Manang is at 11,650, Thorong La is at 17,700 ft. The trick is to get over the pass without getting altitude sickness. The recommended method is to spend two nights in Manang to acclimatize, one night at Phedi, the foot of the hill, then over the pass the next day.

We decided to skip the second night at Manang and instead to head straight up the hill and stay at Leder (13,700) to acclimatize. When we got to Leder it was so depressing (two bomb-shelter-like hotels) that we simply continued on to Phedi (14,450 ft). It turned out that this rise of 3,000 feet was a bit too much for us. By the time we got there both of us had headaches. Later in the evening Brad was feeling much worse. At 4 in the morning, the prescribed departure time, Brad wasn't feeling well, so we decided to wait an extra day to acclimatize some more.

The hike to Phedi was long and mostly uneventful. At this altitude there were very few plants, we walked mostly on rock-strewn scree. It took us about 7 hours of pretty serious walking to reach Phedi,climbing 3000 ft along the way.

The questionable part of the climb was whether there would be beds and food for us when we got there. Apparently others had the same worries (as we knew from talking to others in Manang). The word was that 60 trekkers were crossing the pass each day. We had trouble finding rooms in Manang, which is a large village. Would the temporary accommodations at Phedi have room for us? This is part of the reason that we were rushing. As we pushed up the final hill towards Phedi we saw a lone hiker approaching at a rapid pace. The"approach vehicle" was threatening.

We continued on our way and were astonished by his rapid progress.We had stopped for a drink of water when he finally caught up with us. It was one of our roommates from Manang! The Israeli. He looked like he was about to collapse. His face was bright red and he was sweating like crazy. In the chill of 14,000 feet that is difficult to do. He tried to say something incoherently. Both Brad and I thought he was asking us to reserve rooms for him and his friends when we reached the top. We shook our heads not quite understanding. Then he asked us if we had taken a stuff sack from him at the hotel. We said no. I told him that he looked very tired. He insistently said that he wasn't. He continued on past. When he got to the next patch of snow to cross he stumbled several times and then fell, and stumbled on.When we rounded the corner we saw him sprawled out, lying on his back with his backpack still on, completely exhausted. As we passed him he said only "Good Luck." I forgot to mention that we had seen him at Leder too. He was reserving beds for his four friends who might be staying there.

We got to the top and fortunately there were enough beds left for us (and for him too). It turned out that once again we were roommates. His girlfriend made it up a while later, but the rest of his friends didn't.

Generally Phedi was a fairly boring place. Everyone hung out on a slope in the sun all afternoon; when it got cold everyone moved inside to the smoke filled room where food was being cooked. Dinner was expensive and bad; we were fortunate (?) enough to be served quickly. Then we both went right to sleep (at about 7 pm, probably a consequence of the altitude). It was 2:20 in the morning when the guide of the other woman in the room came banging on the door so that they could set out. He walked into the room with a lit cigarette in his mouth, and left the door open (it was well below freezing). At 4 Brad and I decided to wait an extra day to get better acclimatized.