Days 1 & 2 - On the Road to Everest again !

What could be better than starting off the day than by inhaling a lungful of dust flavoured with chunks of automotive fumes while attempting to avoid being trampled or crushed by a throng of people and motor vehicles intent on sharing the same 6 inches of square space that you're trying to occupy -welcome back to the Thamel in Kathmandu circa 2016 !

Our long long journey (30 + hours)  had comprised  a midnight Tulla flight, a 13 hour stopover in KL spent in a semi comatose state at a Malaysian Air sponsored day hotel, a 5 hour night flight to Kathmandu and 30 seconds of screaming as our pilot successfully embedded most of our aircraft into rather than on top of the Kathmandu runway !

After recovering we managed our way to our 3 star hotel near the Thamel accompanied by our guide and great friend Birbal who we'd both first met on a World Expeditions trek through the Annapurna's in 2009 !

After a night of " sleep of the dead"  we took to the streets caching up first with our nearby favourite tee shirt man Aktar who gave us a chilling personal account of the Nepal Earthquake (12 months ago almost to the day) - 48 hours of constant aftershocks, many deaths caused by collapsing structures and temples, and a total absence of food and water as people struggled to survive sleeping in parks without shelter often in torrential rain !

In Aktars case his salvation was assistance by the Indian Govt that allowed him and his family to be transported temporarily back to his home town in India

It was a sense of deja vu as we walked the 2 kms to the Thamel surrounded by the same traffic and dust that we've become accustomed to over the years in Kathmandu !

This time though we had some welcome company meeting up with my brother Mark and his good friend Katrina who are also doing an Everest Base Camp trek albeit 2 days after our commencement
Having lunch together and listening to their early trip hassles including a lost bank card (misplaced) and a dropped camera, the 4 of us walked to the historic Durbar square now a ready visual reminder of the 2015 Earthquake with cracked or collapsed structures evident as well as preparation for the commemorative period of rememberrance scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Returning Monika and I " rick shawed"  it back to Thamel central nearly putting our cyclist / driver into permanent retirement as he struggled to keep his 1936 rickshaw moving without collapsing and killing it's  occupants !

Handily tipped though we bade our pale looking driver well and journeyed back to our hotel to prepare for our white knuckle experience of an early morning flight into what is readily recognized as one  we of the most dangerous airports in the world Lukla - nothing like an adrenaline rush to start you're big adventure !