Namaste! It’s Hari again, our TripleED climbing researcher. I’ll posting my own personal pictures and stories on my own site at hmix.org, but I’d like to share some of the experiences we’ve had so far. I don’t have time to write as I have quite a bit of work to do writing up today’s field notes (all the researchers have been working long hours typing away!), so instead, I’ll post some photos. On a practical note, we’re all packed up and heading to the airport tomorrow morning, fingers crossed for good weather. We’re hoping to catch a plane or helicopter to Lukla where we’ll begin our trek to Phakding tomorrow.

Well, it feels like I boarded my first of four flights just fifty hours ago and here I am! After living in tube-world for nearly 48 hours, it was nice to finally arrive in dusty, somewhat chaotic Kathmandu. Not so much has changed since I visited here last…a few roads are wider, but not too much on the progress front to report. I’ve been really busy with research tasks, errands and team activities, but things are running quite smoothly. I’m not jetlagged, staying healthy, and I have my fingers crossed to fly to Lukla in the morning.