Rising 8,163m, Mt. Manaslu lies just east of the famed Annapurna Region and shares a border with its northern neighbor Tibet. Opened to trekkers recently, Manaslu's unsurpassed beauty and rich cultural traditions offer the dedicated trekker a genuine adventure. This trekking trail offers brief glimpses into the simple lives and ancient ways of the areas inhabitants.

Here the trekking is moderately strenuous with ample opportunity to stop, relax and catch your breath amidst a land seemingly lost in an earlier era. In a few days, the Himalayas disappear from view as you descend into the Gandaki River Valley and proceed upstream. The Gandaki River is fed by innumerable rivers and waterfalls, and the rushing, rumbling tumult of the frigid waters accent the silence of towering pines and lush bamboo groves.

During the day, the sun shines with clear intensity, while the nights are a bit more than cold. Moreover, villages and people become less frequent as the trekking becomes fairly strenuous. At this point you are more likely to pass a yak, cow or a sheep along the trail, rather than a person.

Following Larkya Bazaar, the trail rises to over 5,200m as you cross the Larkya Pass under the glow of soft, winless moonlight and twinkling stars. Buttressed by peaks reaching over 6,500m and covered by snow year round, Larkya pass commands your utmost energies and respect.

Having crossed the pass, you will quickly descend through an area whose vegetation is at once both alpine and tropical. Long-needled pines are draped in soft, fine ferns. Maples and elms share the ground with bamboo.

Frigid, rocky streams are beached by cotton-white limestone sand, and glacier lakes glisten with an aqua-blue green. The colors, sights, silence and sounds embrace every turn of this gently sloping section of the trail.