Walk Manaslu with the people who were born in its shadow.

Yes — Manaslu is a restricted area. You need a Manaslu Restricted Area Permit, which costs USD 100 per person for the first seven days from September to November, then USD 15 per day after that. From December to August it is USD 75, then USD 10 per day.

On top of that you need the Manaslu Conservation Area Permit (NPR 3,000) and, because the circuit exits through Dharapani, the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (NPR 3,000). Adding Tsum Valley means a second restricted-area permit: USD 40 per week in autumn, USD 30 the rest of the year, plus USD 7 for each day beyond a week.

The Restricted Area Permit is included in the price of our Manaslu Loop.

No. The TIMS card covers open trekking areas that have no permit system of their own. Manaslu is tracked through the Restricted Area Permit, so a TIMS card is not required on this route.

Partly, and this changed recently. Until March 2026 you needed a second trekker named on your permit. On 22 March 2026 Nepal's Department of Immigration removed that two-person minimum across all restricted areas, so a solo trekker can now hold their own permit.

What has not changed: a licensed guide from a registered agency is still compulsory. Walking the restricted zone unguided remains illegal, whatever you may read on older forums.

Autumn — late September through November — is the clearest and most settled window, and it is when we run our scheduled departures. Spring, March to May, is the second season: warmer, greener, rhododendron in flower lower down, but hazier views.

Larkya La holds snow into early spring and again from mid-December. Winter crossings are possible but they are a different trip.

It is a demanding teahouse trek, not a technical climb — no ropes, no crampons, no climbing experience needed. The difficulty is length and altitude. Most days are five to seven hours of walking, and the crossing of Larkya La at 5,160 m is a long day that starts before dawn.

If you can walk uphill for six hours with a daypack, several days in a row, you are ready for it.

Larkya La at 5,160 m is the high point. The highest you sleep is Dharmasala, around 4,460 m, the night before the pass.

You gain height slowly — Lho at 3,180 m, Samagaun at 3,530 m, Samdo at 3,875 m — with a rest day built in at Samagaun. That rest day is not padding. It is the reason people get over the pass.

A mild headache and broken sleep above 3,500 m are common and usually pass. Genuine altitude sickness does not, and the only reliable treatment is to lose height.

Tell your guide early — no pass is worth pushing through it, and going down is always the right call. Dorje Lama runs our high-altitude logistics and emergency support from Lho if an evacuation is needed.

Teahouses the whole way, all family-run, most belonging to people our guides grew up alongside. Rooms are simple: twin beds, shared bathroom, no heating in most of them. Bring a warm sleeping bag.

Food is dal bhat, noodles, soup, potatoes, eggs. Dal bhat comes with refills, which is why almost everyone ends up ordering it.

The 16-day Manaslu Loop is the classic circuit — Machha Khola to Dharapani over Larkya La, with two nights in the Serang valley. The 20-day Hidden Valley adds five days into Tsum Valley, a Tibetan-Buddhist side valley that was closed to outsiders until 2008, and takes you up to Mu Gompa.

If you have the time, Tsum is the part people talk about afterwards.

Yes, and read the wording carefully. It needs to cover trekking to 5,500 m and, most importantly, helicopter evacuation. Plenty of standard policies stop at 3,000 or 4,000 m — below the altitude you will be sleeping at.

Bring the policy number and the emergency phone number with you on the trail, not just on your laptop at home.

Assume not. Some teahouses sell wifi by the hour and mobile signal appears in patches near the larger villages, but none of it is dependable and none of it is your plan.

There are no ATMs on the trail. Draw your cash in Kathmandu, bring more than you expect to need, and bring it in small notes.

Eight trekkers maximum on any scheduled departure. Custom trips run at whatever size you bring.

Not straight from a tap or stream. Carry a filter or purification tablets and refill as you go. Bottled water gets expensive the higher you climb, and the empty plastic has nowhere to go once it is in the valley.