I arrived in Kathmandu on March 20 in the morning. As many times before, my good Sherpa friend Fur Geljen Sherpa was waiting for me and welcomed me in the Sherpa manner: With a big smile and a “good luck” scarf. We went straight to my favored small hotel near Thamel and the repacking started. The plan was to leave for the Khumbu area the day after. The next morning I walked around in this vibrant, dusty and noisy city, smelled again all the different flavors and enjoyed the warm temperature. It was about 28C/82F! I did some final shopping for my twelve-day trekking and went to bed early.