New Player - Where do I begin?

[Unaleyas]

Been out of the game since classic Everquest back in the day, never had a chance to play Kunark. I am currently installing the game and would like to plan out a bit of my adventure. I'm going to be playing an Iksar Shaman or Iksar Monk, leaning towards Monk so a lot of my time is going to be spent on a continent I've never seen before. So what are your suggestions?

What places are must see?

Is it feasible to go 1-60 on Kunark alone? I'm aware that its possible, but either route I go id like to group with some folks at some point. Are there enough people still playing in Kunark with Velious being out there?

Any guilds out there? This is a social game - it gets lonely soloing all of the time.

I've been reading some of the guides and have found a lot of answers already but would like some input from the current state of the game. Keep in mind I haven't played this game for something like 17 years.