25 July 2009

Everest Region December 2003 - Day 20



You can see a slideshow of my best pics from Everest on flickr.
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With the ridiculously gullible optimism that only first time travellers to Nepal can have, we got to Lukla airport at 8.30am, well in time for our promised departure of 9.30am. We discovered how cold the airport terminal building is over the next five hours as we waited and waited for our plane to come in. We were luckier than many, as some folks had been waiting for their plane since the previous day. Welcome to Lukla Airport!

Lukla airport




In the end, the Nepal Army bailed us out with a loan of what seemed to be one of their paratrooping planes, an M28 SkyTruck, hailed by some as "ultimate tool for aircraft operating under severe conditions", and very suitable for the Himalayas. With packs at our knees and sideways bench seating, it marked an appropriate end to our trekking trip. At least we had seatbelts, though Helen and I had to share, and at least we didn't have to wait overnight.


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

3 comments:

vistan said...

Hi,

I have been googling a lot about Everest base camp hikes recently and chanced upon your blog. My wife and I are planning to do a similar hike and we would like to know which guide company you enlisted for your trek. We appreciate any information :)

Wonderful pictures by the way :)

Thanks!

Andrew P said...

Hey Vistan. Thanks for your comment. My wife took many of these pictures.
We used Thakur Khanal, from http://www.adventuretrekking.com/
(You'll notice several of our pics on his website). He wasn't able to guide that particular trek for us - and sent a very capable guide in his place - but he did guide our Dhaulagiri walk (an expedition-type trek, not the tea-house trek that we did in Everest Region) very ably in a time (Dashain) when there weren't many porters about. He did a great job. We are thinking of doing a third trek around Manaslu and would use Thakur again.
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask any more questions. You might have guessed that I love talking about these Nepal treks. They are etched in my heart.

vistan said...

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply, will send them an email. While my wife and I aren't planning on doing the trek within the year, I just can't stop thinking about it :)

I would also like to know more about your preparation and gear for the trek. You can email me at a_vistan98@yahoo.com so that we can avoid spamming you comment box if you wish :)

Thanks,
Allan

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