By Thursday morning, our entire group of twelve had assembled at the hotel. The eclectic mix had gathered from five different states, plus one Canadian and two young Americans presently living in London and China. The well-traveled party included a man who had previously stood on the highest point in 49 of the 50 states, but whose current health issues caused him to abandon the trip before we even left Kathmandu. For the past six months, at least one member of the group had used the services of a personal trainer to prepare for the adventure. There was one other couple besides us, plus two other folks who had met on a previous R.E.I. trip. We all spent the day getting to know each other while touring a number of tourist high spots, including Patan’s Durbar Square, the Great Stupa of Boudhanath, and Swayambhunath (a.k.a. “Monkey Temple”).