you take a steady ascent up a spectacular stone staircase to reach Namrung. On this 8-hour hike day, we have lunch at Ghap, then stay the night at Namrung.

After admiring the Himalayas in the morning, we begin our trek on the trail that ascends through a lush, green forest to Lihi village. Before reaching Samagaon, you must go through the remote towns of Sho, Lho, and Shyala.

The eighth-highest mountain in the world, Mt. Manaslu, will be the first thing you see when you get to Lho. Shyala village is surrounded by snow-clad mountain peaks, such as Himal Chuli and Peak 29 (Ngadi Chuli) to the left, Mt. Manaslu and its glacier up ahead, and Ganesh Himal to the far right. Arriving in Sama Gaon marks the end of your day's adventure (7-hour hike).

You need a day of acclimatization to adapt to the changing altitude between ascents and descents. Resting at the teahouse works well for acclimatizing but hiking to the nearby landmarks is the best. At an elevation of 3,550 meters, Sama Gaon is ideal for a rest or short hike. A brief ascent will take you to the old monastery, Pungyen Gompa. This ancient monastery offers a magnificent view of the glacier nearby.

On the morning of your 24 days trek to Manaslu and Nar Phu Valley, we eat breakfast at Sama Gaon and descend to the Budhi Gandaki. We'll see a few more Mani walls as the valley opens up. In addition to offering beautiful mountain vistas, this path brings you quite near the Tibetan border.

We descend and cross a wooden bridge over the Budhi Gandaki before soaring upward to a spot where the river divides into two forks. We'll then proceed with the hike till we reach Samdo village after passing through a stone archway. We have lunch at Samdo, where we also stay the night. The 4-hour trip to Samdo concludes after lunch, and the rest of the day is yours to spend the way you want.

After having breakfast in Samdo, we will walk through the Larke Bazaar, a transient Tibetan market. Soon after you start your trek, you pass the wooden bridge and two streams while seeing the Larkya Glacier. To get to Larkye La Phedi, popularly known as Dharamshala, we shall cross the Salka Khola Valley.

We'll walk past a few old-fashioned monasteries on the route. It takes 4 hours to go to Larkye La Phedi, where you have lunch amidst breathtaking mountain views and blue sheep grazing on bare hillsides. You spend the night at Larkye La Phedi before crossing the Larke La Pass the next day.

Today's walk will be strenuous as you pass Larkya La Pass at 5106 meters. We set off early in the morning on our journey. To reach the summit of Larkye La Pass, we ascend along a steep and meandering terrain. The sunrise can be seen over Larkya Peak, Mt. Manaslu, Ratna Chuli, Cheo Himal, and many other snow-covered summits from the top.

To get to Bimthang, you must descend a rough and cold path. It had been an exhausting 8-hour trip. You'll have your lunch in Phedi and travel to Bimthang for the overnight stay.

On the 12th day, you leave Bhimthang behind and proceed to traverse a high grassland before descending the Burdin Khola valley. You descend to a rhododendron woodland after crossing a bridge across the Dudh Khola's headwaters. The trail continues through a little valley until you reach Karche, the highest farmed land in this valley at 2,785 meters.

After crossing a stream, you arrive in Tilje. From there, it takes an hour of incline to reach Dharapani. The hike takes 7 hours to get to Dharapani from the morning you check out your lodging.

Koto is a tiny village where the Gurung people, among other ethnic groups, predominate. To get to Koto from Dharapani, you must hike along the trail that gradually climbs. The trail follows the Marshyangdi River and passes through Bagarchhap village, offering a great view. On the route, you will take in breathtaking vistas of the Manaslu range, Annapurna II, and thick forests.

On the 12th day of your trekking journey, you'll leave the Manaslu trekking route behind and step onto Nar Phu Valley. You'll hike through the natural wonders of dense pine forests, rivers, waterfalls, and water streams. After walking past the checkpoint and crossing a bridge leading to the valley, we reach the Nar Phu Valley. As we cross Dharamshala, the forest becomes thinner, and you trek a steep ascent to finally reach Meta, a heavenly village with up-close views of the snow-topped mountains.

The trail starts out going up and down. You hike for hours till you arrive in Kyang after crossing suspension bridges over numerous streams. You may view the ruins of the Khampa settlement here, particularly the crumbling forts (the place where Khampa refugees from Tibet once captured and lived). You get to Phu Gaon after passing the Phu Khola on a rugged trail.

To make the rest day at Phu Valley exciting, we've planned out an excursion around the valley. We'll take you to the Kharka (summer grazing village) at Ngoru. After passing the gompa, it takes a 3-hour hike up the valley to reach Kharka. Phu itself is an extraordinarily fascinating village where you can witness the locals spinning their yak and sheep wool and chat with them.

Today's route turns down to a river before returning to Junam Kharka. After that, you make your way back up the historic bridge that formerly crossed a deep, narrow gorge. Before turning the bend and being rewarded with breathtaking views of Nar, you will pass by yet another row of exquisitely painted, bamboo-topped chortens and a big-tiered chorten on your way to the Nar gate at the top of a hill.

Nar has a livelier atmosphere to it as compared to Phu. The "square" of the hamlet is crowded with women chatting while working on back-strap looms to weave wool fabric for rugs and blankets, press mustard seeds for oil, or spin the ubiquitous wool while reading the paper.

Villagers can be seen going about their everyday tasks, such as printing prayer flags, working on carpentry projects, gathering wood from the forest, harvesting crops, caring for yaks, sheep, and goats, and turning the prayer wheels in the town square.

On the rest day at Nar Village, you can tour the village and observe locals working on their crafts. You may try and learn some of the skills only the Nar villagers can do.

Today is the day you cross the third and final mountain pass of the Manaslu Nar Phu Valley Trek. After a hearty breakfast in Nar, we begin our ascent towards Kang La Pass. Although it's not very difficult, crossing Kang La Pass can take a while if there is snow on the pass. You may witness breathtaking views of Annapurna II, Mt. Gangapurna, Tilicho Peak, and many other nearby peaks from the summit of the pass.

You hike down to Ngawal after the pass, where you stay overnight in a mountain lodge.

As you descend from Ngawal to Pisang, you'll notice a gradual warmth in the atmosphere. You'll also see more vegetation after hiking down over 2000 meters from the Kang La Pass. The hiking day begins with a warm breakfast in Ngawal and ends with a delicious Nepali dinner at Pisang.

We're moving towards the end of our Manaslu with Nar Phu Valley Trek as we hike further down from Pisang to Dharapani. Dharapani is a village in the Manang district between the Annapurna and Manaslu regions. It is often taken as the starting point of the Annapurna Circuit Trek and the endpoint of the Manaslu Circuit Trek.

Today is the last hiking day. We begin our day with a yummy breakfast at Dharapani and continue with a hike to Jagat. You'll pass by forests, tiny settlements, and agricultural fields, making you feel like you're back to civilization. Jagat is where we finish our long trekking journey.

On the last day of the trekking trip, we ride a local jeep from Jagat to Beshishar and then a local bus to Kathmandu. It will take you a long, tiring drive of almost 8 hours to return to the busy streets of Kathmandu. You will be transferred to your hotel to get freshen up before joining us for your farewell dinner. You can take some time to buy souvenirs for your loved ones back home.

Depart the hotel at the appointed time for your flight. Our airport agent will drop you off at the terminal gate as we say our final goodbyes.

We hope you had an adventurous and fun-filled trek to Manaslu and Nar Phu Valley. We expect to see you again in Nepal. Have a safe flight back home.

Note: If you want to continue the trek to complete the Annapurna Circuit, we can customize the trek for you, which will add a few more days to the 24 days itinerary.