hour or so it turns off into a foot path which weaves through rice fields and follows a river. Some of the bridges were a bit scary but after crossing the fourth one we felt more comfortable. We stayed at a little teahouse in Ngadi and it was much nicer than our mice infested teahouse in Besisahar which was a good sign. The teahouses are pretty basic: two small twin beds with thin matresses in the rooms and a community shower and toilet (mainly squatter toilets). For dinner we had the standard Nepali meal Dal Bhat; lentil soup, rice, and curried vegetables. Apparently this is what the locals eat twice a day everyday with very limited exceptions. It is pretty good and is all you can eat, so you know Ben could not turn it down and he decided he was going to eat it every night of the trip. It poured down rain all night and was still raining in the morning. We tried to wait around thinking it would let up, but at about 11 am we decided that we would have to continue in the rain. The rain did not stop for 2 days!! As we hiked we could see where some recent landslides had covered the path and we had to walk carefully over them. Luckily it was a little lighter on the 3rd day when we made our stairmaster climb to Tal - literally just stone stairs going straight up. It made us very thankful that we left some stuff at our hotel in Kathmandu before heading out for the hike. Unfortunately our room in Tal was right next to the bathroom - a mistake we vowed not to make again (you can imagine why it was a long sleepless night). The rain cleared up enough the next day so we could hang our wet clothes to the outside 
of our packs to help them dry. We were able to take in the views around us - an amazing sight of waterfalls surrounded by Annapurna II (26,040 ft) and Annapurna IV (24,688 ft). We stopped often for tea and met a ton of fellow trekkers - many were from Israel - who seemed to be hiking at the same speed as us. Some were headed the opposite way and had to cut their trip short. Apparently the rain storm closed the Thorong Pass (highest pass on the circuit) for 4 days and people had to turn around and start walking back because they would not finish the trek in time. Glad we don't have a time frame!The scenery changes from rice fields, to wild marijuana plants growing by the river, to rhododendrum forests that reminded us a bit of the Carolinas. But by the time we reached Upper Pisang on the sixth day we graduated to the bare mountains. We ended up going from subtropical to artic in ten days! It started raining about ten minutes after we got a room in our teahouse 
at Upper Pisang which was great timing but it was freezing cold!! Ben was worse off them me because he had a summer sleeping bag and had to wear just about ever piece of clothing he had to bed. Instead of taking the higher elevation route to Manang we decided to go back through Lower Pisang and take the low route (we were not feeling to steep climb in the morning) and it was a pleasant walk that was relatively flat. When we arrived in Manang at lunch time almost all the teahouses were already full, but we found one that had a couple rooms left. As you climb to higher elevations, everything increases in price because they have to carry everything up to the villages. The loads 
the sherpas carry are huge and we could not understand how some of the older guys who were lugging the huge baskets did not just buckle under them. Apparently if you hire a porter to carry your bags they are not supposed to carry more than 40 kl, but we did not see that it really applied and definitely not to those carrying village supplies up the mountain. Manang is the first point of the hike that is above 10,000 feet so we stayed there 2 nights to help acclimatize. Neither one of us have had any trouble so far with the elevation, but we figured to be on the safe side we would hang out a day. We took a hike up to the Gompa that sits above the town and read for a bit. 
You can see Annapurna II, III, IV, and Gangapurna from where we sat and we didn't leave for about an hour just taking it all in. One would think that seeing the mountains would be the same but after we walked for 2 hours the next day we saw a teahouse in Gungsang that had such a good view of the same mountains we decided to stay the night - it really just doesn't get old and the sunrise was awesome! There was an older New Zealand couple that we met in Upper Pisang that felt the same way and stayed there as well. A French woman was there helping run the teahouse and she told us where we should stay to avoid the big groups. Since she had already done the circuit and was staying there for a few months we easily took her advice (including the New Zealanders). So we 
ended up meeting them at each teahouse stop almost the rest of the trip which really helped for book trades:) We stayed at the Thorong La Pass High Camp which every guide book will tell you not to do - don't believe it! The High Camp was just as nice as all the other teahouses even if it is at a higher elevation and it was well worth getting the brutal hour and a half hike straight up out of the way before making for the Pass.
at Upper Pisang which was great timing but it was freezing cold!! Ben was worse off them me because he had a summer sleeping bag and had to wear just about ever piece of clothing he had to bed. Instead of taking the higher elevation route to Manang we decided to go back through Lower Pisang and take the low route (we were not feeling to steep climb in the morning) and it was a pleasant walk that was relatively flat. When we arrived in Manang at lunch time almost all the teahouses were already full, but we found one that had a couple rooms left. As you climb to higher elevations, everything increases in price because they have to carry everything up to the villages. The loads 
the sherpas carry are huge and we could not understand how some of the older guys who were lugging the huge baskets did not just buckle under them. Apparently if you hire a porter to carry your bags they are not supposed to carry more than 40 kl, but we did not see that it really applied and definitely not to those carrying village supplies up the mountain. Manang is the first point of the hike that is above 10,000 feet so we stayed there 2 nights to help acclimatize. Neither one of us have had any trouble so far with the elevation, but we figured to be on the safe side we would hang out a day. We took a hike up to the Gompa that sits above the town and read for a bit. 
You can see Annapurna II, III, IV, and Gangapurna from where we sat and we didn't leave for about an hour just taking it all in. One would think that seeing the mountains would be the same but after we walked for 2 hours the next day we saw a teahouse in Gungsang that had such a good view of the same mountains we decided to stay the night - it really just doesn't get old and the sunrise was awesome! There was an older New Zealand couple that we met in Upper Pisang that felt the same way and stayed there as well. A French woman was there helping run the teahouse and she told us where we should stay to avoid the big groups. Since she had already done the circuit and was staying there for a few months we easily took her advice (including the New Zealanders). So we 
ended up meeting them at each teahouse stop almost the rest of the trip which really helped for book trades:) We stayed at the Thorong La Pass High Camp which every guide book will tell you not to do - don't believe it! The High Camp was just as nice as all the other teahouses even if it is at a higher elevation and it was well worth getting the brutal hour and a half hike straight up out of the way before making for the Pass.We tend to always be the last people to leave the teahouses and the day of crossing the Pass was no exception - we thought we were doing pretty good leaving by 8:30 am but we were still the dead last people to hit the trail! The ascent to Thorong La (17,769 ft) was very white and some parts of the trail were still a bit slippery with ice but the sun was shining and it was actually hot. Getting to the highest point took about 3 1/2 and we both accomplished something we never 
thought we would; going to the bathroom above 17,000 feet! Since the landscape is just white surrounded by mountains we kept thinking we were at the highest point a couple times by the small stupas with prayer flags, but you really can not miss the actual highest point; one because it has a sign and two there are thousands of prayer flags. It was not too difficult getting to the highest point, but the 4 hour hike down was really tough on the knees and very icy in parts (which made us glad we brought trekking poles). It was almost harder getting down than it was getting up so we were happy to get to Muktinath and drop our packs at a teahouse. Muktinath is the second most holy place in Nepal for Hindus and a famous spot for both Hindu and Buddhist 
pilgrimages. We saved seeing the temples, etc for the next day and just took it easy after making the Pass :) From there we made our way down to Jomson which was about a 2 day hike (well, we made it two days and stayed in Kagbeni) that followed the road for some parts and was not very interesting. We decided to take a bus from Jomson to Ghasa which cut out about 3 days of hiking. But the trail was the same as the road and it just did not sound very appealing so we decided to skip it. During our bus ride, which was a bit sketchy, we saw the biggest bird either of us have ever seen. It was the size of a baby yak and swooped down to the river bed to feed on something - we guess it must have been a vulture of some kind but it was enormous! When we reached Ghasa it was back to humidity for the next few days as we finished up our trek. The 
scenery was great and instead of rice fields we saw more buckwheat than we did on the way up. There was also a hot springs in a village, Tadopani, that felt great to soak in after walking for 20 days. The last 2 days were nothing but stone stairs, luckily we were going down so it wasn't as bad but I can not imagine going the other way. Not only for the 2 days of stairs going up but doing the Pass the other way would be brutal with how steep the trail is!! Anyway, we ended our 20 day hike waiting on a bus to Pokhra and drinking a beer. Check out all of our pictures on our Flikr page (there are tons!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/99157019@N00/
thought we would; going to the bathroom above 17,000 feet! Since the landscape is just white surrounded by mountains we kept thinking we were at the highest point a couple times by the small stupas with prayer flags, but you really can not miss the actual highest point; one because it has a sign and two there are thousands of prayer flags. It was not too difficult getting to the highest point, but the 4 hour hike down was really tough on the knees and very icy in parts (which made us glad we brought trekking poles). It was almost harder getting down than it was getting up so we were happy to get to Muktinath and drop our packs at a teahouse. Muktinath is the second most holy place in Nepal for Hindus and a famous spot for both Hindu and Buddhist 
pilgrimages. We saved seeing the temples, etc for the next day and just took it easy after making the Pass :) From there we made our way down to Jomson which was about a 2 day hike (well, we made it two days and stayed in Kagbeni) that followed the road for some parts and was not very interesting. We decided to take a bus from Jomson to Ghasa which cut out about 3 days of hiking. But the trail was the same as the road and it just did not sound very appealing so we decided to skip it. During our bus ride, which was a bit sketchy, we saw the biggest bird either of us have ever seen. It was the size of a baby yak and swooped down to the river bed to feed on something - we guess it must have been a vulture of some kind but it was enormous! When we reached Ghasa it was back to humidity for the next few days as we finished up our trek. The 
scenery was great and instead of rice fields we saw more buckwheat than we did on the way up. There was also a hot springs in a village, Tadopani, that felt great to soak in after walking for 20 days. The last 2 days were nothing but stone stairs, luckily we were going down so it wasn't as bad but I can not imagine going the other way. Not only for the 2 days of stairs going up but doing the Pass the other way would be brutal with how steep the trail is!! Anyway, we ended our 20 day hike waiting on a bus to Pokhra and drinking a beer. Check out all of our pictures on our Flikr page (there are tons!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/99157019@N00/
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