Other Nepal Trekking Circuits

	Around Manaslu Trek
	£1895 excl. flights	19 days	With over 200 holidays to choose from, KE Adventure Travel has one of the very best collections of trekking and walking holidays worldwide. Graded on a scale from 1 to 12, we have holidays to suit everyone. Our tougher treks are likely to involve multi-day hikes through wilderness regions, with porter support and tented accommodation. Whilst at the other end of the scale, our softer walking holidays are more likely to be hotel or lodge-based with a day-walk format and an emphasis on uncovering the area's history, culture and cuisine. From our earliest days we've developed a range of treks that include celebrated classics such as Peru's Inca Trail trek, the ascent of Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and the ever popular Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal. Alongside these, we have always made it a priority to seek out distinctive and unique itineraries in less familiar areas such as Armenia, Cameroon, Madagascar and Burma. Whichever of our trekking or walking holidays you choose to undertake, you can be sure you'll enjoy breaking out of your day-to-day routine and exploring exotic landscapes on foot, with the chance to experience different cultures.

A challenging trekking holiday around Manaslu in the Nepal Himalaya. Manaslu at 8163 metres (26783 feet) is the eighth tallest mountain in the World. Situated close to the border with Tibet, some 100 km (62 miles) northwest of Kathmandu, the valleys to the north and east of Manaslu were a restricted area until the early nineties when KE Adventure Travel were one of the first companies granted permission to take groups trekking into the region. For the past few years the political unrest throughout Nepal has prevented groups from trekking into the Buri Gandakhi, but with the ending of the insurgency this classic circuit trek is once again possible. This area has always seen relatively few trekkers when compared to the more popular regions of the Annapurna and the Khumbu, partly because of the greater logistics required. The quiet trails and simple villages, together with the stunning scenery around Manaslu make this one of the classic yet unspoilt trekking advenutres in the Himalaya. Travelling via Gorkha on the south of Manaslu, we start from the town of Arughat and ascend the impressive gorge of the Burhi Gandaki for seven days, passing through tiny villages perched on the steep valley sides, to reach the Tibetan world beyond the village of Ghap. Here, the valley starts to open out, and there are remarkable panoramas of the peaks on the Nepal-Tibet border, as well as those of the Manaslu group. Few travellers penetrate this high and mysterious valley, which once had much more important trading links with Tibet than it does today, and we have the feeling of entering a secret Buddhist world of monasteries, mani walls and prayer flags. The scenery becomes even more impressive as we climb up into the alpine environment on the approach to the Larkya La (5135m), with big peaks on all sides. The principal peaks that we will see on this first part of our trek are Himal Chuli, Manaslu, Cheo Himal and Himlung Himal. Beyond the Larkya La, we drop down into the heavily forested valley of the Marsyangdi River, where we are now trekking beneath the giants of the Annapurna range, following the river down to a meeting with the roadhead. This is classic Nepal trekking as it used to be!

	Dhaulagiri Circuit Trek via the French Pass
	£2195 excl. flights	18 days	With over 200 holidays to choose from, KE Adventure Travel has one of the very best collections of trekking and walking holidays worldwide. Graded on a scale from 1 to 12, we have holidays to suit everyone. Our tougher treks are likely to involve multi-day hikes through wilderness regions, with porter support and tented accommodation. Whilst at the other end of the scale, our softer walking holidays are more likely to be hotel or lodge-based with a day-walk format and an emphasis on uncovering the area's history, culture and cuisine. From our earliest days we've developed a range of treks that include celebrated classics such as Peru's Inca Trail trek, the ascent of Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and the ever popular Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal. Alongside these, we have always made it a priority to seek out distinctive and unique itineraries in less familiar areas such as Armenia, Cameroon, Madagascar and Burma. Whichever of our trekking or walking holidays you choose to undertake, you can be sure you'll enjoy breaking out of your day-to-day routine and exploring exotic landscapes on foot, with the chance to experience different cultures.

Amongst the peaks and high valleys of the Nepal Himalaya there are many long and demanding trekking routes and one of the best and most challenging of these is the circuit of Dhaulagiri via French Pass and the Hidden Valley. This is a classic adventure trekking holiday for those with previous high altitude trekking experience, which includes a taste of all of the trekking environments that Nepal has to offer. Beginning at Beni on the Kali Gandaki River, this superb trekking route ascends the lovely and unspoiled valley of the Myagdi Khola which flows southwards from the heart of the Dhaulagiri Himal. After 8 days of walking, through an ever-changing landscape, with numerous picturesque villages, we reach Dhaulagiri Basecamp and prepare ourselves for the crux of our route - the crossing of the ‘French Pass' (5360m). This tough, but technically straightforward pass lies close beneath the northern slopes of Dhaulagiri (8167m) and the mountain views on our ascent and descent are simply sensational. We have a day to explore the remarkable ‘Hidden Valley' before crossing the Dhampus Pass and making the long descent to Marpha in the Kali Gandaki Valley. Flying back to Pokhara from the airstrip at Jomsom, we have time to enjoy this lakeside town, before returning to Kathmandu. This is adventure travel at its best - a brilliant trek in a rarely-visited part of Nepal.

	Kangchenjunga to Makalu via the Lumba Sumba La
	£2595 excl. flights	23 days

To the east of Everest, the area between Kangchenjunga and Makalu contains the two most important conservation areas in the Nepal Himalya, home to an amazing variety of birds and to the endangered red panda and snow leopard. Very few trekkers visit this area which is also populated by several of Nepal's ethnic groups including Limbu, Sherpa, Rai, Gurung, Magar, Newar and Thamang peoples. In 2016 we are offering a simply superb trek through this region from Kangchenjunga to Makalu, following part of the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT) and crossing several high and remote passes. Throughout the trek there is a tremendous variety of spectacular scenery. After a short flight to the plains of the Terai we drive through Himalayan foothills to Surke. Here, we begin trekking through a landscape of deep folded river valleys containing sub tropical forests and hillsides dotted with small villages and emerald lines of rice terracing. Gaining height, we progress through zones of barley and forests of rhododendron, juniper and pines to enter an alpine world of rough yak pastures where we are surrounded by the snowy peaks of the Himalaya. Crossing the Lumba Sumba Himal, the watershed between the major river valleys of the Tamor and Arun, we have sensational mountain views from the several high passes which we must negotiate. We end the trek with a gradual descent of the Arun Valley, returning to warmer climes and an agricultural landscape. Finally, from Tumlingtar, we fly back to Kathmandu. This is an uplifting trek, perfect for those who wonder what trekking in Nepal was like 30 years ago.

	Shey Gompa and Inner Dolpo
	£3395 excl. flights	26 days	With over 200 holidays to choose from, KE Adventure Travel has one of the very best collections of trekking and walking holidays worldwide. Graded on a scale from 1 to 12, we have holidays to suit everyone. Our tougher treks are likely to involve multi-day hikes through wilderness regions, with porter support and tented accommodation. Whilst at the other end of the scale, our softer walking holidays are more likely to be hotel or lodge-based with a day-walk format and an emphasis on uncovering the area's history, culture and cuisine. From our earliest days we've developed a range of treks that include celebrated classics such as Peru's Inca Trail trek, the ascent of Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and the ever popular Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal. Alongside these, we have always made it a priority to seek out distinctive and unique itineraries in less familiar areas such as Armenia, Cameroon, Madagascar and Burma. Whichever of our trekking or walking holidays you choose to undertake, you can be sure you'll enjoy breaking out of your day-to-day routine and exploring exotic landscapes on foot, with the chance to experience different cultures.

Hidden behind high passes, Inner Dolpo is one of the least accessible and yet most alluring corners of Nepal. Few travellers have penetrated to the heart of Dolpo, a region beautifully portrayed in Eric Valli's excellent film - 'Himalaya'. This is very much the land that time forgot, with a mix of ancient Tibetan religions and a hardy people who make their living through farming and through trade with both Tibet and Nepal. Even the Nepalese regard Inner Dolpo as a mysterious, inaccessible land where ancient shamanistic versions of Buddhism still hold sway. The spiritual heart of Inner Dolpo is ‘Shey' - literally the crystal mountain - so called because of its unusual mineral stratifications. At the base of the mountain sits the 11th century Shey Gompa, said to have been constructed by a Tibetan Buddhist teacher who arrived here on the back of a flying snow lion. Whatever its origins, Shey Gompa is widely revered and every year hundreds of pilgrims come here to visit the gompa and make a ‘kora' or circuit of the ‘Crystal Peak', Dolpo's own version of Mount Kailas. The region was visited in 1973 by Peter Matthiessen accompanying George Schaller, who had been given special permission to visit Shey during his study of the rare Himalayan blue sheep and the even rarer snow leopard. Matthiessen's subsequent book detailing both his trek and his personal spiritual journey has become a classic of its genre. Dolpo was first opened to trekkers in 1990 and Inner Dolpo only in 1992 but political troubles in and around the southern access towns led to Dolpo being effectively closed from 1999. The historic resignation of the King of Nepal in 2008 and the subsequent accord with the insurgents has seen the return of peace in the lower valleys, and treks into this very special place are once again possible. Flying to Dolpo's only airstrip at Juphal, we trek north along the steep sided Suli Gaad Valley to the lush green fields of Ringmo. Nearby is the stunning blue lake of Phoksumdo which featured so dramatically in Eric Valli's masterful film ‘Himalaya' about the lives of the Dolpopa. We spend a day acclimatising in this beautiful spot before tackling the Kang La to reach Inner Dolpo and Shey Gompa. Beyond Shey our route heads east crossing the Shey La to the major Dolpo settlement of Saldang where we turn south. We cross another high pass, the Jeng La to reach the village of Dho Tarap and descend the impressive rocky gorge of the Tarap Valley to Tarakot. We end the trip with two relatively easy days trekking through the villages of Lower Dolpo back to our starting point at Juphal. For the connoisseur of Himalayan trekking and for anyone who wishes to visit an unspoilt region of near mythical status, this trek is an absolute must.