Blogs from Everest flight, Kathmandu, Nepal, Asia

On our very next morning the whole group, minus one perhaps fearful couple, woke up very early and bussed to the local airport to fly Buddha Air's "Best Mountain Flight in the World." The morning was slightly overcast, which caused some not so small concern among several of us. But we boarded the two propeller plane, each of us strapped into a window seat, and off we went. Climbing through the clouds, we burst above them into a world of tall mountains, seeing valleys and tiny villages far below, impenetrable rock faces, and snow high on the peaks. It was stunning and absolutely gorgeous, a happy surprise to actually see the mighty Himalayan range so close. Following the maps given us, I tried to identify which summit was which, knowing that Everest couldn't be seen for ... read more

While people at home were still celebrating Canada day into the wee hours of the morning, we woke up to our 4:30 am alarms. There is good reason for this, though. Today was the day we were going to see Mount Everest!!! I'm sure that you're wondering about how we could do the trek from Kathmandu to Everest in a mere day. Well, we flew. Unfortunately it's not as cool as doing the Everest Basecamp trek... But seeing Everest from a plane is almost as cool. A whole group of us staying at the hotel (Elysia, Mike, Nasrin, and the Ottawa guys: Erik, Katie, MJ and Pauline) got a van to the airport at 5:15 am for our 6:30 mountain flight. It cost $150 USD but it was probably the best money I've ever spent! Well ... read more

Good news - the skies are clear today - it rained all last night so the clouds have lifted and the planes are flying :) Typing on a wee laptop in a wee alcove (aka "the cyber cafe") in the departure area at the mayhem of the domestic terminal of Kathmandu airport. Within the next hour, I'll be on a flight to the Himalaya. Just typing that made my skin tingle. Land in Lukla and hit the trail straight away, hoping to avoid the queues. Having said that, the chances of that are small as there is a back-log of trekkers from yesterday and the planes have been flying solidly since 6am delivering people to the hills. I can see why Hillary feels bad about having created Lukla airport and it now being used to let ... read more

This morning we did a mountain flight to get a look at Mt. Everest from Nepal - fantastic!!!... read more

So we arrived in Kathmandu safe and sound. As we made our descent David looked out the window and said 'are we crashing or landing'! The plane merely skirts over the tree and rice covered peaks surrounding Kathmandu. Lots of steep banking and nose diving sees you touching down all rather quickly but at least safely - perhaps this a landing I wouldn't want to do in a storm!! So we had a quick walk out in the evening and visited the Rum Doodle Bar, home of the yeti inscribed footprint bar. This is one of the many places (but perhaps the most famous) that everyone comes back to post trek or climb. The likes of Hilary, Bonnington and Hall - to name but a few - have added their signatures to the footprints. It oozes ... read more