Muktinath - Between the upper valley of the Kali Gandaki and the Annapurna Range, this pilgrimage objective has 108 fountains where the faithful bathe and perpetual flames fed by natural gas. This region is also famous for Shaligrams -- fossil ammonites said to be a manifestation of the god Vishnu.
Manaslu is the eighth highest mountain in the world. The two-week receives around 2,000 visitors per year which is small compared to Annapurna or Everest. The trek is similar in many ways to the Annapurna Circuit in that it circumnavigates the peak of Manaslu, travels a long steep, verdant river gorge, encounters glaciers and other spectacular high-mountain scenery. Only recently in 2010 were enough tea-houses built so that trekkers could complete the circuit without camping. It is now a tea-house trek, though some lodges on the way are still very simple compared to their present-day Annapurna counterparts. Some liken it to the Annapurna Circuit as it used to be in the past. The trek can be done almost all year round, though it is very cold from late December to February and too hot and hazy in May to be pleasant. Unlike the Annapurna Circuit the Manaslu Circuit Trek requires US$50 Restricted Area Permit (RAP) which requires that trekkers are in a group of two or more and travel with a guide. This is mainly due to the proximity of the area to the Tibetan border.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Annapurna
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Annapurna - updated Apr 2024
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Annapurna Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
