Manaslu Circuit 2025¶
It was 6th Jan, 2025 and I was talking to a friend about going on the Basic Mountaineering Course and plans further on. We both agreed that I would not want to return to civilization after the course. Moreover, I was already planning some solo hikes to complete after the course was over. So he suggested that I should think of joining him for the Manaslu Circuit in May. This was just an idea at that point as he didn't even have a team and absolutely nothing was planned. I said yes and that was that.
This turned out to be one of the most exciting things I have ever said yes to. We recruited other members and soon we had a team of 6. I had a LOT of fun talking to our Sherpa in Nepal. This is the first time I am doing something like this and it is extremely fun. Since Manaslu Circuit falls in the Manaslu Circuit Restricted Area, we have to have a guide with us. This made things slightly more expensive, but overall the costs are still lower as we are sharing the fixed costs between the 6 of us. The trail is about 170km which generally takes about 14 days to walk. We made minor changes to the trail which I shall write about once I get back from the trail.
I was very adamant that I would NOT buy the return tickets from Nepal. This was a good thing as I decided to extend the trip. I do not have any real obligation to end this trip early. After Manaslu-Circuit I decided to hike the Annapurna Circuit followed by a trek to the Annapurna Base Camp. Since Annapurna region is not restricted, I can basically walk these without any guide and that is EXCITING. The total distance to be covered is about 450km right now. I really want to extend it to beyond 500k just for kicks.
Budget and Costs¶
I am not entirely sure how expensive this is going to be. Based on what information we can find, the budget for Manaslu Circuit itself is going to be around 50k INR. A large part of this is the fixed cost of permits and guide.
The rest of the cost is based on some assumptions regarding the cost of fooding and lodging on the trail. I will share the entire cost of the trip once this is done and I have more details.
You can check the detailed plan here.
Planning Tools¶
Refer to the MapTools to get an idea of what was used to plan this out. These are also some tools I regularly use.