About the Ganesh Himal and Manaslu section of the Great Himalaya Trail
Ganesh Himal is named after the elephant-headed Hindu God of Good Fortune, also worshipped as the ‘Remover of Barriers’. The peaks of the Ganesh Range (Yangra/Ganesh I, Ganesh Northwest/Ganesh II, Salasungo/Ganesh III and Pabil/Ganesh IV) form a stunning subsection of the Great Himalayan Trail and the name comes from a ridge on the south face of Ganesh IV tmagarhat is reminiscent of an elephant’s trunk. Although it has no peaks over 7,500m, the Ganesh Himal towers above the surrounding valleys of the Buri Gandaki in the west and Bhote Koshi in the east.
Lying across the Buri Gandaki valley, just to the west of the Ganesh Himal section is Mansiri Himal, home to one of the most beautiful peaks in the whole Himalayan Range. At 8163m, stunning Manaslu is the 8th highest peak in the world and you really feel this immensity when you trek here and see it towering over the surrounding peaks, including Himal Chuli at 7893m.
This whole area is little touched by the modern world, little visited by foreign trekkers and offers scenery as diverse as the ethnic groups you will meet along the way. When trekking in this region you will generally begin in the lush, low elevation valleys growing rice and bananas, inhabited predominantly by Hindu ethnic groups of Indo-Aryan origin. From water buffaloes and lush fields along the rivers, you ascend in elevation to the middle hills where you begin to encounter communities of Tibeto-Burmese origin who practise Hinduism, Buddhism or a mixture of both with ancient Shaman practises still remaining. The fascinating Gurung, Magar and Tamang cultures give way eventually to the Buddhist Tibetan cultures in the moon-like landscape of the north near the border with Tibet. This section of the region is actually behind the main Great Himalayan Range and part of the Tibetan Plateau.
Trekking in this region can be accessed from the high trail from the east or west; through Gorka (stopping to visit the famous Gorka Palace, ancestral home of the Kings of Nepal); or through Arughat. There are some basic tea houses on the Manaslu part of the region but not sufficient to make the region a tea house trek, you need to have good camping gear and provisions to be able to cross some high passes.
