After our Jomsom trek we rested for a day in Pokhara and went rowing
around the lake. The next day we took the bus back to Kathmandu and
spent a couple of un-eventful days doing laundry, getting permits for
the park and buying all the things we wished we had taken to Jomsom,
mars bars etc.

The Jomsom trek was a nine day warm-up,
practice, training session to face the big one, an eleven day walk to
see the big boys; Everest; Cho Oyu; Gyachung; Kang; Lhotse; Makalu;
Cholatse & Tawachee. You start with a flight from Kathmandu to the
Hilary/Tenzing airport at Lukla, then an eight day walk up to a village
called Gokyo, you then climb a view point called Gokyo Ri .

DAY 1

Lukla (2800m) to Phakding (2652m)


We leave the relative luxury of our Kathmandu guest house at 5:30am on
Wednesday morning. Our taxi driver is, ooh 13 years old, at a push, and
drivers like Jensen Button through the empty streets of the capital.
The only people out are joggers who find this quiet and rare daylight
hour on the mental streets of Kathmandu.

We are flying to Lukla, the scariest airport in the world. Our old,

twin propeller, 14 seater plane takes off and heads towards the high
Himalaya's in the distance. After 30 minutes we approach a deep valley,
and bank to the left around a mountain then sharply right to face a
smaller valley and the runway. From the front of the plane you can see
the pilots and through their windscreen. The runway is visible and
something doesn't look right. The runway isn't flat, it looks like a
short beginners ski slope because it leads up the side of a mountain.
The runway is 240m long and has a height difference from start to end
of 60m.

Planes land here with no computer guidance to
give them exact GPS locations. All landings are done with pilot's line
of sight. We feel safe enough until we glance into the pilots cockpit,
one pilot is reading the paper, the other is wiping the windscreen with
a rag. The tyre's skid for a moment when we land and we brake quickly
on touchdown because at the end of the runway is a wall. When we get
out and look down to where we landed I am already in excited
anticipation to our flight back to Kathmandu in eleven days time. At
the end of the runway is a drop-off down for more than a kilometer to
the valley below. Its a situation where either you start flying or
start... well,
you know.



Our walk today is a short three hours
down to Phakding. We walk down steps to follow a beautiful river up the
valley, with green pastures and trees. Small and large Mani stones
litter the path. Mani stones are stones that are carved with the famous
Sanskrit mantra oṃ maṇi padme hûṃ, (Om Mani Padme Hum) which is known
periphrastic-ally as the "six-syllable mantra" some are painted black
and white, some colour. Take a look at the 'where's wally' photo to see
one of the largest we found along the path.













We meet a lovely couple, Tom & Emma, Brits on just their third day
of their R-T-W trip. They look a little culture shocked from a crazy
day in Delhi and two day in Kathmandu. They are excited about facing a
21 day hike to Gokyo and then to Everest base camp. Tom & Emma talk
about leaving their high-paid but exhausting central London jobs to
see the world. They complain about getting so drawn in to work they
said they were "walking zombies" in the week days, which led them to
quit the rat race and go traveling. They shook their heads about some
of London's latest problems. Apparently it is now cheaper to take a
taxi from one tube station stop to the next than it is to go down and
ride the tube, private transport cheaper than public?




Pricing here in Nepal came be equally as baffling. For example the cost
of our room tonight is 100 Nepalese rupees (80p). The cost of just two
boiled eggs on their menu is 120 Rupees (90p). Two simple eggs that
cost more that a room in a hostel? There is an explanation, if you can
guess why send answers in an email. Then I will tell you why tomorrow.

Cooper Out

Love Dan & Kat