We're going to be on TV!

Well, maybe. But only in France. As we were walking down the street after meeting with the manager of the trekking agency, a crew from French TV approached us and asked to interview us about the avalanche on Manaslu.

I explained that trekking was much safer than climbing 8000 metre peaks, and that the accident did not make me change my plans.

Uttam Tamang, the manager of Brilliant Treks and Adventure (who is arranging our trek) was also interviewed, and told them that the avalanche was a natural occurrence that no one could control.

The interviewer kept asking what is the impact of the increase in the number of climbers in the Himalayas on accidents like the one on Manaslu. He seemed to be leading us to say more people mean more accidents, but neither of us said that.

After our interviews, Ciel talked with the cameraman and said that mountaineers on 8000 metre peaks should know the risks involved - this led them to interview her as well.

-mark.

Breakfast in New Orleans

No, we didn't fly back to the USA overnight - New Orleans is a cafe in Kathmandu. A bit pricier than other breakfasts we've had here, but they make muesli with yoghurt so pretty!

Trekking!

We'll be heading out on trek in a couple of days - can't wait to be out in the mountains, away from the traffic and air pollution of Kathmandu!
We're going to start the Annapurna circuit at Besi Sahar, then detour into the restricted area of the Nar-Phu valley and over the Kang La (5306m) to get back to the main circuit. Then it's over the Thorung La (5416m) to Kagbeni, where we take a detour into the restricted area of Upper Mustang. Back to Kagbeni after 10 days then the organized trek ends at Jomsom. We'll figure out how to get down to Tatopani (bus? walk?), then up to Ghorepani and Poon hill. Then maybe Annapurna base camp before heading out to Naya Pul and Pokhara.
Can't wait!
-mark.

Permits, permits, permits

Today we wandered over to the tourism board office to get our permits to trek. The Trekking Information Management System (TIMS) card is new, required for all treks in Nepal now. No problem getting those, though they cost us twice as much as if we had arranged the trek through an agency. Still, it's only $20 each.

The Annapurna Conservation Area permits were 2000 rupees each, a bit more than $20. No problem getting those either.

The permits to get into some of the restricted areas we want to go were a different story. The books say you don't need to book through an agency to get the permits for Nar-Phu valley, so I asked at the tourist board office. They sent us across the hall, where we were told to go to the Immigration office, a 15 minute walk across town.

After about an hour at the immigration office, we discovered that you can't get the permit for Nar-Phu (or any of the restricted areas, now) unless you go through an agency.

Well, two out of three ain't bad, or so I've heard.

-mark.

On the air with Ncell

I have a Nepali SIM card for my mobile phone now, so I can call home. Rates are good to Canada - only 3 rupees per minute (less than 4 cents). We'll find out what coverage is like in the mountains when we head out on trek. There is supposed to be some coverage - even Everest base camp has 3G! Some of the remote valleys probably won't have any coverage though. Telecom here isn't bad, we even have free wifi at the hotel.
-mark.