Travel Footprints

We spent our last night in Lukla with a big celebration! Passang Sherpa, the elderly innkeeper of the lodge near the Lukla airport, spent some time chatting with us over dinner and then brought out drinks on the house to toast to our successful climb. Not just any beer – he brought out pitchers of Chang, a local brew in this part of the Himalayas (think lambanog!) for our small party of trekkers, porters and guides.

Thankfully, the serious drinking spree the night before did not stop us from waking up early the next day. Simply because, early morning in Lukla sounded like a scene straight out of a World War 2 film with the buzz of all these tiny otter planes flying in and out of the Tenzing-Hillary Airport. This airport sure was buzzing with activities!

We took our breakfast of pancake and noodle soup while chatting with trekkers who just arrived in Lukla, then bid good-bye to the people we met – both locals and foreigners – as we made our way to the airport for the usual check-in procedure. As a parting gift, we gave a goodie bag of used gloves, scarf, wool sacks and shoes to our porters. We figured we would not be using those winter gears as much and it would be more useful for them living in the freezing Himalayas. They, of course, gratefully accepted. We will never forget these kind people who accompanied us throughout the trek!

The rest of Day 12 in the Himalayas was basically spent waiting in the Tenzing-Hillary airport. The general mood was chaotic but at least we have Ang Dawa Rai to sort out everything for us – from luggage check-in to securing our boarding pass. We witnessed at least 5 successful take-offs and landings in the short elevated runway and would always be amazed at how those pilots managed to take-off in this extremely short runway at a high altitude as Lukla.

Ang Dawa Rai would give us updates every now and then on our flight status – airport in Kathmandu is crowded and our plane could not take off just yet, a plane that successfully took off from Kathmandu had to turn around becuase of low visibility, no planes can take off from Lukla because of the cloudy weather. By the time we were about to board our plane, we were even told to disembark again hence –

Frankly speaking, we didn’t mind the wait. It’s just amusing how the passengers (us) were left right on the tarmac while the pilots wait for clearance to take off. At least, they are concerned about safety! We’ve seen enough take off and landing on this airport to conclude that it is not an easy feat. One small miscalculation might be fatal such as this crash incidence in Lukla airport –

If you don’t see the video, click here!

This plane crash landing in Lukla happened a few years back. They said the pilot must have thought they already reached the tip of the runway but missed it a couple of meters because it was too damn foggy. A local said there was only one survivor on that flight – the co-pilot – who was able to eject himself from his seat right before the crash and landed on the runway. So, we really did not mind the delay. When we did take off eventually after a few hours, I heard the pilot say (because I was seated so close to the cockpit!) that we had to fly 15,000 feet instead of the usual 10,000 feet just to get a clearer visibility.

It was a turbulent ride, I was really scared for our lives and prayed that this tin can of a plane would bring us safely back to Kathmandu. And thankfully God heard our prayers! After 1 hour and 5 minutes (instead of 35 minutes) of dizzying plane ride, we were being picked up by Harkaraj Pariyar in the Tribuvhan Airport. We arrived in Kathmandu in one piece! It was certainly an exciting way to cap off our Himalayan adventure

Trek the Himalayas Day #2: Phakding, Namche Bazar
Pit Stop: Namche Bazar
Elevation: 3,440 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 64% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 100 rupees/USD 1.40

We left Phakding promptly at 7am today after a breakfast of Tibetan bread, chapati (rotti) and scrambled eggs. We were warned about the length and steepness of today’s climb to Namche Bazar so we wanted an early start. Problem is, that seems to be the idea of every other trekker that was coming from Phakding. Eventually, it got too crowded on the trails with yaks, jopke (cross between yak and buffalo), horses and trekkers all converging at some point.

Since the Westerners (mostly Europeans) were pretty fast by our standards, we decided to let them pass us group by group, and we trudged steadily up and down the mountains with several river crossings on a bridge similar to this video –

We had our lunch break in Jorsaille (2,800m) where we ordered spaghetti and cheese as well as chicken curry and rice. Dawa, our Sherpa, was carrying with him a box with his bag all the way from Kathmandu and we had a pleasant surprise knowing what was inside during lunch break. It was one box-full of fruits! That was such a sweet gesture from him.

Another pleasant surprise was seeing this sign in the lodge/restaurant where we stayed for lunch –

We inched our way slowly up mountains and down to the river to go up again eventually. We had our trekking permit stamped in the Sagarmatha National Park office somewhere in Monjo (2,850 m), evidence of our hard work. Hehe. Didn’t I say there were a lot of trekkers? By past noon, they were way ahead of us on the other mountain when I took this shot –

And we were left trekking side by side with porters that have unbelievable weight on their shoulders!

Imagine how slow we were going? But that snail-pace still managed to get us up to Namche Bazar (3,440 m) by half-past 4 in the afternoon. We absolutely loooooved the vibe of Namche Bazar – it’s like a little marketplace or tiangge that you wouldn’t expect in a mountain! Mr. Rono even had his ‘Trekker’s Massage’ and I bought some books for the rest of the trek – basically everything you need can somehow be found here!

The thought of shopping and logging in the internet again was re-energizing after the long trek! And the place where we stayed, Hotel Snowland, was fairly new opening only 2 months ago. We had our dinner of mixed fried rice and buffalo momo and played cards in the dining hall which we shared with an elderly couple from the US and a young German fellow with his Sherpa.

Our porters also did a good job choosing our room with a view of Namche Bazar!

Trek the Himalayas Day #1: Kathmandu, Lukla, Phakding
Pit Stop: Phakding
Elevation: 2,910 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 73% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 150 rupees/USD 2.15

Straight from the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, we proceeded to the trekking part of our adventure. All 3 of us (myself, Mr. Rono and Chin) were in high spirits as we marvel at the sights of the first leg of our Himalayan trek.

We stopped for lunch at Tharokosi (2500m) in Solukhumbu where we saw the ad for missing backpacker above. I think it’s scary to venture out alone in this kind of trek but somehow, we still see people trekking alone – without a guide or a Sherpa. Lunch consisted mainly of mixed fried rice (meat, egg and rice) and dal bhat (the Nepali version of our munggo) with rice. After a short break, on we go towards Phakding…

We arrived at Phakding (2,910m) by 3:00pm and we had snacks of cheese momo (Nepali dimsum) and something more familiar you’ll never guess what!

They actually serve San Miguel beer in the Himalayas!

Dinner of roast chicken with macaroni and vegetables were served by 7pm and then it’s bedtime! This was the first night (of many other nights) where we slept cozily inside our sleeping bags in a lodge.

But first…

After 35 minutes in-flight of what seems like the route to ‘Hallelujah mountains’ in the movie Avatar because you see mountain peaks on either side of the plane (except, of course, this is rooted to the ground not floating like in the movies), we made it to the quaint mountain town of Lukla. I will not even talk yet of the extremely exciting landing in the short runway of the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, I will reserve that for another post because it deserves a whole write-up on its own.

As soon as landing in Lukla, first order of the day for both Mr. Rono and I was to rummage through our bag for our fleece jackets. It was so cooooold! Weather forecast has recorded temperature at 20 degrees Celsius, but real feel must be about 15 degrees!

Mr. Rono poses with our Sherpa, Ang Dawa Rai, in front of 'Starbucks' Lukla

In one of the exhibits we saw during the trek, Lukla was described as the “major point of entry to Sagarmatha National Park Buffer Zone. Its bitumen-surfaced airstrip is particularly busy during the trekking season with more than
50 flights landing per day. Over 90% of the visitors to the area arrive by air at Lukla. The quiet herding village of Lukla has now developed into a bustling town with numerous lodges, restaurants, bakeries and internet cafes.”

You might wonder why only 90% of the visitors arrive via air transportation. We actually met a porter who had to WALK, yes walk, for 3 days to get from Kathmandu to Lukla due to unavailability of seats. Apparently, you can ride a bus from Kathmandu to a town called Jiri and then trek the rest of the way to Lukla…for 3 whole days!

Porters from a big expedition group getting organized

Our trekking team was finally completed after we met our 2 porters in Lukla. The porters and Sherpa got our bags organized while we drink our milk tea and think of the Himalayan adventure slowly unfolding before us.

Mr. Rono and Mrs. Rono for last-minute shopping before the trek begins!

Day 1 of our Himalayan trek started very early in the morning on March 28 (Sunday). We are to be picked up from the hotel by our tour provider, Harkar Pariyar, at 5am to bring us to the domestic airport for our 35-minute flight from Kathmandu to Lukla.

Farewell Hotel Everest! See you in two weeks!

Just yesterday, Harkar introduced us to our Sherpa (guide) throughout the trek while we had our briefing in his office and our group of 3 (Mrs. Rono, Mr. Rono and Chin – a friend) will be flying together with our Sherpa to Lukla in the wee hours of the morning. As soon as we arrived in the airport, there is no mistaking the air of adventure around us. Everyone inside the airport were either a trekker, a porter or a Sherpa! And almost everyone was bound for Lukla too!

After the usual airport check-in process, we were whisked off to pre-boarding. Security checks consists mainly of bag inspection while the officer asks you if you are carrying any lighter or knife. Chin was carrying batteries in her pack and that almost got confiscated if not for our plea that it will be used just for her headlamp. And so we boarded the bus that will take us to our tiny 16-seater plane –

Our twin-otter plane to Lukla!

It would take a lot of patience, and about 5 other planes taking off, before we were finally allowed to board our plane. This airport sure is busy in the morning! Onboard, the stewardess got busy giving us…cotton balls! Haha. We were really amused with the thought, we didn’t even know what to do with it at first and then saw others using the cotton as ear plugs!

Everyone gets a...cotton ball!

And we’re off to Lukla – 2,840 meters above sea level!