Kathmandu, Nepal (via email)
Clear and 25 C/78 F
3:50pm

This is Eric, Talli, and Jacek reporting for PMA from the heart of Nepal, Kathmandu.

Our adventure continues as we prepare to leave tomorrow, April 6th, at 6:00 am for Lhasa, Tibet. Jacek thinks our transportation will be a "small" plane, with engines, he says. From Lhasa we load our trucks and start our 8 or so day trip to base camp.

All of the climbers have arrived except Masaru Osamura, our Japanese climber is still missing. We are hoping he will arrive soon. Rysiek, head guide, met us at the airport yesterday and we loaded the 700lbs of gear onto a bus and drove to the hotel. We were met at the hotel by an Austrian film crew making a documentary on Sherpa culture. They needed an expedition arriving as part of their production so we were the lucky ones... Tune into to Austrian TV next year!

Ian Beaton and Omar Abbosh, the jovial Brits from England, arrived soon after us. Already here was the Polish contingent, minus one. In the afternoon we took a small walking tour, got extra visa photos made, and then everyone met for dinner at New Orleans Cafe (native cuisine, no?) and everyone got to know each other better. We also met our sherpas, Pasang Sherpa and Pema Sherpa, both 8000 meter veterans.

Today Talli, Pasang, and I spent several hours buying additional food, medicine, and car batteries (phone and radio power) while Jacek and Rysiek met with Asian Trekking Company and spent tens of thousands of dollars on chocolate bars... no just kidding, actually on permits.

Kathmandu is a crazy city, teeming with commercial life and quite a few westerners. Very dusty and smoggy conditions prevail, you would want to wear a dust mask if you planned on staying longer. The traffic is crazy, with cars, cows, people, motorcycles, and bicycles vying for road space. But, we have seen no accidents as of yet, which we all cannot believe.

I'd write more but time here is money, so much for free email!

Over and out from Kathmandu.