April 10 – 10:12 p.m.
Today was spent finalizing our gear and most importantly the permit to climb the Nuptse. Our friends at Nepal Social Treks were amazing and today they processed what they think is the first ever one day processing of a climbing permit. We really don’t know how they made it happen, pretty sure they pulled some strings all over the place and made it happen for us.
We just enjoyed a nice dinner at the Himalayan Restaurant (it was great food, but not quite as good as our fav place in Big Bear). The price is pretty nice though, 4 people, plenty of food and drinks for less than $10!
Now our bags are packed and we head to airport for the short flight to Lukla. It’s the only way to Lukla and they say the Lukla airport is quite an experience. Look it up on YouTube, I’ve seen a couple of videos that are pretty exciting. For us we are hoping that there isn’t much fog and that flights can take out. There has been a bit of a backup over the past few days as flights were cancelled and teams have soooo much gear heading to the base camp of Everest. We hear there is a backlog of luggage that is still on it’s way. Our guys assure us that they have friends at the airport and they will help us get our bags on the plane. Puru is our “assistant” who will come with us to base camp and will help organize porters and other things when we need some help. He will stay at base camp while we are climbing. From Lukla we have a 4 to 5 day hike to Everest Base Camp.
Anyways, here’s the latest “I have an idea,” from Paul…. you never know what will come out of his mouth after he says those words.
JOIN TEAM SOLE IN NEPAL and EVEREST BASE CAMP. It’s easier and cheaper than you’d think.
He’s asked the guys at Nepal Social Treks to organize a special Everest Base Camp hike. Anybody want to make a quick trip to Kathmandu, hike to base camp, stay for a couple of days at Everest Base Camp, hike back and return to Kathmandu. We are going to coordinate the trip so we’ll see everyone at Base Camp. It’s easy, cheap and everything from A-Z will be handled for you. Basically all you have to do is get to Kathmandu – they’ll pick you up at the airport, have a place arranged for you to stay, flights to Lukla, then a beautiful hike to base camp staying at quaint little tea houses along the way. A two-week hiking trip. Anybody up for the challenge? It will never be easier. Contact Ram or Basu at Nepal Social Treks info@nepalsocialtreks.com and tell them that Karen and Paul sent you. See you at Everest Base Camp!
We are uncertain about any further communications for the next 3-4 weeks. We’ll be going hard, and getting it done.
Karen and Paul
Following you guys and getting increasingly jealous! Have an awesome trip, not long now before Jordan breaks that record.