I had another early morning today, taking a walk at 5:30 AM. This time I tried some of the delicious smelling fried things, their scents do not lie.

I managed to get some writing done before breakfast at the hotel. Once at the Summit Trek office again, I got to see our friend from AWB. He and Murari were finishing up the last details for the trip that starts tomorrow. The rest of the day was quickly taken up by fetching a lost bag at the airport, rounding up the last few items for my trip and buying a considerable array of pills for a variety of ailments I hope to avoid. As someone who usually uses Miso soup, instead of Aspirin to treat headaches, this seems like a lot to put in my body. Really though, the Diamox to prevent altitude sickness is the only thing I will certainly be taking. The rest is there just in case I get unwanted guests inside my digestive track.

Once all the paper work was finished at the office, Murrari and Deha gave me a map of the Everest National Park. I love maps, and this one shows topography, glaciers, monasteries and even things like “rock wall”, “pine forest” or “stone steps”. With luck, the weather is good tomorrow and I fly out at 7:45 AM. Kathmandu is a marvelous city, but tomorrow I start walking up to the roof of the world, through all the wonderful things that are yet just words on a map to me. I have much to do yet and have not started packing. There will be so much more to write once I arrive in the mountains, so for now, Adieu.