Pack up your troubles...

Monumental figures ....... 98,534, 98,535 ...... getting close to 100,000 steps now. A busy week at work meant I missed a couple of days on the stepper this week, so, feeling a bit guilty about that, I went for an extra push at the weekend and put in 3 sessions of over 6,000 steps. Also added 120 steps by climbing to the top of a local monument with my youngest son - despite all my training he's still a lot quicker than me! With all of that and a decent bike ride for good measure my guilt feels suitably assuaged! My e-tickets arrived this week. Flight times look pretty good, especially on the way out, with a late evening flight from Heathrow to Delhi meaning I should be able to grab some sleep overnight. The flight to Delhi is 4,169 miles and then it's another 506 miles to Kathmandu. Mountain Kingdoms really do go the extra mile when it comes to customer service. Alongside my tickets I also received an up to date trip dossier and a travel sized itinerary which will fit nicely in my day pack. There is some really detailed advice about how to navigate Kathmandu airport successfully. I remember arriving there in 1990 completely unprepared and it being something of a culture shock for an inexperienced 3rd world traveller. One odd thing to remember when travelling to India and Nepal is that the time differences are not in round hours - India is 5 and a half hours ahead of GMT and Nepal 5 and three quarters. Apart from picking up a prescription of antibiotics and buying some dollars I don't think I have much left to get now but still felt the need for an impromptu kit inspection. Keeping your growing collection of kit in your kit bag at least proves that it will all fit in! I think I should be fine on the weight front but if push comes to shove its always possible to wear boots and transfer some kit to cabin luggage.