Thorong Phedi and High Camp: Sleeping Before Thorong La

By Uncover Nepal Guide · Checked by our Kathmandu travel team · Updated 12 Nov 2026

The last stretch to Thorong Phedi climbs a bare, stony valley where very little grows beside the trail. Inside the lodges the dining room is usually the only heated room, so the evening is spent there in down jackets, and the talk keeps coming back to one thing: what time to leave in the morning.

Thorong Phedi, at about 4,450 to 4,550 m, and Thorong High Camp, at about 4,850 to 4,925 m, are the last two lodge stops on the Manang side of Thorong La, 5,416 m (17,769 ft). They are the usual places to spend the night before the pass. Phedi is the lower, gentler night; High Camp shortens the crossing morning.

In this guide

• Where are Thorong Phedi and High Camp?
• Thorong Phedi or High Camp: which night is better?
• What are the lodges like at Phedi and High Camp?
• How do you acclimatise before Thorong Phedi?
• How cold is it at Thorong Phedi and High Camp?
• What happens on the crossing morning?
• Is Thorong La open now?
• Medical help, phone signal and rescue
• Permits and the guide rule
• Frequently asked questions
• Plan your visit

Where are Thorong Phedi and High Camp?

Thorong Phedi and High Camp sit at the head of the valley above Yak Kharka, in Manang district, on the eastern side of Thorong La. Phedi is the lodge stop at the foot of the final climb. High Camp is a smaller stop about one to two hours further up the same trail, and Muktinath lies beyond the pass.

Phedi (फेदी) is Nepali for the foot of a hill, which is exactly what this place is. "High Camp" is a lodge stop with rooms and a dining room, not a tent camp. A Nepali newspaper sums up the approach in one line:

"Trekkers generally approach Thorong La through Yak Kharka, Ledar, Thorong La Phedi and Thorong La High Camp in Manang before descending to Muktinath in Mustang"

The Rising Nepal, 22 July 2026

Yak Kharka sits at about 4,000 to 4,100 m and Letdar (also spelt Ledar) at about 4,250 m, by trekking companies' figures. From Yak Kharka, Phedi is a short half-day walk; one company gives the distance as 7 km. Confusingly, there is also a small lodge stop called Phedi on the Mustang side, on the way down to Muktinath; this article is about the Manang side.

Which "Annapurna High Camp" is this?

If you searched for Annapurna high camp, check which one you mean. On the Annapurna Circuit, High Camp is Thorong High Camp, the subject of this article. The Mardi Himal trek near Pokhara has its own High Camp, on a different trip. If you want close Annapurna views without crossing a high pass, the Annapurna Base Camp trek climbs into the Annapurna Sanctuary and comes back down.

Thorong Phedi or High Camp: which night is better?

Neither is right for everyone. Thorong Phedi is the lower night and keeps the height gain from Yak Kharka modest. High Camp moves the first hour or two of the climb to the afternoon before, so the crossing morning is shorter, but you sleep higher and gain more height the day you arrive. Let acclimatisation decide, not convenience.

The guideline that matters: above 3,000 m, avoid raising your sleeping height by more than about 500 m a night. From Yak Kharka, Phedi is within or close to that line; going straight to High Camp from Yak Kharka or Letdar goes over it. High Camp's reward is that the steep section above Phedi, about 300 to 475 m of height by published figures, is done the afternoon before. Its cost is a higher, colder, more exposed night.

On our Annapurna Circuit trips the plan is Yak Kharka, then Thorong Phedi, a gain of about 400 to 490 m by our own trip pages' heights. Our 13-day Circuit and Tilicho Lake trip from Kathmandu also lists High Camp as an option for that night; by that page's own heights, Yak Kharka to High Camp is a gain of about 800 m, well over the line, so with any altitude symptoms, stay at Phedi. Two other nights on our Circuit itineraries go a little over the line; our Annapurna Circuit altitude article sets them out.

What are the lodges like at Phedi and High Camp?

Expect simple teahouses, the family-run trekking lodges of Nepal, with basic rooms and a shared dining room. At this height the dining room is usually the only heated space, bedrooms are cold, and charging happens in the dining area, often for an extra fee. Phedi is the bigger stop; High Camp is tiny.

One trekking company warns that in high season, where teahouses are few, trekkers may end up in dormitories, and some teahouses on the trek rely on solar lighting, so do not count on charging every night.

The autumn rush is real. ACAP's check post at Dharapani, lower down the Manang valley, recorded 552 foreign trekkers on 13 October 2026, the busiest day of the year so far, The Kathmandu Post reported. "All hotels are fully booked in the peak spring and autumn seasons," Binod Gurung, president of the Tourism Entrepreneurs Committee in Manang, told The Kathmandu Post in February 2025, speaking of Manang as a whole.

We do not quote lodge prices because we found no dated, reliable source; our Annapurna Circuit trek cost breakdown covers what the trek costs overall.

How do you acclimatise before Thorong Phedi?

Go up slowly so that you arrive at Thorong Phedi already adjusted. Most of that work happens lower down, with a rest day in Manang, about 3,500 m, then modest steps in sleeping height. If you have altitude symptoms at Phedi, do not go higher: climbing to High Camp or the pass with symptoms is how people get into trouble.

• Go up slowly. Above 3,000 m, do not raise your sleeping height by more than about 500 m a night, and take a rest day every three to four days (Wilderness Medical Society guideline, 2024).
• Walk slowly. "Bistarai, bistarai" (slowly, slowly), as you will hear on the trail.
• Drink enough water, and skip alcohol for the first days at height.
• Know the early symptoms: headache, nausea, tiredness and poor sleep. US CDC guidance notes that altitude illness can start from a sleeping height of about 2,450 m, so by Phedi you are far above that.
• Never go higher with symptoms. If they get worse, go down.
• Ask your doctor before the trip about preventive medicine such as acetazolamide. We never suggest a dose.
• Garlic soup and other hot soups are a comforting local tradition that helps you drink more, not a proven cure.
• Severe symptoms, such as confusion, breathlessness at rest or unsteady walking, mean descend at once and get medical help.

Our article on how to avoid altitude sickness goes deeper.

A rest day in Manang

Manang, about 3,500 m, is the last big village before the pass and the natural place for a rest day: walk higher during the day, come back down to sleep. Gangapurna Lake, below the Gangapurna glacier just outside the village, makes an easy outing. The Himalayan Rescue Association has run an aid post in Manang since November 1981, with a lecture hall built in 2000 for altitude talks.

How cold is it at Thorong Phedi and High Camp?

Colder than any figure you will find for Manang. We found no measured temperatures for Phedi, High Camp or the pass. The closest long record we found is the Manang Airport station at 3,401 m, where the average night low already drops below freezing in November, and Phedi sits about 1,050 to 1,150 m higher.

These are Department of Hydrology and Meteorology averages for 1991 to 2020 at Manang Airport, 3,401 m. Thorong Phedi is about 1,050 to 1,150 m higher and High Camp about 1,450 to 1,525 m higher, so both are colder and windier. On average November is much drier there than October (1.1 mm of rain and snow against 38.9 mm in October). As one trekking company puts it, "Thorong Phedi can be very cold and windy." Bring a sleeping bag made for real cold.

What happens on the crossing morning?

You leave early, often between about 4 and 6 am, climb to Thorong La at 5,416 m, then descend about 1,600 m to Muktinath. By trekking companies' figures it is a long day, commonly 8 to 12 hours. From Phedi the climb is about 870 to 970 m; from High Camp it is about 490 to 570 m.

Early starts are usual partly because strong winds tend to rise a few hours after sunrise.

On our trips, your guide, who knows the route, decides when and how to cross, based on snow and the forecast. Our Thorong La pass article goes through the crossing day in detail.

Down to Muktinath

The descent into Mustang is long and hard on the knees. Muktinath, at the bottom, is sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, and our Muktinath Temple article explains what you will see there.

Is Thorong La open now?

We could not confirm it. Heavy snow from Cyclone Arnab hit Upper Manang at the end of October 2026, and we have not seen an official reopening notice since. Autumn conditions here change week to week, so treat any status you read online, ours included, as a starting point.

After that snow, about 200 tourists stayed in Manang village, and Manang's chief district officer, Muktiprasad Khanal, said the trails were still covered and unsafe, OnlineKhabar reported. It was the second time this autumn that snow stopped trekkers here: snow from 24 to 27 September 2026 fully blocked the trail until it reopened on 5 October.

Autumn snow here has been deadly before. On 14 October 2014, the tail end of Cyclone Hudhud brought a snowstorm to the Thorong La area, and the death toll reached 43, Reuters reported, citing officials.

Medical help, phone signal and rescue

There is no clinic at Thorong Phedi now. The nearest regular medical help is the Himalayan Rescue Association aid post in Manang, which offers 24-hour emergency care this season until the end of November 2026. Mobile signal is unavailable on many parts of the high routes, so getting help near the pass can take time.

HRA's own page on its old Phedi clinic, opened in autumn 2007, says: "The clinic has not been in operation now due to the technical reasons." On 29 October 2026, Mustang's chief district officer, Parshuram Pokhrel, warned that rescue on the high routes, Thorong La among them, could be difficult because many parts have no mobile connection. Insurance covering trekking at this height and helicopter evacuation is worth having; it is your own arrangement, and we do not sell it.

Permits and the guide rule

You need an ACAP entry permit for the Annapurna Conservation Area, and the Annapurna Circuit is one of the routes where NTB's rule says foreign trekkers walk with a licensed guide. We arrange the ACAP permit for our trips, and a licensed guide walks with you on every trek we run.

The permit costs NPR 3,000 for foreigners and NPR 1,000 for SAARC nationals, tax included (NTB and the NTNC e-permit portal). Children below 10 enter free, and the fee is doubled if the permit is issued at a check post.

Read next: Thorong La pass: how hard it is and how to cross and Annapurna Circuit altitude, night by night.

Frequently asked questions

Plan your visit

Our Annapurna Circuit trek page covers our Circuit trips, and the Annapurna Circuit trek from Pokhara suits you if you are already in Pokhara. If a 5,416 m pass is more than you want, the Annapurna Base Camp trek takes you to the foot of the big Annapurna peaks without one. We arrange the ACAP permit, and a licensed guide walks with you on every trek we run.

Want the latest trail status, or not sure which trek fits your days? Ask us on WhatsApp or through the enquiry form.