Lukla (luuk lah) – April 19

We boarded vans at 4 am and traveled to a small airport in Kathmandu to fly to Lukla. Gary’s friend and our local travel connection, Sunil, had arranged for us to take the first flight to Lukla in an effort to avoid weather delays. Lukla is considered the most dangerous airport in the world, with an extremely short runway on a high altitude cliff at 9,000 feet. Pilots must be able to clearly see their landing target to avoid calamity. As nature has its own plans, a storm came in early and we waited for hours at the airport for the weather to lift. Everyone killed the time in a different way. Andrew did push-ups. I parked myself at the only outlet I could find in order to use Wifi and upload photos and text to this blog. Scott downloaded his new Peak Finder app (very cool – I recommend checking it out). Others read or slept.

One plane flew out ahead of us, but no other planes could take off. By 11 am, we needed a contingency plan. There were no rooms at the hotel in Kathmandu, so we could not wait it out and try tomorrow. We decided that if by noon, planes were still unable to fly out, we would helicopter in for around $500 each. After the distance we had come at this point, we were all in. Just as we were discussing this plan, I overhead our flight number called over the airport speaker system. Sunil rushed over to us, told us to grab our things and we were out on the tarmack in less than two minutes to board a shuttle over to the twin prop aircraft. A window had opened up in the weather and if we were going to fly out, it would have to be now.

Once boarded, the pilot announced we would need to wait about 15 to 20 minutes before takeoff. Kathy promptly replied, “Well if we have to wait, will you at least clean my window so I can see out and take pictures?” The airline employee who the comment was directed to looked slightly amused until he realized she was serious. Then a deadpan look came over his face. He disappeared and reappeared a moment later with glass cleaner and proceeded to clean every window on that plane while his buddies laughed at him from under the shadow of the airplane wing.

As we approached our landing, we all craned our necks out the window to try and catch a glimpse of her, who we had all come to see; Everest. We applauded the pilot upon landing and high-fived each other on the tarmack. Once our duffel bags were unloaded, we quickly transferred all our hiking essentials to our backpacks so the porters could take off ahead of us up the trail. We met our Sherpas for the trip; Tashi, Pasang, Phruba, and Dawa, whom Gary has sponsored since youth as he was orphaned. These men would be our guides for the entire trek to and from Everest Base Camp. While we are all self sufficient, we need experts to help us navigate through the villages, among the people and culture, let alone the difficult terrain at high altitudes.

After a quick lunch of tea, toast, baked beans and cabbage slaw, we hit the trail to our first teahouse destination for the night; Phakding. Needless to say, our eyes were wide open and likely our jaws as well, as this was the first journey to Nepal for most of us. It was surprising to me to see so many shops, restaurants and lodges along the way. I’m used to backpacking in the wilderness where once on trail, you will not see any infrastructure except perhaps a prefabricated metal fire pit ring. This scene would continue throughout the trek until we reached the rural villages of the upper highlands, and even still, there would be plenty of places to find coffee, food and a place to sleep.

As an animal lover, I must have taken more pictures with yaks and mules in the foreground than anything else. Of course, the backdrop of the Himalayas grew more beautiful with every step we took. I was also extremely impressed by the porters who carry the gear for climbers and trekkers like me, as well as any other supplies that are needed or desired on the mountain. Our team’s spirits were high, although the rain drizzled above our heads. It was a beautiful rainy day in the Himalayas. We were all super charged for this three week adventure ahead of us.

All along the trail there are stupas (holy monuments with rounded domes and a fixture on top resembling a steeple) with prayer wheels and prayer flags. Large boulders are painted white with black Sanskrit lettering for prayers. Piles of stone slabs etched with these Sanskrit prayers are called manis. It is part of the spiritual belief that you must walk to the left of such monuments, clockwise, in the direction that the world spins in the universe. Some stupas and monasteries have prayer wheels adorning the entire circumference or area of the structure. The prayer wheels are meant to be spun and when you spin every one at a holy site, many blessings will come your way.

After about a 5 to 6 mile hike, we reached the Sonam Guest House. Those who had been on this trek before in 2010 were absolutely amazed to find electricity, an outlet and restroom with lighting in most rooms. There was still a common restroom down the hall with a squatting pan toilet. Our duffels were transported to our rooms and after hot tea, the lodge owner and his family served us a delicious dinner of vegetable chow mein, fried rice and momos (steamed dumplings filled with vegetables or meat). We crawled into our sleeping bags on top of the bed covers for a well deserved sleep after a long and eventful day.