Photo taken a few minutes ago of Jangbu and Kandi Sherpa's house, a tiny cabin on the edge of Patale Village. The picture shows Tenzing Sherpa taking down camp, because we are going to his house for lunch, and then across the valley where we will meet the health care workers for the Mount Everest Foundation for Sustainable Development in Nepal and Tibet.

Greetings from the hinterlands of northern Okhaldhunga district.  I'm John Vavruska, the guy who instigated this trek along with Dan Mazur's encouragement.  I had built a gravity flow water system for a village called Nirmalidanda in Khotang District 5 days walk east of here in 1983-1984. This is my first time back to the hills of Nepal and, as Yogi Berra would say, it's deja vu all over again but with some important differences.  We'll be sending out dispatches over the next two weeks as we work our way eastward to Nirmalidanda.  I look forward to giving my impressions of life in the hills of Nepal now compared to twenty years ago.

As I sit in this tent in the remote Sherpa village called Patale far from any trek routes, I've just had my third cup of Chang, the Sherpa's barley beer.  Refusing chang is unacceptable; the best you can do is get away with only two fill-ups.  But it is refreshing and a good source of carbohydrate.

We've encountered more than a hundred Nepali army soldiers, bored to death with being in remote high outposts (they'd rather be back home) and no Maoists.....so far.  I'll end with saying it's really good to be back here and I am very pleased that my Nepali is coming back - it is really satisfying to communicate with people in their native language and people respond so much more to westerners who can speak it.

Namaskaar, John Vavrusk

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