Day #1 Everest Base Camp Trek!

October 14, 2007

Our first day started out early in the morning at the hotel when we meet our guide and porter. Our porter Man-Kumar did not speak much English and our guide Kumar's English was limited. We soon were off to the airport that functioned similar to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. We were very thankful for our local guides to help us navigate through the screening and getting us safely onto the correct 16 seat "Twin Otter" plane.

As we climbed high above the clouds I started to notice that the airplane we were riding in probably came off the assembly line some time during the early 1940's. This did not help my nerves as the turbulence rocked the plane from side to side as we navigated our way between towering peaks. Soon the small (200 yards) run way of Lukla airport came into view. From our vantage point it looked as a vertical road on the side of a mountain. In fact the runway was angled about 45 degrees to aid in the stopping and launching of planes on such a short strip.

After a quick lunch at a small lodge in Lukla we headed out on the trail. We soon came to a check point that we had to sign in at. While we did this we noticed our guide making his way from the building across the street. We later found out this was the post of the Communist Maoist Party. We had to pay a "donation" for us to use the trail. This was our only experience with the Maoist and we heard they normally don't bother the tourists because they understand it's a vital industry to the country.

As we made our way to Phakding (2800 meters) we passed numerous prayer wheels and temples. The scenery of the valley below provided us with excitement of the days to come. We realized we were in the middle of nowhere when we came to cable bridges the stretched across vast gorges and you had to either wait your turn while the yaks crossed or risk being thrown off by their massive weight causing the bridge to sway violently. The 2.5 hour hike the first day might have given us a false sense of confidence but we really enjoyed the rest and lemon tea at the Sun Rise Lodge after a long and eventful day.