Day 2: Kathmandu, Nepal

Final rest day before the beginning of the trek! Our climbers will explore Kathmandu and spend some time having their gear check and prepping for an early wake up call before their private helicopter ride. Follow along for trek updates as they go!

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We made it to Nepal! Our group arrived in Kathmandu Friday and Saturday and spent the first evening in the lounge at the hotel having some drinks and catching up with each other. We had a local friend, James, come meet us and share his experience living here over the last 20 years and teaching us about Buddhist traditions and his non profit he’s been running that helps send Nepalese children to school.

Saturday was a great rest day after the long travel over here. We did a final gear check and then went out for dinner to a traditional Nepalese restaurant where we all had Dalbhat which is a rice, lentil, curry and chicken dish that is a very common meal for people here. The dinner was treated to us as a welcome from our outfitter that will be taking care of us on the trek. It was special to get time with our lead guide, Lalit, and get to know him more before we head towards the mountains.

Sunday we started the day early with a city tour of Kathmandu where we visited 2 Buddhist temples and a Hindu temple. All 3 were World Heritage sites and was fascinating to learn more about both religions while seeing some of the oldest and most special places in Kathmandu. We went to the Buddhist Monkey Temple as well as another Buddhist Temple that has the largest Stupa (round circular monument) and witnessed an outdoor cremation site at the Hindu temple. That was a truly unique and wild experience!

We got back to the hotel around lunch time for some rest then walked over to the Thamel marketplace to experience the real local scene with all of the shops and close quartered hotels and restaurants. We found a great rooftop bar there to have a beverage then finished the night with a send off dinner at a nice restaurant back at the hotel.

We’re eager and ready to head towards the trail in the morning! 5:45 AM departure! Here we go!

-Nate Zuercher