Today is actually the 3rd of May according to my airline ticket! The flight to Lukla (trek start point) was an experience i'll never forget, though i wish i could!
This morning was an ealr 5:30am start as I had to pack and then carry my bags to the office by 7am! I am in no way a porter and felt sniggers from the locals as i heaved the bag over the 40min walk. My rush was pointless but as the staff weren't ready - they had been told that there was bad weather at lukla and so the flight was delayed - they could have told me! Eventually we went and picked up the other clients from the hotel but still had to wait at the airport.
2 hours and a $2.50 Jeffrey Archer finally brought the all clear. Domestic customs was unsurprisingly even more chaotic than the international. Crates of god-knows-what were lying everwhere in the passenger terminal. After we went through x-rays and pat-downs, Karma asked if we had any knives. Robyn, Karma's Canadian girlfriend, did so Karma just shoved it deep into his day pack where the gaurd couldn't be bothered searching. Such comforting security!
A lot more waiting and we boarded the plane. It looked like something out of an Indiana Jones flick so Robyn and I were quick to join each other in humming the theme tune. Inside the aircraft was antique - metal seats that made the interior look like a WW2 aircraft. I had scored a seat on the left side and so could see the tips of the Himalayas as we flew across the valley! But there is a saying amongst nepali pilots - "watch out for clouds, there are mountains in them!". So the view was fast overridden with fear as the plane flew into some terrible turbulence just 20m above 2000m peaks! The rudder on the plane was at a right angle in an attempt to stay steady!
I'd heard a lot aout the Lukla landing and it certainly lived up to expectations. We literally flew into the mountain, the sloped runway slowing us down! It will be even greater taking off as the strip as a small jump off the cliff face. Im not particularly looking forward to it.
We had our packed lunches with tea at a lodge whilst Karma and Subash organised the porters for our trek. The lunches were made at a 5 star hotel but the sandwiches tasted a little funny so noone was too keen to eat them!
The 2-3 hour trek to Phakding (say it) was a good introduction, mainly because it was downhill! Karma has promised that it will get harder but for now we are all ok. My blisters from the Pokhara adventures were still bulging but don't seem to be affected by the walking and the patches just made things worse.
I was glad to see that Rodger, Olivia, Paul and I were all cultural and had Dal Bhat (rice, veg and lentil soup) with Paul and I meeting the all-you-can-eat bargain! But Dorothy and Marjorie had roast chicken and Robyn even had a pizza! Slackers.
