the Annapurna/the pass

Next we headed for Manang (3540m) the last big village before the pass. We stayed for three days, mainly because I needed to get used to the altitude. Altitute sickness is a big problem in this region because many tourists are going up too far without thinking about it. (I remember an Israelian guy I met at 4500m who was totally confused and desorientated - he couldn´t tell up from down). Almost everybody had some kind of AMS (altitude mountain sickness) with symptoms like headache and lack of appetite.
Fortunately the last one didn´t affect me - I was given a yaksteak which was very good (much better than the yak butter tea - a taste I never got used to).

The next days we tried to climb less than 300 meters in altitute.

The last camp was at 4800 meters .Food became more and more expensive because everything has to be carried up by foot. It was terribly cold - much too cold for my equipment which was just a wool jacket and jeans.And the acommodation was... um.... see for yourself

Our "hotel room" at 4800m. It had no windows therefore it was a really cold night. I put on everything that was in my bag but it wasn´t enough at all. I could barely sleep.

The next day my reactions were very slow. One small step after the other, I hated myself for my bad stamina. But how happy I was when I reached the Thourang la Pass (5416m): the weather was beautiful, the sight over the 8000meter high mountains awesome, the awareness, that I did it unbelieveable !