After spending a relaxing day at the Queen spa we headed to Nepal. We arrived in Kathmandu quite late. The airport is small and basic. We had no idea that they were currently on strike (this is like a monthly occurrence) so there were no taxis, buses, etc. Luckily there was a guy from the hostel we were staying at picking up some other guest. He arranged a car for us and took care of everything. The hostel was great and as was the owner. They even had a cute little puppy. He over fed us and even upgraded our rooms at no additional charge. Since they were on strike NOTHING was open. No banks, shops, restaurants, money exchanges, etc. We were finally able to find an ATM, luckily! We walked around and watched all the protest that were going on. They were not violent or anything. They were singing dancing and marching down the street. They go from early in the morning till 6 at night when they allow the stores to open for 2 hours. It feels really safe in Nepal.
The next day we took a 6 am flight to Lukla. This is where we would start our hike to Everest base camp. It was a little puddle jumper with an open cockpit that we took. We were the only 4 on the plane and they filled the other seats with bags of rice and flour for more weight I guess. It was amazing flying in because we got to see a view of the snow capped mountains. The pilots were great and took pictures for us through the front window. The landing was a bit nerve racking. The landing strip is SMALL and if the brakes don't work you smash into the mountain. But we made it safe and sound.
Once we got our bags we started the trek from Lukla to Phakding where we would spend the night. It was tough and long with lots of ups and downs. The scenery was beautiful. It took us about 3 hours to reach the little town. While trekking on this route you spend the night in little teahouses. Our first night cost US 70 cents!!!! And the food is so good. The eat the best fried potatoes, which taste delicious after a long day of trekking. We were asleep by 5 pm and up at 3:30 am the next morning.
We started day two about 7 am. This was the hardest day and will be one of the hardest the whole trek. We had to go all the way to Namche Bazzar. It was about and hour and a half to the first stop then an additional 2 to Namche, at least that is what the book said. At 6:30 pm I finally arrived in Namche. That's right it took us almost 10 hours. In our defense we are from Florida (no altitude there) and have warm weather year round. We climbed UP 1000 meters past rivers and mountains. If it were not for the scenery then it would be absolutely horrible. The last part called the Namche wall was the hardest, it was zig after zag all up hill. Sometimes it was rock right next to the edge of the mountain. We were also carrying our 25 pound packs which did not help. We met many people along the way who hired porters and were doing just fine.
I had many emotional moments on yesterdays trek. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done and never thought that I could actually do it. I cried tears of happiness when reached one point that you could see how high we were and how far we came. And then I cried tears of pure exhaustion when we would round a bend and see another hill to climb. I fell into bed last night and was so physically and mentally tired that I was not sure how I would be in the morning. But the important thing is that I did it!!!
Tomorrow is another hike and another day!
