Day 1 - Lukla to Monjo

An early start this morning to the airport for our flight to Lukla, with a rigorous airport security process of 3 bag inspections & a few somewhat dodgy body pat-downs before we hurriedly boarded our Dornier 228 plane bound for Lukla. The plane could seat all 16 of us & a flight attendant, complete with an in-flight service of cotton wool for our ears & a sweet. The 40 minute flight took us through many layers of cloud, interspersed with massive granite peaks & glimpses of mountain ridges...we're on our way.

The landing was an experience that we'll never forget...the incredibly short, ski-jump style runway that ended with a stone wall left the pilots absolutely no margin for error (I can't wait for the roller-coaster take-off at the end of our trek!). We then sat on the tarmac at the airport that Sir Ed built for about 15 minutes as both the flight attendant & the pilot tried to open the door which jammed following our heavy landing (fortunately they had no clue that we were a team of 16 airline employees!). Following their failed attempt to get the door open we ended up exiting via the cargo hold, much to the consternation of the passengers waiting to take our plane back to Kathmandu!

We then spent a few hours at a teahouse in Lukla waiting for our bags to meet up with us. Really inspiring to see a photo of Mike with Sir Ed proudly sitting on the wall of the teahouse.

Let the trekking begin! Our bags arrived and we started our journey, walking through gorgeous valleys filled with prayer flags & prayer wheels (remembering to pass them on our right; left on our return). We also passed through many local villages, school children and people going about their daily work. The part that never ceased to amaze us were the Nepalese Porters, decked out in jeans & jandals carrying around 60kgs each on their backs, lugging them up the hill at the same pace that we did with only our light day packs. Amazing.

We eventually stopped for lunch in Phakding, where we feasted on yet more momos, soup, fried potato chips & rice; fried seems to be the order of the day!

Along our journey we've been gifting out airline toothbrushes to the local children as well as some small toys we've brought from home. Its a delight to see their reactions and their gratitude.

By the time we began the last 2 hours of our trek today, the heat of the day had subsided and whilst there were a few more hills the walking temperature was much more bearable and the scenery is getting more spectacular.

We ended our day in Monjo, staying at the Top Hill Lodge at 2,835m, with many competitive card games (Haley & Rob remain unbeaten at 500) and much journal writing. A relatively early night for all as we've got a big arse vertical ascent tomorrow, climbing another 600m to Namche Bazar where we'll stay for 2 days as part of our acclimatisation.

Stoked that the Breakers won & we haven't yet seen enough of Kates' dress to comment!!

We're all missing loved ones back home but this new family of ours here are getting along famously. We love getting messages and comments on the blog so keep it up!

Namaste

Meg