After a seven or eight hour layover in Delhi, Ryan and I boarded our Jet Airways plane for the short flight to Kathmandu. It was a relief to finally board the plane after a lot of sitting around. Of course, Ryan was especially pleased to be celebrating his birthday in an airport.

Nearing Kathamndu, we were treated to stunning views of the surrounding landscape, and in the distance, the Himalayas. Jaw dropping. Like two little kids we ooh-ed and ahh-ed at the sheer bulk of these massive mountains while identifying the peaks from the air - Shishapengma, Ama Dablam, Manasalu, Nuptse, Lhotse and the goddess mother of the mountains herself, Chomolungma, Mount Everest.

At this distance, it's hard to imagine all the effort that goes into climbing any one of these peaks, so we push aside the dark thoughts and instead simply watch in awe as the plane effortlessly passes over the forested hills below eventually reaching the sprawl of flat topped buildings that make up Kathmandu. This will be Ryan's first visit back to Nepal after the devastating earthquake that destroyed so many lives and I am curious how he will react.

Upon landing Ryan comments, 'when I left the airport was filled with military planes and helicopters from Nations around the world.'

Today the airport seems relatively calm. We disembark, apply for our visas and are relieved to find that all our our Granite Gear duffles have made the transatlantic flight and arrived safely. Tshering, founder of Himalayan Trailblazers is waiting for us and we load our bags into a small minivan and snake our way through the Kathmandu traffic.

I was first introduced to Tshering by Ryan in 2010 when I was planning for my Fall Everest climb and he was the integral component in arranging all the logistics, permits, support staff and climbing team. To say that I would not have reached the summit of Everest without Tshering's help is an extreme understatement. Tshering is also Ryan's main outfitter for all of his Himalayan expeditions that he run's through his company, Mountain Professionals.

While we were initially planning on a low budget self-supported expedition here. Both Ryan and I were swamped with planning for future expeditions and other work so we asked Tshering to help with our logistics for this trip as well. Tshering is the guy who gets things done.

Once at the Yak and Yeti we met up a with Peter McDonough who will be joining us for the 'trekking' part of our journey up the Rolwaling. After a brief catch up, we were back in a taxi on a death-defying ride to find Miss Elisabeth Hawley, a journalist who moved to Nepal in 1960 and never left. Miss Hawley is curator of the Himalayan database, an extensive record of Himalayan attempts, summits, deaths and more.

For nearly 30 minutes, we sat in awe as this 82 year-old woman questioned us about our routes, location of our camps and a surprising variety of other details. Once finished, she wowed us with her knowledge of past climbs, climbers, first and failures. It was quite an honor to be in the presence of such a Himalayan great.

We ended up being a little late to the tourism office, but with file cabinets hanging open with stacks of old files, it didn't seem like our lack of punctuality would be an issue. Surprisingly, we only waited for about 30 minutes before being called into a room to sign our permits and receive a short briefing about etiquette, culture, and removing our trash while climbing in the Himalayas.

At the end of the speech, the two officials offered a small request. Please take pictures in all four directions from the summits of both peaks.

You see, as no one has previously climbed the mountains in which we are attempting, the tourism office felt it important to be able to share our experience with the rest of the world.

Image: Miss Hawley filling in the blanks.