Your guide wakes you around 3 am with tea. Breakfast is porridge, eggs or Tibetan bread, eaten quickly in the dining hut. By 4 am the group sets out with headtorches, following a line of cairns over the moraine of the Larkya Glacier. The gradient is gentle but the altitude makes every step slow. Rest briefly every 30 to 40 minutes, eat a little and drink, even if you do not feel hungry or thirsty.
Dawn usually breaks as you pass the frozen lakes below the pass. The last hour climbs a broad slope to the prayer flags at 5,106 m, which most trekkers reach between 7 and 10 am. Take photographs, put on a dry layer and drink from your flask, but keep the stop short; the wind is strong and the descent is long.
The western side drops steeply on scree and often snow. Walk carefully, use poles and microspikes if your guide advises, and keep together. After 2 to 3 hours the slope eases onto moraine and then grassland. You reach Bimthang in the afternoon, tired and very satisfied, with Manaslu's north face above the meadow.
Good for
- Groups
- Solo
- Photographers
Questions travellers ask
How hard is the Larkya La crossing?
It is the most demanding day of the Manaslu Circuit: 8 to 10 hours, 15 to 16 km, about 650 m of ascent to 5,106 m and roughly 1,500 m of descent, often on snow or scree. It is non-technical, but you need good fitness, proper acclimatisation and warm gear. Most fit trekkers manage it well with an early start.
What time do trekkers leave Dharamsala for Larkya La?
Usually between 3 and 5 am. The early start gives time to cross before the strong winds and cloud of late morning, and frozen snow is firmer in the early hours. Your guide will decide based on the group's pace and the conditions that season.
Do I need crampons for Larkya La?
Not normally in October. From November to April snow and ice are common on the western descent, and microspikes, simple slip-on chains, help a lot. Full crampons and ice axes are needed only in heavy snow, when the pass is usually closed to trekkers anyway. Your guide will advise before you leave Samagaun.