Thanks and kudos to the Alpine Ascents International staff who ran this trek, especially Luis Benitez, Nima, and Passang; also to Govinda, and to Jiban Ghimire, our always-cheerful liaison in Kathmandu. Leslie, Tad, and Dina, you were a joy to trek with. Many, many friends and family members encouraged me to go; thanks to all of you. And most of all, thanks to my patient (and non-trekking) husband, Rich.

Technical stuff: The pictures were taken with a Pentax P30T 35mm camera, using a Tamron AF28-80mm zoom lens, a Tiffen sky filter, and Fujichrome Sensia 100 slide film. The Web site was built on a Mac G4 Powerbook using a variety of tools, including Dreamweaver and Photoshop.

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A sad postscript: Just a few weeks after I went home, the airport control tower in Phaplu was destroyed by a mob of Maoist rebels. Government officials in the nearby town of Salleri, headquarters of the Solu district, were killed that day too. The CPN (Maoist) "party," which model themselves on Peru's Shining Path guerrillas, claim responsibility for this and other disturbances in Nepal recently, including a lodge burned down last year in Lukla. In response, martial law has been declared. Freedom of the press has been abridged; the army has been deployed; their economy will suffer even more than it was while I was there. We live in a small world, and while we need to pay attention to our own problems at home and in Afghanistan, please keep the people of Nepal in your prayers.