WARNING! This is a long post. But it was a long trek. I've kept it to the days actually trekking, there were days in Kathmandu either side of this, but that's for another post - maybe.
First Day- Kathmandu-Lukla-Phakding
The trek starts from Lukla to which we fly from Kathmandu. The flight into the mountains was cool. Was on the wrong side of the plane for best views but the plane weaves through the valleys and the view in all directions is spectacular. It got a bit bumpy but I’ve had worse landings at Wellington. Lukla runway is incredibly short. On the ground it feels much colder than Kathmandu's balmy tropical temperature, and it was colder in the lodge where we waited for the Americans to catch up with us.
The Yanks were taking too long to arrive and we were getting cold, even after my first Dhal Bhat lunch. So our lead guide Dawa stayed behind and sent us on with Binod his apprentice who took us at a pretty slow pace. The others landed just as we headed off.
The walk was amazing. Stunning countryside and the track is actually flagged with stone a lot of the way. Encountered lots of donkey trains or maybe mules as well as jobos which are a cross between a yak and a cow.
There are lots of settlements along the way full of Buddhist artefacts, mostly prayer wheels of all sizes and lines of prayer flags everywhere. What I wasn’t expecting was the prayers carved into hard rock, sometimes huge boulders. They are stunning works of art.
Even though pace was slow we heated up nicely and it was a lovely hike of around 9 km to Phakding over three hours. We’d only just arrived and got a cup of tea when the Yanks arrived. Dawa had pushed them pretty hard and even though they left over an hour behind us. Apparently they had a terrible flight and had to turn back and land temporarily somewhere else before trying again.
Second Day - Phakding to Namche Bazaar
Starting at about 8.30 looking to climb to over 3,400m so nearly 800 metres of climb most of which happens in the last few kilometres. The track follows a steep sided river valley for most of the first half of the day. We encounter a lot more animal trains and porters so lots of traffic. We criss-cross the Dudh Kosi river a number of times in wide swing bridges similar to the ones we have at home but much bigger and stronger. One of our party asks what the load rating is to mystified looks - the locals apparently assume that the bridge will support whatever they put on it.
We reach the entrance to the Sagarmatha National Park at around 11.00. More paperwork for the guides at the entrance. Through the park gate we descend steeply to another river valley that we follow until it’s time to stop for lunch at a little settlement. Food was very good and plentiful. We’ve been avoiding meat as even Dawa says it’s not a great idea, but dahl bhat is very tasty as was the fried rice that John and I had. Was just as well we first fueled up because after that the work really started with a steep climb up the side of the river valley to the highest swing bridge we’ve encountered yet. It must have been a good 300m from the bridge to the river bed below. A little challenging with my fear of heights but practice is helping as most of the bridges are high and I’ve developed a good technique of looking at the far side and avoiding looking down. Of course they bounce like crazy when you’re in the middle of the span as well.
We leave the river valleys behind after the high bridge and the track climbs remorselessly for another couple of km until we reach a lookout point around 3100m where Everest is visible for the first time in the right weather - which was not this day - so we carried on climbing. By this stage we’ve been slogging it out uphill since lunchtime without much up and down as it was in the valleys so everyone is starting to get tired. I’m feeling the altitude a little - I seem to be breathing much more heavily for the work I’m doing, but no major challenges for anyone so far.
The climb goes on for another few hundred meters which we traverse slowly, reaching Namche and 3440 meters in good time at about 5.00pm. It feels like we’ve arrived in Shangri-La. The town is cradled in a steep and shallow valley facing a spectacular sheer line of peaks, the higher ones look like they are above the permanent snow line. It’s starting to get cold and even though we’re working hard we cool down quickly when we stop.
We finally encounter a group of genuine yaks being herded down the streets as we ascend to our lodge at one of the top levels of the town. They are rather more assertive than the jobos, and amazing to look at.
The lodge here is nicer that the last one and the location makes for spectacular views. We’re here for an acclimation day tomorrow so staying two nights, but we learned that we won’t be idle. We will be taking a half day hike to slightly higher altitude. I suspect this is enough to demonstrate to guides if anyone is obviously going to have a problem.
Discovered that our Sherpa Dawa is quite famous for being the only survivor from a tragedy on the Khumbu icefall where 15 Sherpas died in 2014. He had to give up guiding to the summit after that. So we’re very lucky to have him - he’s in a whole different league. You can read about him on his website www.dawasherpa.com
Third Day – Acclimatising in Namche Bazaar
After a good breakfast relatively late at 7.30 we head for our acclimatisation walk. This consists of heading 400m more or less straight up the hill behind Namche. At this altitude it seems to take me a lot longer to warm up and I’m having to concentrate on my breathing more. I have been watching how the guides move which is at a very slow but steady pace which they can maintain for hours, so I practice this and I find that I can stabilize at a steady pace. This seems to work as I eventually outstrip the rest of the team and reach the top 15 minutes ahead to find Binod the deputy guide waiting for us. When the rest join us Dawa seems annoyed with me for leaving the group behind.
The top is another vantage point for the mountain which we now must call Sagarmatha which is the Nepali name. Chomolungma is the Tibetan name; none of the locals call it Everest. Even though the day had dawned bright and clear with no cloud, by the time we reached the top the cloud had come in so we only caught a brief glimpse of the summit.
The descent was tough on the legs but not so hard in the breathing and we arrive back at the lodge in time for lunch. I had my first shower since Kathmandu and relished selecting fresh clothes.
Everyone in good spirits and in good shape physically. Even though we slather on a lot of sunscreen each morning we’re all starting to look pretty weather beaten - almost Hilary-esque!
Fourth Day – Namche to Tengboche
Breakfast at 7.30 and we had to have bags packed and ready for the off by 8.30. The trail leads steeply uphill to the top of the valley and then levels off as it winds around the edge of another valley, a bit of up and down but it’s a very nice walk. The sun is pleasantly warm, but in the shade we’re reminded by the cool breeze that we are in the mountains. As we ascend the valley we get marvelous views of many of the high peaks including Lhotse but Sagarmatha is playing coy and she remains wreathed in cloud.
Later in the morning we descend down a steep zigzag to the river valley floor at Phunke Tenga where we stop for lunch. This descent actually takes us 200 meters lower than Namche so we know we’re in for a bit of climbing. As we’re eating, clouds build up over the valley and it turns cold. Rapid changes like this are common in the mountains and we have to make sure we carry the variety of gear required to deal with that. When we get going again the trail basically goes straight up the side of the valley in another steep zigzag. It takes us a good couple of hours to climb the 600 meters to Tengboche Monastery. We actually climbed from the valley floor into the clouds we had watched forming.
The monastery was interesting, and we have a look around and some of us stay to watch the monks daily prayer ceremony which was lovely but a bit cold. The trail resumes on the edge of the monastery ground and the forest is weirdly different presumable as it’s facing a different direction and more shaded. Another fifteen minutes downhill and we’re at our accommodation which is starting to get more basic the further out we get.
I’m quite exhausted as I’ve only had a couple of hours sleep. The altitude isn’t affecting me too much until I lie down and then It’s hard to sleep. I eventually give in and decide to take a Diamox pill. Probably placebo effect but I fell asleep almost immediately. I’ll take them from now on.
Day five – Tengboche to Dingboche
The lodge at Tengboche is in a very shaded spot, and the morning dawns very cold. There’s also something about the place that is spiritually depressing, everyone feels it and comments on it. So we’re not sorry to leave, and we head off through the forest which is now thinning out. Not far from the lodge we catch our first glimpse of Sagarmatha very far in the distance. The summit pokes into the Jetstream, so there is a plume of snow or ice blowing from the top.
Soon we come out of the forest and cross a river, at which point the treeline ends abruptly and we are in open country. The majestic twin peaks of Amadablin rear over 6,000m before us - our first close up view of the high peaks that we will walk between for most of the trek. The temperature is still cool, but while the sun shines the walking is very pleasant although we are climbing steadily. We arrive in Dingboche which is a little village nestled in the lee of a relatively low mountain, a hill really by Himalayan standards. Everyone is very tired.
Day Six – Acclimatising at Dingboche
The Yak Lodge where we are staying in Dingboche is a variant on the same theme as all the others. The rooms are billed as having “insuite” toilets. What this means is that there is a single pan in a small cubicle shared between two rooms. My one has a seat cover duct-taped to the pan. There is no cistern or flush, and the usual rules apply, complete with waste bucket for (used) toilet paper and water tank to manually flush.
We have a late breakfast at 8.00 and then head off for our training walk. The guides are trying hard to get us to adopt the slow and steady approach and as we start out the pace feels glacial. Once we turn up the hill however we start to warm up and we rise surprisingly quickly above the village. There are plenty of others doing the same thing and quite a bit of chat between groups so it’s very sociable.
The air is full of the sound of choppers many of them flying well below us, I suspect they’re running scenic flights as there seems to be a lot of short flights.
We climb to about 4600m at the very slow and steady pace which takes us a couple of hours. There was what I’m sure was a Golden Eagle circling on and off above the valley but below us. I couldn’t get the camera on it unfortunately. Brandon is skeptical that it’s a Golden, but agrees it’s an eagle.
We descend relatively rapidly over about an hour and when we get back to the lodge we’ve lost the Yanks! They spotted a coffee shop and bakery on the way up and decided to stop there on the return. This turns out to be a good thing as they report the shop offers 30 minutes of decent quality WiFi for free if you buy something so hence I got the last couple of days posts out.
After lunch rest of day spent relaxing and doing laundry and sorting out gear for the next day. We are two days trek from EBC!
Day Seven – Dingboche to Lobuche
I wake in the night to stunning views of full moonlight over the mountains, but by the time we are all rousing a thick mist has settled and it’s a balmy 0 degrees.
After a hearty breakfast we set out at around 8.30 for Lobuche. The trail retraces part of the route we took yesterday on our day walk, and once we are about 100m above the village it branches off and follows a shallow incline above the Pheriche valley, several of the “minor” peaks (meaning only 5,000 meters or half again as high as Mt Cook) line the edge of the valley but are not clearly visible through the clouds.
The walking is easier here and Binod sets a somewhat faster pace. Along the way is a fascinating abandoned farm with stone walled fields and a croft made entirely of stone; even the roof is formed from slabs of rock. There are clearly expert stone masons here. We also see some of the dwarf pines growing icicles horizontally along the line of the wind. They look like crystalline flowers and remind me of similar ice growths I’ve seen on Tongariro.
As we walk Dawa is chanting prayers, it is Buddha’s Birthday today. The low hum of his voice seems to fit perfectly with the landscape.
We reach the head of the valley after about 3km and cross over the river which is now cascading between huge boulders of white granite. I later learn this is the melt from the Khumbu glacier. I get a mini-lecture from Dawa for not taking his hand offered in assistance - in reality I was concentrating on where to put my feet and didn’t notice that he carefully positioned himself to make sure that everyone crossed without getting wet feet which would be very unpleasant in this cold.
A short steep ascent above the river bed and we reach our lunch spot at the base of Thukla Pass. It started to snow lightly as we arrived. I had a really good sandwich and a Snickers bar and it was just as well I was fueled-up because by the time we were ready to go the snow was getting quite heavy and we had to quickly re-gear for different conditions. Thukla Pass is the steepest part of the trek today and the path zigzags up a steep cascade of boulders for maybe 300 metres The snow continues for most of the climb, although luckily the wind was behind us so we weren’t getting it in the face. It’s a sobering reminder of how bad conditions can get here and how quickly they can change.
At the top of the pass is another sobering and very moving reminder of how dangerous these mountains are. A wide sheltered dell has been reserved for memorials to people who have lost their lives on the mountains mostly Everest and Lhotse. Andrew points out one of the cairns close to the entrance. “That’s your boy isn’t it?” he says. Scratched on the rock of a simple cairn are the words “RIP for Rob Hall peace and love”
We wander randomly among the various tributes to people from almost every region of the Earth. Just across from Rob Hall is a Sherpa memorial that I find very moving
“In memory of Tensing Chotar Sherpa. May he Rest In Peace in the arms of Chomolungma (Goddess Mother of the World)”
Most of the people lost are still on the mountains, recovery of their remains being impossible in almost all cases. Memorials to Sherpas are the exception though, although I find it hard to believe they are a minority in the fatality stats. We loiter a long time in this very spiritual place and eventually Binod who is normally not very assertive insists that we move on.
The remainder of the day is a relatively gentle ascent and we reach Lobuche in good time at around 3.00pm. The lodge is warm and one of the better ones. Julia gives a good report of the shower facilities, so I take my first shower in at least four days despite the temperature being only just above freezing when we arrive. The Khumbu Glacier is just over the ridge next to the trail but we decide against taking a look as we’ll see it tomorrow hopefully in better weather.
We run into a German doctor we first saw at Phakding and she offers to test my blood oxygen saturation. The reading is 80% which is apparently really good.
As dinner arrives, it starts to snow again. Julia’s laundry is frozen solid in the line.
We are at 4,900m and looking forward to the last push to EBC another 400m up - it will be the longest day yet. One more sleep!
Day Eight – Lobuche to Base Camp and Gorakshep
The day dawned fine and clear but very cold around -3 degrees. We set off after breakfast as usual. The trail gradually ascends a wide valley which also runs parallel to the lower reaches of the Khumbu glacier, at the head of which Base Camp is located. The weather continues fine and clear for most of the morning and we have stunning views of the peaks all around us. Looking back we can see Amadablin which loomed so large is front of us just a few days ago looking small in the distance. It gives a real sense of how far we’ve come.
At the head of the valley is the Lobuche Pass, another steep ascent, and as we are now over 5,000 meters the effort to climb is multiplied by the thinning air. We trudge along really slowly, even the Yanks are slowing down a bit now. The top of the pass is where we start to encounter glacial moraine territory which is really hard to navigate. There are stretches that are just huge piles of rock that we have to traverse. This terrain gets progressively more difficult the closer we get to Base Camp.
Once we’re over the top of the pass we get our first sight of the Camp still several kilometres away.
It’s a relatively easy walk to Gorakshep where we stop for lunch and drop anything we don’t need. By the time we’re ready to push on the weather has dramatically shifted again and we trudge off through heavy snow. The trail is flat for the first kilometre or so, but after that the entire journey is across difficult moraine deposits and the path becomes quite challenging and mostly uphill. It takes us another couple of hours to negotiate this and eventually the snow eases off and we are rewarded with another view of the tents of Base Camp getting closer. After crossing massive ridges of moraine rocks we arrive at a ridge overlooking the Camp. A steep descent following by a shallow climb and we arrive at the rock which is the official trekking marker and unofficial photo spot.
It’s a very emotional feeling having made it to our destination that we have been striving towards for so many days. We have lots of fun taking photos and even Dawa gets a little silly.
Access to the Camp itself is not open to trekkers - although of course there’s always some that ignore this - so we head over to the helipad which gives a good view of the glacier and the infamous Khumbu Icefall that feeds it. The Yanks celebrate in style. Eric has a hip flask of Templeton Rye whisky - Al Capone’s favourite apparently - and he chips off some ice from the glacier and hands a cup around for everyone to take a sip, except Dawa and Binod. So we had cocktails at Base Camp!
The Khumbu glacier is the most amazing natural structure. Everywhere you look the ice has formed itself into fantastical sculptures which must change constantly as the ice moves. I’m fascinated by the vista. Dawa points out the place on the Icefall where his tragedy occurred - it looks frighteningly high up.
We linger for a while but are conscious of the day waning and the weather looking threatening. As we head up the steep climb away from the glacier edge there is a tremendous boom like thunder and an avalanche cascades down the slopes of Nuptse across the valley from us. We have a bird’s eye view of the event and another reminder of how dangerous this beautiful and awe-inspiring place can be. The guides are of course unmoved, avalanches are common here.
By the time we return to the Budda Lodge at Gorakshep it is after 5.00pm. We have trekked for 8.5 hours, reached our overall objective and returned to shelter safely.
Everyone is well and truly exhausted but happy. About half the crew including myself have a dose of the Khumbu Cough which is caused by the cold air combined with dust from the trail. Tonight we will sleep at the highest point yet 5170m.
Day Nine – Gorakshep to Somare
Kala Patthar is a relatively small (i.e. less than 6,000m) peak behind Gorakshep. It is renowned as one of the best places to get a view of the highest peaks in the Himalayas. Both Paul Hansen and Hayden Freeth advised me to take a trip up it and doing so was on the agenda for this morning - at 4.00am, weather dependent. We were already looking at eight hours of trekking and everyone was exhausted after returning from Base Camp so there wasn’t a lot of enthusiasm at 4.00am. In the end Eric was the only one who went up with Dawa and they didn’t go all the way to the top. I kind of regretted the decision not to go later. At around 5.00am I went outside into the -15 degrees air and set up my iPhone to take a time-lapse of the sun rising over the peaks.
Overnight had been challenging for most of us with the high altitude. I was gasping for breath quite a bit and I wasn’t the only one. At breakfast we were keen to get going down, and we hit the trail at about 8.30. It’s a fairly steep climb out of the village but soon we are heading downhill at a good pace. We reach Lobuche in a couple of hours and the weather continues fine and warm as we continue down.
At the top of Thukla Pass it becomes even more obvious why that spot was chosen for the memorials. There is a magnificent ring of peaks surrounding the pass looking like guardians.
The descent of Thukla Pass is considerably easier than the climb was a couple of days ago, but still hard on the legs. I’m very glad of all the strength work I’ve been doing with Hayden.
At the bottom of the pass we continue down to the bottom of the Pheriche Valley. This is the wide river valley that we looked over on day seven out of Dingboche. It’s even more massive when we’re in it. The valley appears to be actively farmed with herds of yaks and various subsistence crops in evidence.
We were apparently supposed to stop at Pheriche village in this valley and when we arrive there we see that the porters were ahead of us as usual and had unloaded our bags. Dawa gave them the bad news that we were continuing to the next stop at Somare. This section of the walk is one of the most beautiful we’ve seen with the river rushing along the valley bottom, the steep valley sides starting to show more vegetation at the lower altitude and the peaks overlooking everything.
We stay at a lovely little tea house at Somare which is just big enough for our group so we have the common area all to ourselves. This is a pleasant change from the crowded common rooms especially the one at Gorakshep. When the pot belly stove is topped up with dried yak dung the room gets warm and cosy. The food is excellent, and everyone is in good spirits as we retire.
Day Ten - Somare to Namche
Day dawns bright and clear and after an excellent breakfast we head off. The walking is pretty downhill easy until we are approaching Tengboche and then it’s a hard, slow slog up the hill to the Monastery. We’re moving fairly quickly so we continue down the steep descent to the lunch spot at Phunke Tenga - this is basically reversing what we did on the way up. The mood in the group is definitely different to what it was when we were going up, there is not quite the same feeling of striving for a goal but some are in better spirits than others.
After the lunch stop there is another grueling climb up out of the valley, not as tough as we faced in the way in but still not easy.As the afternoon wears on the cloud comes down again and the beautiful valleys disappear in the mist.
We’re all coughing from the dust and the wind is whipping it up so by the time we reach Namche I’m sounding like a consumption victim from Dickens as are many of the others. By 4.00pm we arrive back at Namche having covered twice the distance in a day that we did on the way up.
Dawa manages to get me a room by myself so I have a very good night’s sleep in preparation for another long day tomorrow.
Day Eleven – Namche to Lukla
The weather is closed in first thing, but by the time we’ve had breakfast the cloud has drawn back and the sun is out. I want to check out the Himalayan Coffee shop that I spotted last night so we agree on a meeting place at 8.30. Lovely coffee and good quality WiFi at the cafe.
As we’re walking down the steep steps of the town, we see a young guy in full trekking gear being led by another man who is issuing a constant stream of instructions, we realise that the first guy is totally blind. His guide is even managing to steer him clear of piles of yak dung, it’s an impressive display. We saw a guy yesterday who was trekking with one artificial limb and one arm. Clearly people come here to challenge themselves at all sorts of levels.
I’ve ditched my hiking boots in favour of my trail runners as I figure that they will provide better grip. This does allow me to go faster on the downhill stretches which is pretty much the first two hours. We drop rapidly to the dizzyingly high swing bridge over the Dudh Koshi river and then descend to follow the river itself through another valley. Then we climb to the pass that is the entrance to the Sagarmatha National Park.
Once out of the park we’re back into the hurly-burly of commercial activities with lots of porters and animal trains etc. This is now so familiar that we’re past the point of seeing it as quaint. The powerful smell of animal dung and its presence all over the path doesn’t help very much.
Another hour or so and we reach Phakding which was our first stop going up. Here we stop at the same tea house for lunch.
When we first started out from Lukla we happily skipped down the steep well-benched track perhaps thinking that this trekking thing wouldn’t be too hard after all. There was of course the realization deep within us that what goes down must come up and the final stretch from Phakding to Lukla was when all was reconciled.
We’re feeling daunted by a mere 8km of distance - no more than I would walk for morning exercise at home, partly because we’re exhausted and mostly because we know the climb to Lukla will be tough.
To make matters worse, the weather closes in and it starts to rain, not heavily but enough to warrant putting on rain gear. The rain turns the dusty parts of the trail into a sticky, muddy quagmire which mixes delightfully with fresh animal dung to make a mixture that is easy to slip in, and into which you really don’t want to fall.
I plod along at my best pace, which is now glacial and the others move ahead until I lose sight of them. Dawa stays with me as he always does with whoever is at the back.
As we start the sleep climb I cheerfully say “not much further now” to which Dawa replies, somewhat crushingly, “yes we should be there in one hour, maybe one and a half”. I’m hoping that he’s wrong but of course he isn’t. The trail goes on and on upwards into the low cloud and each building appearing out of the mist gives some hope but there are at least three villages that we pass through before we see the gate at Lukla, which at that point is as good as the gates of heaven for me. As we walk through the level streets of the town we catch up with the remainder of the team, they didn’t get very far ahead after all. A few more stairs and we thankfully drop our packs in the Mountain View lodge, wet and cold but glad to have completed the trekking part of the trip.
Later that evening, when we’ve showered and warmed up, Dawa and Binod together with our porters Teja, Arjun and Sussan join us for dinner. Every other night the guides have served us and only when we had eaten and relaxed would they sit together and have their meal - a Sherpa tradition apparently.
When dinner is over Dawa speaks and gives a lively appreciation and thanks to members of his team and to us as clients. We are invited to reply, and I do so for Team Kiwi while Brandon speaks for Team Iowa as we’re now being referred to. Dawa then produces four envelopes containing our tips and the four of us who didn’t speak are invited to present the envelopes to the recipients. It’s a lovely way of doing things.
Everyone is tired and happy and we head to bed in expectation of an early start at 6.00 to get our flight out. The closed-in weather doesn’t worry anyone too much - we’ve seen how rapidly the weather changes up here!
Day Twelve – Lukla to Kathmandu
We rise early as we’ve been told to meet at 6.00am in the common room to stand by to hear if planes are flying today. In general, the weather is more likely to be clear for flying in the morning and so they plan to get most of the people in and out before lunchtime. Of course, the weather can also change in a heartbeat, so they have to be prepared to work fast.
The result is a trip in itself. We stand around like WW2 Spitfire pilots waiting for the scramble order. At about 6.30 Dawa tells us that the airport staff are looking relaxed - which is not a good sign. He suggests we might want to order breakfast. There’s several people who weren’t able to get out yesterday because of the weather and we’re hoping we’re not going to be in that situation ourselves.
Suddenly just as those that order breakfast are finishing, the scramble order comes. We are quickly hustled out by Dawa and another local who is apparently assisting him and head down the steps into the airport terminal, which is literally the next building to the lodge. Our bags have preceded us earlier.
Inside the terminal it’s bedlam and would be very difficult for the unguided to figure out what to do. Somehow, we find ourselves checked in, baggage weighed and through security to the boarding gate which is packed with people. There is a kind of hushed expectation for a while and then all of a sudden, the first plane lands. Cheers erupt and the group of 10 or so who are checked in to the arriving plane vanish out the boarding gate and onto the tarmac. Less than ten minutes later the next plane lands. Shortly after that the first plane to arrive taxis out and lines up in the runway with its nearly 12% downhill slope for take-off and powers off to more cheers.
From our limited vantage in the boarding lounge there seems to be an astonishing level of activity as planes land and take off with incredibly short turnaround time.
Only when our turn comes do we get the full understanding of what’s happening. Ours was the fifth or sixth plane to land. Almost as soon as the plane has appeared on the apron, we are rapidly ushered through the gate and out on to the tarmac. By the time we walk the 20 metres or so to the plane, the baggage handlers have emptied out almost all of the baggage which mostly comes out through the same door as passengers use plus a small compartment in the nose of the plane. We watch as the last bags come off, the steps are lowered and the passengers disembark. A whirlwind of activity ensues as our bags are loaded and then we are waved aboard. There’s probably only 20 of us in this plane - one of the bigger ones. As we mount the steps, the pilot is starting the engine on the other side. The door closes, and the flight attendant gives one of the fastest safety briefings on record as we taxi out.
The takeoff is one of the most exhilarating moments I’ve ever experienced in an aircraft. As we turn on to the end of the runway the steep slope is obvious, and it feels like being at the top of a playground slide.
Once positioned there is a brief pause and then the pilot pushes the throttles to full power while the brakes hold the plane in place. Once he is certain of his power the pilot releases the brakes and we’re off down the slide to whoops from the passengers (actually that might have been just me). We lift steeply into the air with runway to spare and then the ground drops away beneath us as we shoot over the cliff edge at the end of the runway. Suddenly we’re a thousand feet above the valley and climbing out.
By my estimate less than 10 minutes elapsed from wheels down to wheels up. It’s an impressive display and Dawa points out that they have to work fast or planes can get trapped on the ground or get diverted due to sudden weather changes. Now we know why the airport staff looking relaxed was not a good sign.
The rest of the flight is uneventful but with nice last views of the high peaks. Thirty minutes later we land back in Kathmandu.