September 17th- Everest Base Camp Trek: Day 15

Kathmandon't Want to Leave

A 5am start, bags packed and ready to go. We threw on the cleanest clothes we had and joined Raju for breakfast, anticipation tight in our stomach. He smiled and told us the weather is clear and we will be able to fly today! Our excitement was mixed with sadness, we were happy it would be a stress-free departure but so sad we'd be leaving. We had the most incredible time and would miss the mountains, but most importantly, we'd miss Raju. We had made a friend for life and vowed to return with a big group of people (any takers?).

After enjoying one last Chapati and Tibetan bread for old times sake, we walked to the airport. The sky was crystal clear and perfect to fly. We said our goodbyes and uneventfully went through security and waited to watch out plane arrive. Lukla airport doesn't house any planes so we had to wait for the one arriving from Kathmandu to be unloaded before we could go.

The waiting made us more anxious about the flight. The runway, as you recall, is angled on a slope down and towards the literal edge of the mountain. The more we stared at the tiny runway, the more anxious we got. Luckily we didn't have time to mull it over, our flight was early and we climbed on board. (Sorry about the editing, we had to speed up to beginning so the file would fit!)




A perfect take off and a beautiful clear flight. We arrived safely in Kathmandu and returned to our hostel where we were reunited with our clean clothes. We are now cleaned, scrubbed and wearing fresh clothes, happy to be back where there are working toilets.

We had the most amazing time, a once in a lifetime opportunity that we will never forget. No matter the snags and bumps we had along the way, it was perfect. We are so proud of ourselves that we accomplished such a challenging trek and are still in shock of the sights we had seen. We have seen Mt. Everest, we conquered the Cho La Pass. We faced our fears of heights on suspension bridges and we climbed mountains. We carried our bags over boulders and over glaciers. We did it! 



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