I've Finally Arrived In Kathmandu, 1400 metres/4600

                                                       Hotel Dwarika

After training in 2015 for this trek, the earthquake that devastated Nepal the same year, training again in 2017, and now arriving here yesterday,  I feel like this trip has been a long time coming. I had a very pleasant flight on Qatar airways, with a brief stopover in Doha.

I was met in Kathmandu by Raj Ghimire, my tour organiser and owner of "Good Karma Trekking". I discovered this company via Google and TripAdvisor online, and was very pleased that I could deal directly with a Nepalese company, which would benefit from my support, without Western intermediaries. Raj had garnered very favorable reviews, is a member of the recognized tourism associations, and was very pleasant to deal with online.

I decided, with Raj's advise, to leave Kathmandu sightseeing to the last day prior to departure.  I needed to run errands (iPhone froze so there is an one authorized Apple dealer who sorted it out) and purchase a local SIM card for my phone. Also, exchanging money with an official money changer yielded the best results, but not without Raj negotiating an exchange which improved by 3%! In Nepal, one must bargain.  I had purchased all my kit in Switzerland and in London so I didn't need to brave the scrum of the Thamel district (mountain people central) for any last minute supplies. I could afford to just relax and discuss last minute details about the trek with Raj.

I went to check out the Yak and Yeti, the famous five star hotel frequented by the mountaineering community (including Hillary) but was very glad I opted for Dwarika's. Dwarika  is in the outskirts of the city (this means 15/20 minutes from the center), but it's quiet, luxurious, has a spa and good restaurants.  A day and a half of r & r before that famously scary airplane ride to Lukla.