From S. Korea

We just arrived in Incheon, South Korea...I was surprised to learn it has recently been moved here from North Korea. (-;

Next stop is Kathmandu, but right now...breakfast, stat

Namaste,
Jim Ronning

Jim doing battle with his phone

Jim is furiously tapping away at his phone trying to find out who moved North Korea.

Arrival in Korea

We just arrived at Incheon International Airport in Korea at 5:00 in the morning. We just met up with Sue and Marie who arrived yesterday and were lucky enough to get some sleep in a hotel room in the airport. The plane leaves for Nepal in another 2.5 hours :-) Mark K

GPS Waypoints

I recently added some GPS waypoints of interest to the website in the area of Lukla to EBC, Imja Tse, and Kathmandu.  All were taken from various sources so their accuracy hasn't been confirmed, but they are worth downloading to your GPS if you don't have some already.  They are in GPX format.  Use the following link to get to the correct page.  Mark K

https://sites.google.com/site/imjatse27n86e/misc-3

Satellite Phone Update

Dick Durant and I have rented a satellite phone which should arrive in a few days.  Anybody still interested in sharing the cost is welcome to participate.  See a blog post below for more details or email me at mele34@gmail.com.  No pressure, just putting the information out there . . . Mark K

10 days to departure

Well, we're getting pretty clos to departure now, only about 10 more days. I think I have most of the details corralled, but who knows? We've added a new traveler in the last couple days, Rachael Cadden, from S. California, so interest in the region continues, despite two other Mazama groups heading there within a few days of each other.
I will be reminding our group of this blog site in the next couple days, so I expect blogging activity to increase as others share their last minute thoughts.
Meanwhile, Mark Koss has added a regional weather link to the website, so we can all check it compulsively and fret about weather conditions in Lukla.
Good cyber-fun.
Sent from my I-Phone...
Best Regards,
Jim Ronning

Satellite Phone

I''m considering the rental of a satellite phone for limited personal use during our trip.  It will likely be an Iridium 9555 that has the capacity to text (with a limit of 160 characters per text).  The phone rents for about $225 per month (covers the activation fee), calls are billed at $1.49 per minute, incoming texts are free, and outgoing texts are $0.50 each.  Supposedly, rental cell phones are available in Kathmandu that work in the Khumbu, but I like the freedom of not having to deal with searching for one during the limited time we have there.  The other benefit is that satellite phones work on Island Peak.  Is there any interest in sharing the $225 rental fee?  The per minute fees are adjustable, based on higher up front fees.  I don't think I have a need for the phone other than occasional brief use - I'm just seeing if there is any interest.  There are many other phones available, but I've used this one extensively.  Thoughts? Mark

Link to the phone . . .