Everest Base Camp Trek Dispatch

April 20, 2010 – Kathmandu, How Are You?

This is Leila Silveira reporting from Kathmandu where I arrived a few days ago. I have to say, it has been quite a rollercoaster ride due to the volcano eruption in Iceland. Everyone’s flights have been affected.

Kathmandu is in its usual great form. Of all places that I travel year after year, Nepal is definitely the one that feels like my second home. It feels like time stands still here.

The weather has been quite hot and due of the lack of rain, the power outages have been a daily problem. Luckily at the Yak and Yeti, with their generators we don’t feel it so much, but walking around town one can easily notice the situation.

The team was due to arrive yesterday. Kerri and Maya have succeeded after a last minute change on their airline itinerary. Instead of stopping in Brussels to refuel, they requested authorization to stop in Athens, which ended up being successful although the flight, which would usually take only 7 hours, ended up taking 10. In the end, they both landed in Kathmandu on schedule and have been enjoying the city and barely having any jetlag problems, which is pretty amazing.

Ljerka and Jeremy, on the other hand, were scheduled to fly from Geneva where the airports have been closed. But in Ljerkas’s words, "where there is a will, there is a way." Being extremely proactive, they quickly went online and managed to buy a new ticket flying from Rome, where the airport has remained opened throughout the entire chaos. They took an early train from Geneva, made it to Rome, and boarded their flight.

The very determined couple is arriving in Kathmandu only a day behind schedule. I have been in touch with them almost non-stop and Ljerka has described their trip so far as "a little bit like an episode of The Amazing Race." And they haven’t even started the trek!

Today was our sightseeing day. Arjun, our Kathmandu cultural tour guide, was promptly here at 9 am and we went to visit Swayambhu, also known as the Monkey temple, where we had a clear view of Kathmandu. Fro there we went to Patan, a city 6 miles from Kathmandu that is famous for its traditional crafts and artistic heritage and is recognized by Unesco as a World Heritage Site.

Then we visited Pashupati temple, considered one of the world’s holiest temples, and worshipped both by Hindus and by Buddhists. It is a great example of the religious harmony that Nepal is known for. Kerri and Maya had a chance to meet some of the Holy men.

We finished our sightseeing with a visit to Boudhanath, also a World Heritage Site, and of the most important places of pilgrimage for the Buddhists.

I have to say that Kerri and Maya's energy seems boundless. We stopped at the end of our tour at the Park Hyatt Hotel for lunch, where I was impressed to see them order spicy Nepalese food and have no problem with it. I can tell that they will really enjoy the local food on this trip, even though we offer daily western meal options as well.

Tomorrow we will spend another extra day sightseeing and when Ljerka and Jeremy arrive we will be able to have our welcome dinner and quickly leave on our flight for Lukla.