We finally made it to Lukla. Wow what an airport or should I say runway. The strip is on a slight incline and very short. If the plane can’t stop in such a short distance you end up in the mountain side. There is no room for error and a touch and go is impossible. The planes taking off of course have a decline so they can build speed and lift off just before a drop off into a huge canyon. All I can say is amazing.
After a short rest in Lukla we started on our trek to our first stop Phadking a descent of 800 ft to an altitude of 8800 ft. After arrival they brought us a little bowl of water to clean up. Clean up means we get to splash some water on our face. We had an afternoon refreshment – tea which really tasted great. For dinner we had sliced green beans like they like them in Australia, french fries, cole slaw and toast. It tasted great and after a tiring day we went to an early sleep. It was quite warm in Phadking and we really didn’t need all the super warm clothing we had brought with us, in fact we were wandering if it was needed at all.
After a restful night we had an early morning wake up at 6:30 and they delivered warm tea to our tents. Later they brought our wash basin to have another splash wash. Breakfast was oatmeal, hard boiled egg, toast, quite filling.
Today was our trek from Phadking to Namche, a character building day. It was an ascent of 2700 ft to an elevation of about 11,500. As we climbed it got colder and by the time we arrived in Namche we had light snow flurries. Today we get to test our gear. Everybody was cold upon arrival and we had a chance to wash our face and get out our parka’s to warm up. I actually had to climb into my sleeping bag for a few minutes to warm up.
We expect to have another early dinner and get to bed fairly early because we are all tired. We will spend another day here in Namche to acclimatize. Normally at this altitude you should only go up about 1000 ft per day, since we went up 2700 ft today we have to take an additional day to acclimatize to the altitude.
Last night I did turn on my headlamp and read for a few minutes before retiring. I will do the same today.
Lily has been taking Diamox since we left Kathmandu and she still had a severe headache yesterday. This morning she increased the dosage and took some aspirin and she had no problems today. However about an hour or two from Namche she was quite exhausted and had to give her day pack to a Sherpa to carry. Lily was like a new person without the pack and took off.
I elected not to take the Diamox and had a slight headache last night but no problems today. Today I had no problems on the first part of the trek but after lunch I started to slow down considerable. Carrying the back pack and two cameras took its tole on me. I was dragging as we arrived at Namche. After a quick refreshment and tea I am like a new person and feeling great.
The mountains are beautiful and very majestic. Today was our first opportunity to see Everest but unfortunately the skies were very hazy and blocked any view. We will have to wait for another day.
I believe this is the last stop that will have internet access until our return here in a couple of weeks.
Please help support our effort to raise money for Camp Camelot. www.campcamelot.org.
