trek briefing and a look round Kathmandu

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Got woken up at 9am !! just time to get to breakfast before the trek briefing. Today we learnt about the snow, Lukla (where our trek was to begin from) airstrip had been closed for several days but had now re-opened so we would be able to begin our trek on time. Due to the amount of snow we were also informed that we would be sleeping in tea houses at certain places as the tents could not be pitched, this was to be paid for by the trekking company as they had made the decision. We also collected our (hired) down jackets and sleeping bags, what a fashion statement they make (!!) nearly as desirable as the Scope t.shirt I had been given when fundraising, still they will keep me warm and that’s what really matters. Briefing over and the rest of the day is mine. Along with a couple of other trekkers I decided to visit Durbar Square on the advice of people who have previously visited Kathmandu, this decision turned out to be a good one, not so the one to walk there !! After being lost for some time we decided to take a taxi and finally arrived in the middle of a demonstration. People were marching with placards and a loud meeting took place on the steps of one of the Squares historic buildings. We learnt that the refuse collectors were on strike, although this should have been obvious from the large piles of rubbish we had seen lying in the gutters during our aimless wanderings. After a look around and a very pleasant lunch in a restaurant roof garden we put our lives in jeopardy by taking a rickshaw to Thamel. I can’t say that this was a pleasant experience but it wasn’t quite as bad as I expected it to be, although I did have to hang on to the side to stop myself falling out. At Thamel we bought some last minute trekking items, for me that was a metal drinking bottle, not for drinking water but to use as a hot water bottle at night, a piece of advice I was very grateful for. Didn’t get much sleep that night as my room mate snored extremely loudly and despite trying earplugs and listening to my mp3 player I just could not block out the noise, unfortunately this undid all the good of the previous nights long and refreshing sleep.