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There's a new — not so new, from '94 — a new sherpa museum where you can go and visit kind of an authentic sherpa home where there's yak in the bottom part that heats the upstairs where people are living; an authentic kitchen that's nicely labeled; yak dung in a hole pit. So that was pretty interesting as well.

And most of the day was spent walking around the town, shopping, getting that wonderful Nepalese, straight-blade shave that I love so well. It comes with a nice face massage and head massage, all for 20 to 50 rupees depending on your bargaining skills and your smiling. Mostly shopping around.

And most of the afternoon was spent sitting around the park just telling stories about Everest in the past, in the future, and just the wacky crowds of people that have come here over the years. And we had a nice dining on traditional momos, which are something like dumplings. So it was a pretty good day — all the story telling — the group's doing pretty well.

We're looking forward to our hike tomorrow to the village of Thame where Lhakpa is from as well as the famed climber, Ang Rita, so we'll visit that area. It's mostly run by yak herders, people farming there. So we'll get to spend a night in that village and then dine with Lhakpa's parents. So we're looking forward to that a lot, continuing onward and upward. I'm sure Todd or I will check in tomorrow. Hope everybody's well back at the Mountain Zone and throughout the country. Bye.

—Gordon Janow, Trek Leader

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