20 May 2024
NepalWe have been to EBC twice and Gokyo Lakes and are looking for new adventure. We have 20 trekking days. It appears the Manaslu Circuit + Annapurna and Tsum Valley is quite long. Is there a way to shorten this trek?
With 20 days you have time to do the Manaslu Circuit and the most interesting parts of the Annapurna Circuit. This time last year I was on the Manaslu Circuit again and the road now goes further up the valley so you can save a couple of days there by driving as far as Jagat. Allowing plenty of time to acclimatise by doing various side trips you can be over the Larkya La and down to Dharapani (on the Annapurna Circuit) within 10 days. You can then follow the Annapurna Circuit and get to Jomson (going slowly and again adding in an acclimatisation day or two) in nine days. From Jomson you can drive (or fly) back to Pokhara in one long day.
Add in an extra couple of days (three ideally) and you can even do the side trip to Tilcho Lake which is very impressive.
Twenty days though is not enough time to also include Tsum Valley. You would really need about 26/27 days for all three areas.
Stuart Butler
Stuart is an award-winning travel journalist and guidebook author who has been visiting and trekking in Nepal for over thirty years. One of the world's leading authorities on Nepal trekking, he is the author of Lonely Planet’s Trekking in Nepal, the Rough Guide to Nepal, the Tibet chapter of the Rough Guide to China and the Bradt guide to Kashmir & Ladakh. He is also regularly published in The Independent, BBC, Time Out, The Telegraph, among many other UK and international publications.
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