The tour officially starts today.  We were to meet up at Hotel Manaslu, for the tour briefing at 5pm.  Some of our riders had already been there for several days, but many of us were arriving in the afternoon/evening, or transferring from elsewhere in Kathmandu.  Hotel Manaslu was quite a nice hotel, a couple of kilometers from the tourist district of Thamel.

Tour briefing was an enormous affair.  Our tour leaders were Blair Coburn and Jason Williams from Grasshopper Adventures; but we also had local Nepali guides- Ankit, Dawa and Mingma; as well as 15 porters who would join us at the start of the trek. In total, we would have 50 riders and support crew on tour!

Jason and Blair gave us a rundown on the route, riding conditions, health and safety and other logistical issues.  Ken distributed the Unipal T-shirts (much to his relief), and we then headed to a restaurant down the road for our first meal together.

Dinner was entertaining, with some Nepali dances and music to liven up the atmosphere.  Our last riders to arrive- Chris and Tom, finally made it after flight delays, just in time for their Dhal Bhat.

We were all set for the tour!