I got up at 3AM today, started and finished packing before the van came at 6. I had an extra hour once I had everything squared away, so I spent my time writing for school. Once in the van, we went to pick up the Architects, Engineers and Surveyor from Pumori Engineering.

Our driver made sure to show me how crazy people move in early morning traffic here. I was most impressed by a three point U-turn across 4 to 6ish lanes of traffic. They don’t really delineate lanes in Nepal, I think it would be too distracting from beeping horns while cutting of motor bikes.

We got to the airport a good hour before our flight and got through security just in time to see them put up a sign saying, “Lukla flights delayed due to weather”. I had expected this, since thunderstorms caused me to wake around midnight. We went to a café upstairs to wait for news in a few hours. Enjoying breakfast with the essential small cups of milk tea. Hours of waiting were followed by news that weather had closed Lukla for the day.

An interesting thing I learned about travel in Nepal, is that any missed flights will be bumped to the end of the fly list for the next day, rather than getting precedence. I was confused when we stayed in the airport another couple hours after learning no planes would fly, but it seemed like a good time to keep writing for school.

Eventually Murari came back and told me we would try Heli instead. I had never flown in a helicopter before today, but it is amazingly like flying in dreams. I highly recommend it. Some more waiting happened, and soon we were aloft and cruising for Kathmandu valley’s Eastern rim. Murari later told me that Lukla airport called us two minutes after takeoff. They informed the pilot that Lukla was now closed to helicopters, again due to weather. They let us come anyhow, as we were already on our way. The few pictures I took that did come out decently do no justice to how epic this was. The heli windows allow air flow, so you not only feel yourself flying, but when you go through clouds and visibility drops off, you get hit with random drops of rain. It gives one the fear in a very exhilarating way.

Anyway, that was awesome and we made it safely. I understand now it is quite lucky to arrive in Lukla the same day you intended to. My sincere thanks to Summit Trek, for manifesting such a safe and amazing experience.  We spent enough time in Lukla to get hot tea and have our bags secured by porters.Then we were off to Phakding at 6:13 PM. We left around sunset and spent most of our walk in the dark, but safely made it to the Green Village Guest House. They cook a mean dhal bot here and are very nice.

I need to get myself off to sleep. The walk I had this evening summed to -200m below Lukla. Tomorrow we make that back and then some…

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.

By 5:30 AM I wasn’t able to sleep anymore. I gathered some things for the start of the day and walked downstairs to find the restaurant was not yet open. So I left to walk about the still morning as the city began to wake up. As I walked through the streets, the residents and vendors were busy conducting their morning Puja.  Flowers, burnt offerings and fresh paint made of spices were being placed on the various shrines I had seen the day before.

By around 9 in the morning, people began to open up their shops and make fried dough treats in vats of super heated oil. The smells sent me back to the hotel’s restaurant, where I enjoyed an American style breakfast.  Beside eggs, sausage and potatoes I got to try corn flakes served with a side of scalded milk. This was a first for me, no longer cold cereal and certainly not porridge, the blend was tasty and paired well with chai.

After breakfast I got to meet Murari from summit trek. I had first learned of him in Seattle, where he was mentioned as a leader of MEFSD (Mount Everest Foundation for Sustainable Development). We talked about the biogas project and went over the plan for my next week, while consulting a topographic map. I learned that in the initial stages of my trip to Gorak Shep, I will stop in Deboche for three days, while trekking with some Nepali engineers and architects. Their purpose in Deboche is to conduct a site survey of a Buddhist nuns’ monastery.  The group represents AWB (Architects Without Borders) and I put myself forward to help with the total-station work.

I later had a chance to speak with Dan Mazur, head of Summit Trek, on a Skype call from Everest base camp.  We talked about my trek in, the next steps of preparation and the work to be done at Gorak Shep. A full site survey is in order, including a visit to the first base camp. I will be meeting with the residents of Gorak Shep.  But most importantly, I will be hanging out with the porters who deal with the human waste, conversing through my guide and interpreter Mingma Sherpa. If the people who are to operate and maintain the biogas digester are not interested, then there is no project. No matter how sound the engineering, no matter how much money can be raised.

Once the logistics of the day had been handled, I walked about the shrines of Dubar Square and drank tea while the sun set.  This city is amazing, but I am anxious to get into the mountains and get to my real work here.