just a quick update from the trail... Or in this case the road as we are currently camped along side the road not quite to the village where will begin trekking.

Despite a flurry of last minute emails, we were ready and packed at 8 am when Tshering arrived with the jeep. At a certain point, we simply have to 'be done'. Honestly, it's a great feeling and for the first time we were able to allow ourselves to get excited about the adventure ahead.

We spent the first hour simply driving through Kathmandu, slowly reaching the outskirts of town and then making our way up through a series of winding switchbacks.

Surprisingly, we saw very little damage from the earthquake. Along the way, we stopped for tea and another spot for lunch, dal baht - the typical Nepali food - rice and lentils.

We were waylaid in another village for nearly 45 minutes as there was a festival going on. Hundreds of people lined the streets while a crowd of children followed a green masked figure who stopped every few minutes to throw water on everyone.

Passing through the terrace rice fields, we began to see evidence of the earthquake - a few buildings with cracks others with collapsed roofs. But these were older buildings. In another village, we began to see larger structures with noticeable fractures and worse. The road deteriorated as well eventually ending at a large mudslide that we could not cross.

After a few attempts, we double back to a few houses along side the road, made camp and settled into our MSR tents just as the rain started.

Image: Ryan and I enjoying the ride.