October 21, 2015
Kathmandu, Nepal

Dear Family & Friends:

I am so happy and excited to be back in Kathmandu.

I arrived here on October 19, after my flight from Los Angeles. My initial flight from LAX landed in Hong Kong; and I had a 12-hour layover until my second flight from Hong Kong to Kathmandu. I took advantage of the layover to board the train from the airport to downtown Hong Kong. Sharon and I lived in Hong Kong for 3-years, from 1996-1999 when I was practicing international law. This was a very satisfying part of my legal career, and we loved Hong Kong. My short visit to Hong Kong was so much fun, as it gave me a chance to revisit all the places we enjoyed so much, including our apartment at Queens Garden, our club across the street, the Peak, the Central District, Victoria Harbor, the Star Ferry and Kowloon.

I arrived in Kathmandu on October 19 at 7:30 pm. Kathmandu looks the same, although I have not had an opportunity to tour the city and see the earthquake damage. As usual, I am staying at the Yak & Yeti Hotel. The rest of the team, except for Nick Logic, arrived yesterday and today. Nick will join us on the trek to Burke-Khang Base Camp. Everyone is looking and feeling so good, and we are all excited and anxious to get the expedition started.

We had a team dinner tonight at Kilroy’s Restaurant, which is my favorite restaurant in Kathmandu. Garrett gave some last minute details about the trip, and we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner. We depart for the airport tomorrow morning and will fly to Lukla at 7 am. On the first day of the expedition, we will trek from Lukla to Phakding. This will be our easiest day of the trip because we trek downhill and lose about 1,000 feet of altitude. The trek shouldn’t take more than 3 hours, so we will be in Phakding by noon. I love the Everest Base Camp trekking trail.

The weather in the mountains has been good, so our prayers have been answered. Thank you for those prayers. We are hoping the weather will stay good, so the heavy snow on Burke-Khang will have a chance to consolidate.

I feel so great about this team, the best ever among all my expeditions going back to 2002. Everybody gets along really well, and the excitement and anticipation is contagious.

My next report will be from Phakding.

Bill

Bill at the Peak View Restaurant in Hong Kon

Bill at the Peak View Restaurant in Hong Kong

Hong Kong across Victoria Harbor

Hong Kong across Victoria Harbor

Shopping district in Hong Kong

Shopping district in Hong Kong

Dinner at Kilroy's

Dinner at Kilroy’s