Manaslu Region

Manaslu offers what the Annapurna Circuit offered thirty years ago: a full circuit of an 8,000 m massif, on trails where lodges are simple and other trekkers are few. It is a restricted area, so you travel with a licensed guide in a group of at least two — the requirement that has kept it quiet.

The route follows the Budhi Gandaki north from Soti Khola, climbing out of steep, humid gorge country into high Tibetan-influenced villages like Samagaon and Samdo, where the culture across the nearby border is unmistakable. The circuit's crux is the Larkya La at 5,106 m, a long and committing pass day that drops you into the Annapurna region on the far side.

This is the homeland of the Gorkhas, and the old palace at Gorkha Durbar — the seat from which Nepal was unified — sits at the region's southern edge.