Kathmandu, Nepal

Kathmandu is an interesting place. As the plane was landing I looked out the window and it looked like a miniature replica of a city. It looked this way because it is a big city but it has no skyscrapers. I think the tallest building was only ten stories high. It was a lot different from looking out the window in Bangkok!

While here we have spent most of our time wandering around the shops. Tanya had to essentailly buy a whole trekking wardrobe and Becker and I needed some waterproof pants. Shorty we realized that Kathmandu is a Minnesotan's paradise! There are a ton of nice warm winter clothes for very cheap. For instance tanya bought a nice Northface winter jacket with the fleece liner for about $60. It's crazy. Becker and I are trying to hold ourselves back!

Apart from shopping for our trek tanya and I went on a bike ride yesterday. It was quite strenuous! The first 3 hours consisted of a " slight" incline, or so our guide said! So we were breathing pretty heavily and were very excited for the ride back which conisted of coasting down rather than fighting to get up. Ahhh wonderful way to end a tough ride! Gave the legs time to stop burning! Throughout the ride we got some great views of the Kathmandu Valley and rode through a few villages. It's amazing how poor these people are. It's crazy to imaging living their lives.

In about two hours we have our first meeting for the trek where we get all the details and get to meet our fellow Trekkers. There are 12 of us total. I'm getting really excited! We officially start trekking tomorrow after an early morning flight to Lukla. I think tomorrows trek is a light one, only four hours. After that it's about 6-8 hours a day. Wish me luck!

Lastly, I'm pretty sure the teahouses on the mountain won't have Internet, so I'll update my blog in about 2 weeks after we've survived the trek!