Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Lukla is a 3-4 hour walk uphill from Phakding and it is a small place where the planes to Kathmandu leave from. The trail was very busy because there is a local market in Namche where the Sherpa people take their goods to sell on Saturdays. The stuff people were carrying up the mountain was just incredible. There were people carrying raw buffalo meet on their backs and the walk is 7 hours so you can only imagine the smell. Our guide said that the meat is 9 days old by the time it is sold in Namche Bazaar. That's why you don't eat meat in the mountains!!! On the topic of mountain food we were told our lodges had the best food and whilst it wasn't terrible the Nepalese take on Western food is not fantastic which is probably what contributed to my nausea while I was sick. One of the girls at our lodge ordered a vegetarian pizza which came topped with beans, carrots and peas. Not your traditional Italian toppings but she said it was surprisingly ok.
The walk to Lukla is quite scenic as the trails winds through villages where you can see the locals living their everyday lives farming and building lodges. Lukla itself is quite small with not much to do but the lodge we stayed at was very comfortable and had a great wood dining room where we met some crazy English guys that had collected some yak poo to take home as a gift for their Mum. So thoughtful.
The following day we were up early for our 7.30am flight to Kathmandu but in true Nepal style we were waiting in the cold dark one room airport until 1.30pm when our plane finally arrived. We were so lucky that it came before 2pm because flights stop in the afternoon when visibility gets bad.
So we endured another horrific flight back to Kathmandu. I swear I lost some hearing but we arrived safely and it actually felt warm back in the city. The only problem was that there was a nation wide strike throughout Nepal so there were no taxis, cars, buses, rickshaws or even bikes from the airport. Our only options were a 2 hour walk to our hotel or we wait an unknown amount of time for the special tourist buses. We decided to wait for the bus after Gyanundra did some wheeling and dealing and found out the bus was coming in 20 minutes. All the other guides just told their people to walk.
When the bus finally came it was a mad rush and there were about 70 people crammed onto a 40 seater bus. I was getting pushed into the driver's seat laying over peoples luggage and then I got pushed into a proper seat but I had Cal pretty much sitting on my head the whole way. It was so funny.
On the way we saw the Maoist protesters on the streets. It was so weird driving through Kathamandu with no traffic. Gyanundra said that even if someone rides a bike during the strike they will let down your tyres. Pretty extreme. By the time we got back to the hotel the shops were starting to open again as the strike finishes at 6pm. So we had dinner and got an early night after our very very long day.
- comments