Blogs from Lukla, Nepal, Asia - page 3

Mark and I soldiered on in the Irish bar until well after dark. Stepping outside into the dark was somewhat of a suprise - and something neither of us had thought too much about or prepared for. We headed off back towards the airport where our lodge was, and once we passed the last of the lighted shops it occured to us they neither of us had a torch, and in the asbence of any street lights - this was a bit of a predicament. Mark and I stumbled on resolutely in the dark across the rocky and uneven street for a few metres or so, until some nice Nepalese woman appeared out of nowhere and shone her torch at our feet to guide our way. She did this for the 5 minutes it took us ... read more

High on adrenalin from the chopper flight, we headed off to our lodge for the morning - for once devoid of any guides or our guide leader to escort us. The first order of the day - to celebrate or calm the nerves, or both, was a round of Everest Beers for the gods of the skies and mountains! Following several more rounds of beers, and then lunch, our room keys and Dirge our guide leader materialised. The res of the day was free (we kind of figured that out) - no more acclimistisation walks, no more uphills other than to negotiate the few metres ascent into Lukla main street itself.... read more

Piling out of the plane we headed for the nearest hotel for a spot of tea. My legs were still shaking, and from what I could see, the same for the rest of my trekking party. We met our two guides that would be with us on the trek, alongside out guide leader. We were also introduced to the porters who were busy strapping the large and heavy blue holdalls together to be transported to Phakding – our first days destination. In the days to come when I my 5kg day sack felt too heavy to bear, I reminded myself of the sherpas who were carrying 30kg + of our gear up the mountain ahead of us. Taking tea and finally starting to relax, I was able to soak up the skyline before me. Two snow ... read more

Heading around the outskirts of the runway we entered the main street in Lukla. The street was a narrow crowded place with all manner of shops, stalls, teahouse and a couple of bars, not to mention some cows lounging around. I spy the highest Irish bar in the world, and my thoughts immediately turn to my beloved wife with whom we always seek out an Irish bar in whichever foreign city we travel to. On this journey it looks like I will have take one for the team on my return to Lukla in a 13 days time. I pass a hard rock café, which I suspect isn’t a real one, several more cows, lots of tourists and eventually we head to the outskirts of town. I am amazed to be greeted with a sign that ... read more

Kathmandu 1337m - Lukla 2800m - Phakding 2610m - Benkar 2710m - Monjo 2840m Time taken: Lukla - Phakding 1 hours 50 mins Phakding - Monjo 1 hour 30 mins An early morning start from sunny Kathmandu airport aboard a tiny plane is followed by a nerve-wracking flight. Turbulance is to be expected in this size of plane flying so close to the mountains, i'm told by those who have flown it before. As the plane leaves the valley over a ridge, the plane shakes and jolts enough to cause a few white knuckles on arm rests. From the small windows of the cramped cabin, the mountains are above and to every side it seems, almost close enough to touch. Small waves of pre-panic give way to exhiliration at the scenery. As the plane tilts forward ... read more