Everest 2009

6 NOVEMBER
Every day we try to go up the Helena's, which claims to be the highest rooftop cafe in Kathmandu, more for the view than the food. On the trail we won't have the culinary choices on offer in Kathmandu, so we do try different places and food here.

We've got seats on a flight to Lukla on the morning of 8 November. From Lukla, we start the trek, which should take us 24 days and take us to the foot of Mount Everest and surrounding Himalayan giants.

Someone at our hotel said Gayoom had been Maldives president since he was a little kid and he was glad that the we now had a new president. "I don't like dictators", he told us. A lot of the Nepalis have heard of Gayoom and seem pleasantly surprised that he's no longer in power.

A guy at the Nepali tourist promotion board said his country's cabinet was taking cue from the Maldives and planning to hold a meeting on Mount Everest to draw the world's attention to global warming.