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The first day of trekking started real early, waking up at 5am! We got on the first flight to Lukla and fortunately got the seats on then left hand side of the plane which offers the first view of Mount Everest - was way above clouds so was amazing. Unfortunately due to lack of wifi or 3G up where I am now I cannot upload any photos from my phone or camera...
I had the opportunity to sit right behind the cockpit so offered me the view ahead too! When I saw that runway of Lukla airport being so downward sloping towards the cliff and that it is in then middle of two mountains, I fully appreciated why it was considered the most dangerous airport in the world! When it was landing then head of the plane basically had to tilt upward while the plane itself descended. Pretty scary tbh but the pilot was super cool so we were ok.
We arrived in Lukla around 7:30am so had some "break fast" before heading off the trek. Altitude is around 2,840m so air was still fresh and plentiful! After breakfast we headed to Phakding for lunch. That took about 4 hours trekking up and down the hills with lots yaks passing through (lovely, loyal and surprisingly disciplined animals!) and hundreds of British trekkers ("oh the air is much better than Bromley, innit?!" I overheard one saying) passing by. Have to say the first time I walked up those stony stairs, I was a bit out of breath and that my heart jumped pretty fast. Think that was the impact of the altitude. But after a while my body felt much more at ease taking the steps again.
One thing I have to share with you is that I'm amazed by the fact that a lot of people here don't have a fridge or a washing machine at home but they have pretty modern mobile phones and are on facebook! pretty weird, no? =)
Also our guide Lakpa Sherpa is a bit of a local star - almost every local passing by shakes hands with him, which gives us some comfort that this guy knows his way and what he's talking about! He trekked in jeans and shirt today, pretty was quite amusing and made us looking like wimps wearing helly hansen base layers! Maybe he has a party going on tonight...
We slowly saw some high mountains but Lakpa said it they are not at least 5,000m high, they are considered only "hills" by local. We did see one 7-thousander which was magnificent as it emerged between nearby mountains and was surrended by clouds - it made it look a bit surreal as it was floating in the air! But we were told by fellow trekkers that this is nothing compared to what we will see in a couple of days.
We reached Munjo around 2pm local time after trekking for about 7 hours. We will stay here for the night before heading to a big town called Namche Bazaar. Feeling good but apparently tomorrow will be a tough day as we will ascend up a pretty steep mountain route. Will keep you updated!
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