Up at 5am and it’s been raining heavily but the skies are clearing so looks good for an early take off!
A thorough search of our bags at the terminal at Lukla “airport” which is a whole 1 minute walk from the front of our hotel. We watch 5 planes taking off or rather start their take off as the runway is so steep that within 50 metres of hitting the throttle they are lost from view.
Our boarding passes say flight 5, but there seems no logic to this number as others with flight 2 are waiting (long after a full flight 2 has gone) as we are told we are next as another tiny plane drops from the sky locating the precariously perched runway!
I managed to get a seat in the front row of the twin otter and better than that a double seat to myself with a view into the cockpit. (Due to weight limits there are a couple more of spare seats!)
Cockpit view of our take-off from Lukla
Posted by Hamish Watson on Tuesday, 31 October 2017
Arrived in Kathmandu at just before 9am, we have the best part of two free days to explore the city, but the priority is a hot shower and a clean set of clothes!
Swayambhunath Stupa:
The Garden of Dreams, a neo classical historical garden near Thamel which was created as a private garden by Field Marshal Kaiser Sumsher Rana in early 1920. With 6 pavilions based around the 6Nepali seasons it was restored some 10 – 15 years ago. Whilst the gardens are a welcome break from the hustle and bustle just the other side of the high boundary wall, the house has not been restored
With the cultural bit done, it was time to hit Thamel for some full on bargaining and shopping. The roads can be a little exciting and you never quite know what you will see … (more on that in the next post though)
Posted by Hamish Watson on Friday, 3 November 2017
An evening meal at K-Too finished the day off in style with a much longed for and delicious steak with blue cheese! It came out on sizzling on a hot stone and washed suitably washed down with a good Aussie red.