It's been a whirlwind couple of days making our way from Thame to Namche Bazaar to Lukla then then a short flight to Kathmandu. There is no middle ground in the transition from the small sherpa village to the chaotic traffic of the city, but we are glad to be taking steps homeward. I also took my first shower in over three weeks which washed away not only the trail dirt but some of the weariness that of a very physically demanding expedition.

This morning we were chauffeured to Miss Hawley's office in her blue Volkswagen Bug. Once there, we shared with the details of our climb: our route, camps, etc. This will be added to all the other details she has collected on Himalayan climbs for over five decades.

Later, Tshering picked us and shuttled us to the tourism office where we filled out some additional forms regarding our climb. It took nearly an hour to sign a few papers then we were given an official 'congratulations'.

We've had a couple of encounters with some of mountaineering's 'celebrities'. Yesterday afternoon was a chance meeting Sir Edmund Hillary's grand daughter who was visiting a mutual friend of Ryan and I. This morning we saw Erdune Pasaban, the first woman in history to climb all 14 8,000 meters peaks.

We also said good bye to Peter who had joined the first half of our trek through the Rolwaling and who we also met in Namche. He was an incredible travel companion and great addition to our team so we were sad to see him go.

Of course, tomorrow we will also saying goodbye to Tshering and Nepal which will be another sad parting, but we have only marked one small route in a huge area of unclimbed peaks. Leaving for us will not be a permanent good bye.