After several hours of waiting and baggage weight negotiations in Kathmandu we were finally winging our way to Lukla.
The time spent at the airport was passed snoozing in the sun on the roof and arguing with airport officials over the weight of our kit. Which eventual resulted in a significant quantity of rupees changing hands and three disgruntled climbers stomping to the plane in plastic climbing boots! The flight itself was surprisingly uneventful, after hearing horror stories of previous flights, and persistent low cloud denied us our first view of the Himalayan giants we knew lurked in the distance. But we were quickly brought back to attention by the exciting landing at Lukla’s ‘interestingly’ inclined airport runway – an event within itself!
Arriving late in the afternoon we spent the remainder of the daylight hours exploring the small village in a haze of low cloud, being continuously entertained by groups of ever smiling children, before retiring to our lodge for the evening. Where after an interesting chilli sauce incident during dinner we began what will no doubt be the first of many epic card battles – which for the record was won convincingly by yours truly!
Trekking between Lukla and Manjo.
This morning we were up and off early on our trek towards Namche Bazaar, accompanied by Indra our guide/liaison officer and two porters carrying our personal climbing gear. With the remainder of the equipment due to arrive in Lukla today to be distributed between four more porters who will eventually meet us again in Namche, before we continue up the Gokyo valley towards our first objective – Kyajo Ri. It is truly amazing the amount of weight that the porters carry without batting an eyelid and even though they are small in statue their strength and good nature is incredible.
Our first glimpse of the South-West face of Kusum Kanguru - even though partially shrouded in cloud it was still an impressive sight.
Without doubt the highlight of the day had to be the fleeting glimpses we managed to steal of the South-West face of Kusum Kanguru as we passed by the entrance to the Thanadoshi Khola valley enroute to Manjo. Even though we waited patiently for over two hours at the base of the valley all we were awarded with for our perseverance was the briefest of clearances in the cloud that enshrouded the face. And although we never gained a full view of the face in its entirety the snippets we did catch were enough to fuel the ever growing excitement for when we return after our attempt on Kyajo Ri.
Tonight we are staying in a guest house in Manjo and will continue our trek to Namche Bazaar tomorrow morning.
Ben
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