Mansiri Treks — Manaslu & Tsum Valley, guided by the villages you'll sleep in

Ogyen Founder & Lead Guide — born in Lho, 3,180m

Our Story

Started as a promise to the neighbors, not a business plan.

Ogyen grew up in Lho, a village strung along the trail beneath Manaslu, carrying tea to teahouses as a boy and crossing Larkya La for the first time at fourteen. Mansiri Treks began as a simple idea: trekkers who come to walk this valley should leave their money with the people who live in it, not with an office five hundred kilometers away in Kathmandu.

That idea still shapes how the agency runs. Every guide on the team was born on this circuit. Every teahouse partner is a family the guides grew up beside. The trail doesn't change for us — we just get to show it to you the way we already know it.

Trek Packages

Five ways to walk the circuit.

From the full sixteen-day loop to a quiet winter route with nobody else on the trail — pick the shape of trip that fits your time and pace.

16days

Classic Circuit

The Manaslu Loop

The standard route trekkers picture when they say "Manaslu" — Machha Khola to Dharapani over the Larkya La, with a detour into the Serang Gompa side valley along the way.

Larkya La Pass, 5,160m
Serang Gompa side valley
Teahouse lodging throughout
Restricted Area Permit included

$1,890 per person, from Book a Place

20days

Manaslu + Tsum Valley

The Hidden Valley Trek

The full circuit, plus five extra days into Tsum Valley — a Tibetan-Buddhist enclave that stayed closed to outside visitors until 2008.

Tsum Valley & Mu Gompa
Larkya La Pass, 5,160m
Acclimatization at Samagaun
Family-run teahouse partners

$2,390 per person, from Book a Place

11days

Sacred Valley

The Tsum Valley Trek

Tsum on its own, without the pass or the altitude push — eleven days built around culture and monastery life rather than a high crossing.

Mu Gompa & Rachen Nunnery
No high-altitude pass
Restricted Area Permit included

$1,490 per person, from Book a Place

17days

Winter · Off-Season

Winter Cultural Trek

Because these are our own villages, winter doors open for us that stay shut to other operators — lodges, kitchens, long evenings with families through the valley's hardest months, with the route shaped around you.

No other trekkers on the trail
Route built together with you
Larkya La if snow allows

$2,950 per person, from Book a Place

—flexible

Tailor-Made

Custom Itinerary

Built around your dates, pace, and interests — slower acclimatization, a photography-led route, or a helicopter return if time is short.

Private guide & porters
Choose your own rest days
Helicopter return option

Quote tell us your plan Design a Trek

The Team

Guides from the villages you'll sleep in.

Every guide on the roster was born on this circuit. Between them they speak Nubri, Tibetan, Nepali, and English.

Ogyen

Founder · Lead Guide

Born in Lho. Knows every ridge of the circuit and has led it for over a decade.

Gyurme Tsewang

Senior Guide

Born in Lho. The team's high-altitude specialist — leads the long day over Larkya La.

Chime Dorje

Cultural Guide

Born on the circuit. Fluent in English and Korean, deeply versed in Tibetan Buddhist culture.

Gyatso Lama

Trail Guide

Has crossed Larkya La more than a dozen times, and knows every teahouse owner along the way.

Why Mansiri

Not another Kathmandu agency.

Born on the Trail

Every guide was raised in a Manaslu Circuit village — they know which teahouse has the warmest stove long before you ask.

Local Spend, In Full

What you pay stays with guides, porters, and teahouses in the Nubri Valley — not with agencies elsewhere.

Eight Trekkers, Maximum

Small groups keep the trail personal and mean you actually get to know your guide.

Altitude Taken Seriously

Built-in rest days at Samagaun and Samdo, WFR-certified guides, and daily pulse-oximeter checks.

Permits, Handled

Manaslu is a restricted region — the Restricted Area Permit, MCAP, and ACAP are arranged before you land.

Leave It Lighter

Pack-it-out on every trek, reusable water filters, and no single-use plastic supplied by us.

When to Trek

The Manaslu, month by month.

Larkya La stays passable most of the year, but light, crowds, and difficulty shift a lot between seasons.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Conditions	Snow	Snow	Good	Peak	Peak	Wet	Monsoon	Monsoon	Good	Peak	Peak	Cold
Day temp	-2°	2°	8°	14°	17°	18°	19°	19°	17°	14°	9°	3°
Crowds	Empty	Empty	Quiet	Busy	Busy	Quiet	Closed	Closed	Quiet	Busy	Busy	Empty

Peak — best window, clear skies Good — trekable, some variability Fair — possible but harder Closed — snow or monsoon

Before You Walk

Frequently asked questions.

Yes — Manaslu is a restricted area. The Restricted Area Permit runs USD 100 per person for the first week from September through November (USD 15/day after that), or USD 75 in the December–August window (USD 10/day after). You'll also need the Manaslu Conservation Area Permit and, since the route exits through Dharapani, the Annapurna Conservation Area Permit — both NPR 3,000. The Restricted Area Permit is already included in the price of the Manaslu Loop.

No. TIMS covers open trekking areas without their own permit system. Manaslu is tracked entirely through the Restricted Area Permit, so a TIMS card isn't required here.

Partly, and this changed recently — as of March 2026, Nepal's Department of Immigration dropped the old rule requiring a second trekker on your permit, so solo travelers can now hold their own. A licensed guide from a registered agency is still required by law; trekking the restricted zone unguided remains illegal.

Autumn — late September through November — is the clearest window and when our scheduled departures run. Spring (March–May) is the second option: warmer and greener, though hazier. Larkya La holds snow into early spring and again from mid-December.

It's a demanding teahouse trek, not a technical climb — no ropes or climbing skills needed. Most days run five to seven hours, and crossing Larkya La at 5,160m is a long day that starts before dawn. If you can walk uphill for six hours with a daypack, several days running, you're ready for it.

Height gain is gradual — Lho at 3,180m, Samagaun at 3,530m, Samdo at 3,875m — with a rest day built in at Samagaun. That day isn't padding; it's the reason people make it over the pass comfortably.

Family-run teahouses the whole way, most belonging to people our guides grew up beside. Rooms are simple — twin beds, shared bathroom, little to no heating — so bring a warm sleeping bag. Meals run to dal bhat, noodles, soup, potatoes, and eggs; dal bhat comes with refills, which is why most people order it.

The 16-day Manaslu Loop is the classic route over Larkya La with two nights in the Serang valley. The 20-day Hidden Valley Trek adds five days into Tsum Valley, a side valley closed to outsiders until 2008, reaching up to Mu Gompa. If you have the time, Tsum tends to be what people talk about afterward.

Yes — and check the fine print. It needs to cover trekking to 5,500m and, importantly, helicopter evacuation. Many standard policies cap out at 3,000–4,000m, below where you'll actually be sleeping.

Assume not. Some teahouses sell wifi by the hour and signal appears in patches near larger villages, but neither is reliable. There are no ATMs on the route — bring cash from Kathmandu, more than you think you'll need, in small notes.

The Manaslu Circuit, led by the people who grew up on it.