Beep! Beep! Beep! Five in the morning and we're up, ready to set off on our trek! We hop into the taxi and off we go to the airport. Coming with us is a Chilean girl, Pamela, from our hostel who'll be joining us. We arrive at the airport and are directed to domestic flights. The airport in Nepal can't help but make you laugh, it follows the same steps as a regular airport, but no one seems to care. We put all our baggage through x-ray, yet no one watches the screens. We walked through metal detectors and received pat-downs, yet no one mentioned the phone left in your pocket or the weird lump from a couple granola bars. Nepal is a very relaxed country!
After our "security check", we get our boarding passes and go and sit to wait for our flight. The thing to know about flying to Lukla is that since the landing approach is done purely visually, flights take off only when the weather is pristine, so it is not uncommon to see flights being delayed or cancelled. That in mind, we are keeping a close eye on the screens displaying the next flights. However, our flight, number 115 at 7:25 to Lukla, was not displaying anywhere leading up to departure time. Matt went up and asked a couple times and they just told him "Half an hour, maybe". We noticed that another couple seemed to be doing the same thing we were so we assumed they were on the same flight and kept and eye on them. After a while, someone called them forward and off they went. Still no sign of our flight anywhere, Matt ran over to see what was happening and then waved us over, it was time to board apparently!
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This is going to be an interesting flight!
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We got on the bus through our gate and were driven to a tiny propeller plane. Having heard that it offered the best view, we sat on the left side of the plane. The stewardess came round and offered us a sweet and cotton balls for our ears. Not long after, we took off. For those who have ever flown in a propeller plane, you know how jumpy the ride can be, but after a while we fell into the motion and it was a rather smooth flight. We fly over Kathmandu and then through mountains, passing over small farming communities on top of the mountains and along the rivers that snake through the valleys. Off in the distance we caught our first glimpse of snowcapped mountains. Though we were in a plane, the mountains on either side towered over us and we felt minute.
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The valley below held a string of hilltop villages.
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| In the distance, a hint of things to come! |
After a short 30 minute flight we began our very rapid decent. Before we knew it we had touched down on the runway and were in Lukla. We exited the plane and looked back at the tiny runway and fully appreciated the skill it took for these pilots to land on such a tiny runway, all visually as well.
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| Lukla airport. The tiny runway is sloped down to the edge of the mountain. |
We met up with our guide, Raju, gathered our bags and went for breakfast, over which we discussed the route we were to take that day. We were going to walk to the nearby town of Phakding. Breakfast finished and water bottles filled, we set off.
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| Raju!! Our guide for the next two weeks and friend for life! |
Matt nearly getting run off the cliff by a herd of
donkeys.
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| Staring into his adventure. |
Three(ish) hours later, we arrive at the tea house in Phakding, just in time to avoid the rain! We get shown to our room and met in the dining room for lunch. Made of wood, it gives off the air of a a skiing cabin with long tables and a wood burning stove in the middle. The windows on the back wall look out over the mountain and valley below us, with a river running underneath, a very pleasing view.
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| All the tea houses to come fit the decor. |
We order lunch (more momos and fried noodles) and then head off to
bed and fall right asleep after our early morning start. We barely wake in time for dinner, then right back asleep, ready for a big day tomorrow.
Altitude: 2610m
Hours trekked: 3-4
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