Everest Base Camp Trek Dispatch

April 1, 2008 – Kathmandu: The Group  Has Arrived

Hi, this is Temba calling from Kathmandu at about 10:00 PM on Tuesday.

Wow, we had a great day in Kathmandu, the first full day in Nepal for this group.  I can tell they are loving Nepal and that we are going to have a great time.

We started early this morning when we left the Yak and Yeti for Swaymbhunath, the “Monkey Temple”, above Kathamandu.  We saw Buddhists walking around the temple in a clockwise direction spinning their prayer wheels.  Later we visited Kathamandu’s most famous Hindu temple, Pashupati were we hung out with some pretty colorful holy men.

Later we visited the carpet factory and showroom of our friend Tsering Dolkar at Boudhnath, the main center for Sherpas and other Buddhists when they are in Kathmandu.  It was relaxing to have a lunch at the Hyatt Hotel near Boudhnath.

Now it is night and a big thunderstorm just came through Kathmandu and it has been raining very hard for about two hours.  It has just started to clear however and I am sure we will be fine for tomorrow morning’s flight to Lukla.  We are going to leave the Yak and Yeti at 6:00 AM and go to the airport.