Altitude: 1951m
We woke up early today to catch the bus to Jiri where we'll start our trekking adventure to Everest Base Camp. We're doing it a little different to most who usually just fly into Lukla and start the trek from there. We're walking in because "some" of us are not comfortable flying into the world's most dangerous airport, where the runway is just a mere 460 x 20m.
It's been a hectic few days trying to sort things out before leaving - permits, bus tickets, getting a porter-guide, packing. It may sound easy enough to do but things are never too easy in Nepal, with the language barrier and the general disorganised manner of things. I can see why the majority of people go through agencies to sort out their trip. Nevertheless, it's all worked out. We got our permits after two visits (the office was closed on the first day), our bus tickets after two visits to the Old City Bus Park (which really is just THAT - a place to park buses that have no allocated lots, surrounded by a line of shops and stalls that disguise elusive ticket stands that only sell tickets a day before), our porter-guide whom we met just this morning before leaving (through our hotel travel desk who was very vague in providing information - we still weren't completely clear on the details of hiring or if we had a guide before leaving this morning!) and we've done our packing.
The bus ride to Jiri from Kathmandu (around 184km) was meant to take five to eight hours but instead took us nine hours, going through some pretty narrow and winding roads. Still, I can't complain too much about it. While it was a bumpy ride, stopped frequently despite being the "express" and was quite crowded, I slept for the most part of it, lucky enough to have an allocated seat that didn't break. When I was awake, there was lush countryside outside my window and Nepali tunes blasting throughout the bus. I'm glad I took the local bus even though it was not the most comfortable option because it allowed me to somewhat integrate myself with the locals or at least start seeing Nepal at their eye level.
Nepal is already looking to be the most challenging country I've been to. It's a big day tomorrow - we actually begin trekking!
