Lower Manaslu Trek

Welcome to Nepal. You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m), where our representative meets you in the arrivals hall and drives you to your hotel in Thamel.

Your guide joins you for the briefing. This is a straightforward trek to plan — no permits beyond the conservation fee, no altitude to manage, no flights to worry about — so the briefing focuses on the homestays: what to expect from a family house, how meals work, and a few words of Nepali that go a long way in the villages.

We check your kit, though the list for this route is short. The rest of the day is yours. Overnight in Kathmandu.

A long drive west on the Prithvi Highway and then north into the Gorkha hills.

The highway follows the Trishuli through gorge country before the turning at Abu Khaireni, and from there a hill road climbs steadily through terraced farmland with the Ganesh Himal appearing over the ridges.

The last two hours switchback up a rough road to Barpak (1,960 m), a large Gurung village spread across the hillside at the head of the Daraudi valley — historically one of the main recruiting villages for the Gurkha regiments, and a place with a great many families who have served abroad.

Around 8 hours including stops. Your host family will have tea waiting. Overnight in a homestay at Barpak.

A day in the village, which is worth far more here than an extra walking day.

Barpak was the epicentre of the 25 April 2015 earthquake and lost almost every one of its houses. What stands now was rebuilt largely by the community itself, in stone and slate, on the same stepped terraces. Walking the lanes with your guide and a local host is the best way to understand both what happened and what recovery actually looked like.

The morning walk climbs to the ridge above the village for the northern skyline — Buddha Himal, Himalchuli and, on a clear day, Manaslu itself.

The afternoon can go on the village: the school, the Gurkha memorial, the water mills, and a demonstration of millet grinding or local weaving if the household is willing. Overnight in a homestay at Barpak.

The first walking day, over the ridge between two valleys.

The trail climbs out of Barpak through terraced fields to a pass on the ridge at around 2,500 m, marked with prayer flags. This is the best viewpoint of the trek's first half: Manaslu (8,163 m), Himalchuli (7,893 m) and the Ganesh Himal all visible at once on a clear morning, with Barpak spread out below.

The descent drops through pine and rhododendron to Laprak (2,100 m), a Gurung village on a very steep hillside. Laprak was also destroyed in 2015, and part of the community was resettled on the ridge above at Gupsi Pakha — so the village now exists in two places, the old terraces below and the new houses above.

Around 4–5 hours. Overnight in a homestay at Laprak.

The highest point of the trek, and the best mountain view on it.

The walk climbs the ridge above Laprak to the resettlement at Gupsi Pakha (2,700 m) and the pasture above it. It is a steady two to three hour ascent through rhododendron forest, and in spring the flowering here is superb.

From the top the view runs the length of the northern skyline — Manaslu, Ngadi Chuli, Himalchuli, Buddha Himal and Ganesh Himal — with the Budhi Gandaki gorge cutting north between them. Sitting up here for an hour with tea is the point of the day.

The resettlement itself is worth seeing: a planned village of identical houses built after 2015 on safe ground, and a case study in how communities decide to rebuild.

Around 5 hours there and back. Overnight in a homestay at Laprak.

A ridge day east towards the Budhi Gandaki, with the mountains in view for most of it.

The trail contours and climbs along the hillside through mixed forest and grazing ground, with occasional clearings that open the northern view. This is a working path used to move stock and goods between the villages, and you will share it with people rather than trekkers.

The forest here holds langur, barking deer and a great deal of birdlife, and in spring the rhododendron continues.

Singla (2,300 m) is a small settlement on the ridge with a handful of houses and a school. It is a quiet, ordinary place with a very large view, and there is no trekking infrastructure at all.

Around 5 hours. Overnight in a homestay at Singla.

A day of ridge and terrace walking with a long descent at the end.

The trail drops off the Singla ridge and traverses south-west through farmland — millet, maize and buckwheat on stone-walled terraces, with water mills turning on the side streams and buffalo tethered under the eaves.

This is middle-hill Nepal at close quarters, and the walking is a series of small climbs and drops rather than one long line. Villages appear every hour or two, and every one has a tea shop.

Gumda (1,900 m) is a Gurung village on the western slope above the Budhi Gandaki, with a view east across the gorge to the Ganesh Himal foothills.

Around 5 hours. Overnight in a homestay at Gumda.

The last walking day, dropping off the ridge into the Budhi Gandaki gorge.

The trail descends steadily east through terraced farmland and then subtropical forest — banana, bamboo and orange trees appear as the altitude falls — with the river audible long before it is visible.

It is around a thousand metres of descent, which is hard on the knees; poles are worth having out for the whole morning.

Machha Khola (870 m) — 'fish river' — is a line of lodges along the water at the end of the road, and the start of the Manaslu Circuit for groups heading north into the restricted area.

This is where the porters finish and tips are given. Around 5 hours. Overnight at Machha Khola.

A long day in the jeep back to the capital down the Budhi Gandaki.

The first three hours are the rough section — a single-track road cut into the gorge wall above the river, with the driver leaning on the horn at every blind corner — as far as Arughat.

From Dhading Besi the road is paved and the rest of the run into Kathmandu (1,400 m) is straightforward, with a lunch stop en route.

Around 8 hours in total. You arrive in the late afternoon and transfer to your hotel, with the evening free for a hot shower, a proper dinner and Thamel. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your last day in Nepal. If your flight leaves later in the day there is time for Boudhanath, Pashupatinath or the old town at Bhaktapur, all an easy drive with your guide.

Our representative collects you from your hotel and transfers you to Tribhuvan International Airport around three hours before departure.

The Gorkha foothills are the part of Nepal most visitors drive through on the way to somewhere higher. If you want to go north next time, the Manaslu Circuit starts at Machha Khola where this trek finished, and the Tsum Valley branches off it. Safe travels.