We fly in courtesy of Yeti Air with just a short hop and head to the trekking office. Since schlepping everyone’s big suitcase along would be stupid, this is the hold location. Except for a couple of us who just left suitcases in Kathmandu figuring that trekking, river rafter and safaris really don’t need much in the way of clothes.

As we drive out of town – the buildings here look different than Kathmandu, complete with tiles…

As should be obvious, the lodges/camps aren’t going to be fancy. Enough electricity from solar to charge batteries and I will be a happy camper. The temperatures should be 25*C and up and I am taking the good camera for this portion of the trip (three days).  There won’t be wifi. I don’t have a phone. I think everyone else will be in worse withdrawal than me.

As we traveled along the road, it was obvious that pollution/dust is common all over the country. Please ignore the brown out. And don’t breath – it isn’t particularly good for your lungs…

When we reached the starting point for our hike into the lodge, we met up with the five porters who would be schlepping the small bags for the group.

As you might expect, I tend to walk faster than a serious number in the group so was able to spend a bit of time reading along the way as well as taking photos as I waited here and there.

Arriving at the Lodge, it was quite a bit nicer than we had been lead to believe.