I finally met up with Pradip (my main contact at Mountain Monarch) to get oriented and get prepared for the trek ahead. My initial contact was not impressive. He quickly went through a canned description of the planned trip in the Himalayas, and the group "tour" & pre-trip meal we'd have before heading off. However - clearly - his main concern was to get paid for the outstanding balance I owed him. In addition, as I had arrived two days early, he tacked on an additional charge of $45.00 for each of the two nights -- an outrageous charge for the hotel in question, and something he had given me no advance notice about. I was furious at this underhand manoever.
After bidding goodbye to Pradip till the afternoon (when we'd meet up with the rest of the travelling group) I met up with some older folks from England and New Zealand who had just completed the hike to Base Camp/Kala Pattar and back. They were shattered, and they had a lot of scare stories for me about the cold, the effort involved etc. At 4pm I met up with Pradip again, and with my friend Bipina & with Neil and Kim, the other trekkers, for our formal intro. We were also introduced to Buddha, who would be out guide for the trip, and we received our duffel bags. Beginning to feel a bit excited, at last...!
After getting organized, Buddha took us for a traditional Nepalese meal at a (shamelessly tourist-trap) Nepal Kitchen-style restaurant. I had my first taste of Dal Bhat, and some curious meats (wild boar?) before we adjourned upstairs to watch some Nepalese dance and have a taste of the local Raksi liquor. Good fun!
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