Monday 26 March 2012

Arrival in Kathmandu

Thankfully the flights were uneventful. I even made it through Indian security without having to empty my rucksack even though it was full of electrical equipment. Delhi airport has been through an amazing transformation since I was last there two years ago. It's now very modern with an excellent duty free area. There's even a hotel within the transit area which I would have really appreciated back 2009 having climbed Ama Dablam. Unfortunately we missed our connecting flight on our return journey. Consequently we spent a really miserable 24 hours waiting for the following day's flight home. Trying to sleep upright in a chair made the previous three weeks camping seem luxurious!

On arrival at Kathmandu airport we were met by Pasang who is our lead climbing sherpa and UIAGM qualified guide.

Driving through the streets of Kathmandu is one of those experiences you never forget. They say driving around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris is dangerous well who ever said that has not been to Kathmandu. Whilst our Highway Code probably extends to 200 plus pages here there must only be one which says 'when wishing to change lane or direction sound horn and proceed!'. Another quirk is whist all motorcyclists must wear crash helmets their passengers don't. How mad is that.

On arriving at the hotel we were immediately invited to a blessing which after the journey I was more than happy to accept! I suspect the hotel owners are just glad to see their guests arrive in one piece.

Needless to say the evening was spent around the bar and over dinner.

This morning we had a thorough briefing from David our leader about various aspects of the trip as well as a talk from Ted Atkins, an ex RAF engineer, who has developed the TopOut oxygen masks that we will be using. More about these in a later post.

This will be David's seventh Everest trip whilst Pasang has been to the summit eight times so we are in good hands.

For lunch we went into Thamel, which is the tourist quarter, to a steak house. Five of the team had a 1kg fillet steak each! Cian (pronounced Keean) and I wisely decided to share one. If you're wondering about the cost approximately £9 each. No doubt in a few weeks time we'll be dreaming about such things.

Tomorrow we are up at 4.00am in order to get to the airport early for an early flight to Lukla.

Well if you've read this far well done even I think it's time for a break!

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