Everest Region December 2003 - Day 19

Phakding to Lukla

You can see a slideshow of my best pics from Everest on flickr.
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The main reason we were taking it easy and making such a short day was that we had to be in Lukla in time to confirm our plane tickets out, and the ticket office has fairly random opening hours. As such, we arrived in Lukla for lunch, and spent the rest of the day playing pool, listening to the lodge's sound system, mooching around the few useful shops, and of course waiting for the ticket office to miraculously open. Like many bookstores in Nepal, the bookstore had stacks of postcards of thangkas (Buddhist sacred paintings). To the right is a picture I took at the Tengboche ghompa. Sadly, I can't tell you anything more about it, except that it is in the entrance on the left hand side.

The Porter's Progress Association held a film night which we got along to, where they present suggestions on how to make a better lot for porters in Nepal. Sadly, that group has folded during the turmoil of the Maoist time, but the Himalayan Humanity website has some information to help you engage porters fairly.

You can see from these pics that porters in Nepal have to work hard. It's a little sad that so much of their work is to lug cases of beer up the mountains for consumption by tourists.

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As seen on Andrew Purdam's Bushwalking Treasure Box blog.