06 April Manang to Ledar (4200m)

JB: Got away from Manang a bit earlier today (about 7.15). Took quite a while to exit the "outer suburbs" of Manang and on the way we acquired a rather friendly dog. He followed us for probably 3km before falling in with another, obviously more interesting trekker.Disappointing as I had read a number of blogs where trekkers had dogs follow them right through the circuit but also on a practical level a blessing as it would be another responsibility our altitude addled minds might not have coped with.

Harm not feeling that good to start, put it down to the black forest gateau we had for McVet's birthday last night. He was back to his perky self in an hour or so.

Just outside Manang there was a vendor selling trinkets and stuff, the most interesting being the parts of what looked like a freshly killed eagle. To put the size into perspective the feet were about the size of my hands. Later in the day we saw one glide past us and the wing span was probably between five and six foot.

The first nine km were a steady uphill to Yak Kharka (4050m) where we stopped for a pot of lemon tea and to let Himal and Dipesh catch up.

Yak Kharka to Ledar was only another kilometre or so and about 150m gain so covered that pretty quickly and were in Leder by 11.45. A short day by anyone's standards although we had gained 650m in altitude which is about the maximum you want to be doing if managing the risk of altitude sickness properly.

After lunch we walked up the slope behind the tea house (about half a
Hakirimata) and spent a bit of time up there again to assist in the altitude acclimatisation. The rule being "climb high, sleep low".

MI: we have been unbelievably lucky with the weather. Today within 20 mins of starting we were down to T-shirts and shorts. Even though it gets cold at night it is very comfortable. Himal our porter/guide guesses it will be around -5 degrees going over Throng La in two days time and as we're leaving early (around 5:30am) we should cross the pass before the wind gets up.