A person from Mountain Monarch met us at the KTM airport today 
after we arrived and got through the Visa process ($40) and Baggage Claim. The airport is pretty basic, not as nice as BOM. More people wearing face masks (pollution here and India is pretty bad). It was interesting to see the large number of ‘improvised baggage’ items. Why pay money on a fancy suitcase when you can just wrap some twine around a cardboard box (or around a 
blanket), innovative people..these Nepalese. We then were escorted in a small white Nissan to our Hotel (Shakti). The ride was interesting, similar experience of driving through Egypt and India. Lots of dust, pollution, no good street signage and just pure craziness. The hotel is nice and very basic. We met Pradip (who runs Mountain Monarch) at the hotel, to review the itinerary and also settle up our tab. It is now 2:30pm local time 
(4:45am Eastern). Apparently we have a very large group, 11 trekkers + porters and guides..adding up to about 20+ people. We will meet the group at 4pm in the hotel lobby for a full Trek Briefing (including getting our kit – sleeping bag, down jacket, etc.) and then a traditional Royal Nepali welcome dinner. So there will be more to 
come. I will hopefully get Wi-Fi at some point, apparently here in Nepal the electricity goes on and off at different time, since it is cycled to different parts of the city. Our room is pretty basic, will do the job for these 2 nights before we fly to Lukla to start the trek.
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