Off to Lukla!!!

Up at 5:45, showered and was downstairs about 6:15. Lamka, our Sherpa guide, was already waiting for us.

We headed to the airport, got there about 7:00, and found out all flights to Lukla were delayed because of bad weather in Lukla. So we waited. And we waited. Our guide came and told us that he was connections, he was trying to arrange for alternate transportation to Lukla, by helicopter, as well. Helicopters can sometimes get to Lukla when planes are unable to. About 9:30, we headed to the airport restaurant for some breakfast.

About 11:00, we were informed that all flights (by plane) to Lukla were cancelled for the day. There were lots of trekkers waiting to get on those planes, so the airport cleared out pretty quick.

About noon, had lunch at the restaurant, and as we were eating, they came up and told us that we were leaving by helicopter, right now, we had to go. I finished my sandwich, Harold still hadn't got his fried rice, so we paid, they put Harolds rice in a plastic bag for him, and we headed downstairs, and then had to wait 20 minutes to get our boarding passes. They didn't have any plastic cutlery, so Harold had to eat his rice like a dog, sticking his face into the bag. I dunno why he didn't eat with his hands, like the Nepali do.

We finally got our boarding passes, and were rushed through security and we all hopped into the back of a pickup truck and taken to the chopper. The chopper sat 9 people, plus the pilot. Me, Harold, Seamus and Anna, plus four other trekkers and their Sherpa guide. The other four trekkers, this was their 2nd day trying to get to Lukla. They couldn't get up there yesterday either. Our Sherpa guide (Lamka) wasn't able to come, because there wasn't enough room in the helicopter. He said he would catch the first flight up tomorrow morning and meet us there. Harold had already been up the trail, so knew the path anyway, so if perchance Lamka didn't get up there early, Harold could take us.

We all piled in to the back of the helicopter, like sardines, Anna, being the only one with breasts, got to sit up front with the pilot. We appeared all ready to go, the pilot was on the verge of starting the motors, then he took off his headset and got out of the helicopter. We were all wondering what was happening. AFter a few minutes, he was still standing outside with some other people, so everyone else piled out of the helicopter. We found out that there was fog on the runway in Lukla...we couldn't go. By the way, a plane to Lukla is only about 35 minutes...it would be slightly longer by helicopter.

So, we sat on the tarmack, watching army personnel roam around, watching other helicopters take off and land and watching other planes take off and land. Not much security here. We could have wondered off somewhere, and no one would have blinked an eye. They finally called the chopper off at 3:00pm.

We all thought that was it, we were heading back to the guest house to try again tomorrow, but the Sherpa guide for the other group said no, we are going by plane now, the runway in Lukla was clearing. All the baggage was taken out of the helicopter and put in a pickup, and taken to a nearby propeller plane. And there it waited. We watched, and a bus pulled up with other locals, including our Sherpa guide. He waited at the airport all day, and now that we were going by plane, there was room enough for him. We all wandered over to the plane, and everyone was standing around, talking. None of the baggage was being loaded up. Jeeze, people sure like to take their time in Nepal.

AFter a while, one of the guys in a tie started telling everyone to get on the plane, get the baggage loaded, we were going. We loaded on the plane (19 seater), the flight attendant greeted us, and everyone sat down and the baggage was loaded up. It started to rain a bit, and everyone else (other pilots and airport people) were standing under the wing of our plane, out of the rain. It passed in a few minutes, and still everyone was just standing around the plane, not much happening. Then the pilot took off his headset, undid his seatbelt and opened his door. He started talking Nepali to one of the guys in a tie. The flight attendant, sitting near the back of the small plane, started laughing to herself, over the conversation between the pilot and the tie guy. We asked our Sherpa guide what they were talking about. He said the pilot told the tie guy that he wanted to go home, but the tie guy told him he couldn't. Everyone got a chuckle. So, we waited some more. The co-pilot was still all suited up, he was sitting up there, playing with the flaps on the plane. Sometime after 4:00, the co-pilot announced that there was bad weather in Lukla, the flight was cancelled.

We were loaded up into a bus, taken back to the terminal, and got back to the Kathmandu Guest House about 5:00. They had an $8 room for me.

Anyway, that's were we stand. We're going to try again tomorrow. If we get up, there probably won't be any updates for a number of days. I'm meeting Harold and Seamus and Anna and Lamka at the Rum Doodle at 8:00 for supper. If perchance, we can't fly tomorrow either, I'm going to have to cancel this little trek trip. I'll then probably head up to The Last Resort for a few days intead, but who knows what'll happen. Today was an interesting experience at the Kathmandu airport. They sure tried to get a plane up to Lukla. It's been at least two days now that no flights (plane or helicopter) has been able to get to Lukla. And there are injured climbers up at base camp, but they can't get anything up there to get them out.