Tue, May 6 - Namche to Lukla

I've arranged for breakfast at 6AM, in order to get an early start. All is quiet as I make my way down the stairs to the kitchen. I wake up the cook, who is sheepish when I wake him from his sleep in the dining room. The Nepali make good use of public areas for sleeping. Often porters, guides and lodge staff will use the dining area as a dorm room for sleeping.

The way down from Namche involves an immediate drop of 600m down to the Dudh Koshi River. I make a stop at the first Everest lookout (ie, when you come up the trail, the first point from which you can see Everest) but Everest is obscured in cloud. In fact, clouds are gathering everywhere and I worry about rain. I turn on my ipod and cruise down the trail, making it to Lukla by 1PM. By 2PM, it is pouring rain, and I'm happy I started early.

Namche to Lukla

A hot shower, in a real shower stall, is an unbelievably pleasant experience! My feet are finally clean, free of the Everest dust that works its way into your shoes, through your socks and into the pores of your feet. My socks will probably always have a brownish tinge to them, but I am able to get my feet clean. I feel like a new person and am ready to explore after the rain stops.

Another unbelievably pleasant experience is being re-united with The Mother of God, which I sent down with Lal when we parted in Dingboche. It contains, in addition to my ice axe, crampons and a bunch of other useless stuff, CLEAN CLOTHES!

Being a pilot, I'm naturally attracted to the Lukla Runway. At 1100 feet, it is about half the length of the runway in Palo Alto where I have done most of my flying. It also has a mountain at one end, meaning you can only land in one direction (06), and take off in the opposite direction (24). It also has an 8 degree slope. There may be other runways in the world with such a high slope, but I'm not aware of them. I walk around the runway and get a few photos of the slope and the control tower.

I have a hankering for a real coffee. By "real", I mean something other than Nescafe instant coffee. Nothing against Nescafe, but I want a coffee that has less than a one shelf life. I stop at the Sherpini Lodge, located at the end of the runway, and having a "high brow" look to it. I figure it might just have the real deal. I'm wrong, BUT, I do find a Brit (John), and an Ozzie (Sean), sitting beside the standard heater (burns yak dung), drinking San Miguel beer. They have concluded their trek with an organized group and over the next three hours I meet a dozen folks from their group, as they trickle out and join us for brews around the fire. A most pleasant way to relax and spend the afternoon. Coffee can wait till Kathmandu.

I head back to my hotel to eat, sleep and prepare for the flight back to civilization tomorrow. Because the weather plays such a key role in flying into Lukla, you never know in advance quite when your flight will leave. You book a date and check with the airline at 4:30PM the day before your flight to get their best estimate of your flight time. I learn that my "expected" flight time is 9:30AM tomorrow.