April 2 (Tuesday)
We stayed at Yak and Yeti’s, a 5-star hotel, at least according to Nepali standards. Our bathroom promptly flooded from a leaky bathtub after each of us took a shower. We weren’t too upset though, we were just glad to finally be there with all our luggage. We went to the breakfast buffet where we ran into one of our guides, Brien Sheedy. We met the rest of the group, the climbers and the trekkers, and we went on a little tour of Kathmandu.
What did I think of Kathmandu? Well it is definitely a third world city. First thing I noticed was a jam of cars and motorcycles on the narrow streets. Everybody and their mother was using their horns; I don’t think you could survive driving if you don’t honk.. There are street light signals everywhere but they are off, so the traffic moves at will. Curiously enough though, I didn’t see any accidents!
Another thing I noticed was trash everywhere. Piles of it! And dirt, but I guess that goes together with a third world country. What a difference from where we just came from! (Dubai)
For those in search of a good time…
We went to see the Monkey Temple first:
The name of the temple all of a sudden makes sense… =)
After visiting the Monkey Temple, we went to see the biggest Stupa (Buddhist temple). We also received a blessing from the highest monk in that temple. The guy wanted us to drink ‘holy’ water, but it looked like it came from a puddle in a street… Holy, no holy, and I knew I needed all the blessings I could get, but I also wanted to remain amoeba-free for the upcoming trip… so I opted out for just touching my lips with a few drops.
After lunch we had our gear check and it turned out that I need a new backpack. The one I brought was way too big and my smaller one was too small. I got it from the Sherpa store in Kathmandu. It turns out that one of our guides, Lhakpa Rita Sherpa, is the face behind the Sherpa company. Huge ads with his face on them are all around Kathmandu!! He is one of the most experienced and respected Sherpas in the region. What an honor to be climbing with him!
gear check
We finished our day by having dinner at Fire & Ice, one of the local restaurants, and went to bed full of anticipation of what the next day would bring.
Gosia Treks 
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