This week Embark Adventures’ Island Peak trek is heading into the mountains of Nepal, where they aim to climb 20,210-foot Imja Tse, better known as Island Peak.

Already, the group has seen Kathmandu tourist sites such as Pashupatinath, a Hindu site of ceremonial cremations on funeral pyres along the holy Bagmati River, and the medieval town of Bhaktapur, one of the original three kingdoms of the Kathmandu Valley.

Most recently they crossed the Dhud Khosi River on a bridge which Embark’s Ken Stober helped to build  in 1998 for the benefit of the people of Syangma village. They were met by a veteran climber of Mount Everest and K2, who took them to his home for a cup of traditional Sherpa sweet milk tea.

And lest you think it’s all rough and tumble on an Embark trek to Nepal, here’s a shot of two group members “roughing it in Lukla.”