Nepal 2012: Trek to Namche Bazaar

[archer]

Neps1.jpg

NEPSLukla.jpg

NepalBridge.jpg

NepsLukla2.jpg

nepsPlaneInside.jpg

nepsPlaneInside.jpg

One of my first major hikes in the Everest region was in 2002 up to Gokyo Ri (5350m). Last month, we decided to head out to the same region with a small group of school kids from Bombay.
Here is the start of my account from the hike, more to follow.

After a hiatus of 10 long years, we decided to get our asses out of the summers to Bombay to the the magnanimus mountains. Having worked my butt off for 8 months long, I needed a break. What better way to recharge your batteries than to head to the mighty mountains. Though we were only planning on going upto Namche Bazaar (13000 feet above sea level), just the thought of being in the Everest region after 10 years had given me sleepless nights.

Los Angeles - Mumbai ; Mumbai - Kathmandu in 46 hours (with a 22 hour stay at home with family Mumbai)
Jetlagged would be an understatement to describe my state of mind at the end of the first day in Kathmandu. change of climate, change of timezone had my mind rolling around. Even a captain and coke was unable to bring me back to life.....

The wait at Kats
Bad weather was and is a constant issue with flight in and out of lukla airport. Strong cross winds at Lukla airport kept us grounded at Kathmandu for 3 days straight. Day two offered us a free flight in Yeti air ( how I wish I wasnt on that flight) 'around' the lukla airstrip and back to kats. I didnt have the balls to get my camera out and shoot any pictures while the twin otter hit every damn air pocket that the sky would offer. It was as if the pilot was aiming for each and every airpocket to mock at us. Anyhow, we made it back to kathmandu after an hour in the air. I felt safe being on land. We lived to fight another day.

Finally we made it to Lukla on the 2nd to be welcomed by Mr Bhuvan who introduced himself as our Guide.

The most important thing for me before we got out of Lukla was to get pictures/videos of the a plane landing onto what is considered as probably the most dangerous airports in the world.

Lukla was a changed place, in 10 years Lukla had had a face lift. The run down lodges were replaced by spacious wifi enabled lodges. Lukla even sported 5 saloons catering to 'jungly' trekkers coming back to civilization. The lodges and saloons were only the start, Lukla sported the worlds highest starbucks. But the happiness ended at the door. I had to satisfy my 'hypocaffeinatedness' only by the fragrance. The insane prices of coffee drove me faaarrrr away.

The first major stop we had along the way was at a small village called Phakding ( the name does sound weird, wait till you hear the rest). We stopped at a small lodge at the end of Phakding on the banks of the river Dudh Kosi. This also gave us the chance to cross one of the many suspension bridges across the mighty Dudh Kosi.

NepsPlane.jpg

[archer]

More to come, 3 days to Namche Bazaar.

[ckkalyan]

Very nice beginning archer - keep it coming!

Phakding - indeed!?

[xl_target]

This looks great Archer.
Please keep the photos coming!

[prashantsingh]

What a lovely post with some fantastic snaps.
Looks like I missed it earlier.
Waiting for the rest of the story .