Wild Boar per favor

Joe and I lied down for a nap (still adjusting to time difference, sleep) and almost missed the 4pm meeting. So there were 9 of us trekkers (2 more are arriving late Sunday night) and it was led by Karma one of our trekking guides. Karma gave us information about the gear we needed and didn’t need. Also on medications, he said the Malaria med did not mix well with Diamox (the altitude sickness med). So Joe and I stopped our Malaria pill intake and will restart after the trek. There is not really a Malaria threat at this altitude in Nepal anyway. We are allowed to bring up 15kg in our duffel (we are using their duffels for the trek, not our own). And then we also have our day packs (35 liters). Drinking a lot of water helps acclimation, Karma recommended 3-4 liters a day. Since we have 2 1 liter Nalgene bottles, we may pick up an extra bottle today before we leave tomorrow morning. We are mostly good on gear though, a few things we didn’t need to bring (gaiters for example).

It is an interesting group of people, 2 other guys close in age to Joe and I from Alberta, Canada. Both are married and they been thinking about this trip for a while and finally did it. They were glad their wives were cool enough to let them go (like mine). Another guy/girl coupe from London, that were in between jobs and are taking 5 months to travel the world. They were in India before Nepal and heading to Thailand after this, as well as many other destinations. Another guy/girl couple from Germany (the girl is at least) that seem to travel a lot and then live somewhere for a year or two. And then a guy from Dubai, India that is in Finance that it taking this trip on his own, and a girl from Australia. The girl from Australia and the guy from the guy/girl nomad pair are actually climbing to one of the summits (Olympic I believe). So they are trekking up with us, and will part ways at some point. They need additional gear like gaiters, ice picks, crampons, etc. Overall a fun and interesting group of people.

After the briefing and receiving our duffel bags, Joe and I ventured out to change some USD to Nepal Rupees, and buy some water. When we returned to the hotel we met our group and walked to a really nice Traditional Nepal restaurant. When we were greeted at the door, we were all ‘dotted’ :)

We received many courses, first was a plate of different little appetizer type foods (including a sardine…ew..but I ate it). Then dumplings (yum), soup and then main course, which was rice and a mix of different meats and veggies. One of the meats was Wild Boar, so of course I tried that. It was pretty fatty, similar to a pork/bacon cut that you might expect. I did not love it. Overall, it was very similar to Indian cuisine/dining. We did get some Everest beer, which was definitely nice. They also served us this alcoholic drink (like a shot in a small clay dish), which was made from rice and tasted like tequila (not good tequila). After the meal and the beverages I was ready for bed. We all came back to our hotel and bid adieu, until 8:30am tomorrow morning when we head out for our cultural tour and Kathmandu Day 2!!