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The travel agent in Bangkok booked us the right side window seats of the aircraft on the flight from Bangkok. "Better views this side," he said. He wasn't wrong; the Himalayas stretched out as far as we could see. The snow line above 6,000 meters was perfectly visible.

Upon arrival at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport we were met by our expedition travel agent for the first time. We were presented with wreaths of bright orange flowers and driven by mini bus to our hotel, conveniently located next door to the agent's office in Thamel district of Kathmandu. The journey into town from the airport only takes half an hour.

Having rested in a local hotel and after introduction to our Sherpa and guide, we were ready for what we thought would be a grueling day's hike. The jeep had taken us up to an altitude of 1,462 meters and the next stop off was going to be 2,500 meters. The path was well trodden and dry. The only steep sections had large natural stones made into steps. Every hour or so we would stop for a cup of hot lemon and honey tea. It was not difficult hiking, and we met up with several elderly people taking the same route.

For the first day, the trail winds its way through dense forests and crisscrosses over the river that we would follow the whole way up the valley. One member of our small party was dreading crossing the small swinging suspension bridges, but having crossed so many was almost cured of his fear of heights. All the bridges looked in remarkably good condition.

The local tea houses do not take bookings and operate on a first come first served basis, however unless you arrived after the sun had gone down there was plenty of room for everyone. The first question asked when arriving at the accommodation would be "Do you have plenty of hot water?" As electricity is limited to the occasional light bulb, water heaters rely on solar power.

The accommodation is limited to shared rooms with nothing more than wooden beds with mattress, but after trekking, getting to sleep wasn't a problem we encountered.

We arranged with our guide for a one day hike up and down one of the many surrounding peaks. We chose Tserko Ri Peak at an altitude of 4,984 meters. Anything higher and it would be best to acclimatize for a little longer than the day we had allowed. This was not part of the trekking path, but there was a narrow path running up the side of the peak. Some parts of the trail are very steep, and walking sticks were used for the first time. Also, because of the altitude, the temperature is a lot lower, and warm clothing was a must. We reached the peak, and not having had time to acclimatize, we all had slight headaches.



The view was simply spectacular. Several peaks of more than 6,000 meters could be clearly seen all around. The summit was covered in prayer flags that had been brought up by other tourists or local people during religious holidays. What was a surprise was the arrival of two black birds that looked like small Ravens as soon as we unpacked our lunch. We decided to take a longer route back down as we still had most of the day in front of us. It turned out to be a lot longer than we thought and our water ran short. After making it back to the tea house and rehydrating we had a few of the local Nevis beers to celebrate my birthday.

Not much can compete with the spectacular views of the surrounding mountains, but there are some interesting temples on the way and several glaciers that can be visited just a few hours walk from Kyangjin Gompa Village where we had begun the hike.

The temples that we saw were made of stone and were fairly small in size. We had the privilege of being invited inside one 500-year-old temple. The walls were painted with intricate Buddhist murals, and one wall was filled with colorful cubbyholes that held hundreds of ancient prayers. It was one of those moments where one is speechless before a beautiful mystery one does not quite comprehend.

Although we did not have time to get up close to any of the glaciers they were visible from some advantage points. When I asked our guide whether they were melting and shrinking each year as widely reported, he laughed and told me that they were still growing each year.

Because of our limited time, we had to return the same way we came, but stayed at different locations than on the way up, and it only took us two days to walk back to the starting point. We had to endure the eight hour jeep trip back to Kathmandu, but still feeling good from the great trek.

We left ourselves one day free in Kathmandu to explore some of the interesting sights. There's really so much to see that one day does not do it justice. We managed to fit in Monkey Temple and Durbar Square, probably two of the most visited places of interest in Kathmandu.

Once you arrive at the top there are many interesting looking buildings and a wide variety of trees. Most of the buildings are occupied with tourist shops selling anything from postcards to hand woven blankets. We were followed--or rather, directed-- by a young boy who rattled off many facts about the site. We were glad to have him as it avoided others approaching us offering their services, and he was please with the small amount of money we gave him.

Monkey Temple is one of the highest points in Kathmandu, so you can get a good view if the weather is good. I'd advise anyone visiting to go there early in the morning. It was already crowded by the time we left.

Durbar Square is a great place to find a cafe and sit and people watch. There's so much going on. From there we walked back to our hotel in the Thamel area, taking small winding roads full of shops in order to check out the outdoor equipment on sale in so many of them, perhaps dreaming of a longer visit to trek in Nepal.