Everest day 2 – Lukla to Phakding

One scary flight and the start of the Everest trail. Strangely it was all down hill to Phakding.

After the events of the early hours I was well and truly shattered when the alarm woke us up.

Rain greeted us as we boarded the van to the airport for our flight to Lukla. The domestic terminal did all the usual security checks but with a comedic disregard for security. From door to plane was under half an hour, including departures.

My western background led me to mistake one of two sets of male and female signs as toilets. The one I picked was in fact the male boarding gate. I lucked out on our tiny plane and got a front row seat, the same position as in my Galapagos flight. My window was convex, allowing me to look along the side of the plane. Shame it was raining and the view was on the otherwise. From my side clouds held the hills in a tight embrace as we skimmed the valleys.

Upon hearing the landing gear lock in place we scoured the landscape for the fabled runway at Lukla. We were soon in line and landed uphill before braking hard and turning to the right. Any overrun would have put us in the mountain. Watching a plane take off it seemed as though it took to the air with meters to spare.

Heading into town we had breakfast and met the guides. After a final briefing we hit the trail. Turning a large prayer wheel in the edge of town marked the beginning of out trek.

Lukla Starbucks

The days route to Phakding was slow and mainly downhill. We stopped frequently to rest, take pictures and admire the prayers carved into rock formations. For each of these it is customary to pass on the left.

The days formal trek ended with lunch at Phakding. Our group fancied biting off a bit more. Our options were to go the way we came, the way we were going or a side trail up the mountain. We opted for the latter and got in a few hundred meters of extra altitude. There was nothing interesting of note en route so our conversation wained to a debate on how high we’d climbed. We decided the only way to verify it would be to throw Alex off with a stop watch.

Alex survived the walk back down.

I ended the day exploring the banks of the river and taking photos of the Sherpas as they carried incredible loads across the wire bridge.

Nepalese word of the day:
Dhanyabaad – Thank You