Kathmandu

S0 yesterday I arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal and I can't wait until we leave here tomorrow. It's dirty and dusty and hard to breathe but on the bright side the hotel I'm at is actually pretty nice. There is a decent pool that's been great to cool off in because it's really hot during the day. When you leave the hotel there is a guy at the door who opens it for you and then salutes you- a little unnecessary but I won't complain. (Above is a picture of the Himalaya on my flight from Delhi, India to Kathmandu and below is a self-portrait of my time in the airport)

Yesterday I spent the day laying around by the pool and taking a bunch of naps to catch up on all the lost sleep. The bulk of the team showed up in the late afternoon and after we all met we went out for dinner. I barely made it through dinner and fell asleep more than a couple times and as soon as I got back to the hotel I passed out. Today I woke up at 6am and went walking around outside on the hotel property. There was a buffet breakfast that was OK but nothing spectacular. At 10am we all met up for a meeting and a demonstration on our oxygen system and how it works, how to prevent problems with it, etc.... I'm glad we went over everything and it was very informative. After that I went walking around to pick up some last minute things and get some money from the ATM because after tomorrow there won't be anymore.

All in all the team seems pretty good. There are 19 people on the summit team and about 5 others that will just be climbing to the North Col, so the group is pretty big by expedition standards. There is an interesting mix of people and some great personalities. Tomorrow we will be crossing the border into Tibet. We are planning to be at base camp on Sunday. That may be the next time I update my blog because it's a pretty safe bet there won't be any internet on the way. Well it's about dinner time here so I'm going to go try to find something safe to eat. I'm looking forward to getting this show on the road, thanks for checking in.