Getting lucky in Lukla!

Day 2: Fly to Lukla – Trek to Monjo – 2,850m/ 9,350 feet
Fly from Kathmandu to Lukla. We will make an early morning start for the Twin Otter flight to
Lukla (2,840m/9,317 ft), the gateway to the Khumbu Region. This is an exciting flight, which
should give a glimpse of Everest in the distance. In Lukla, we will meet the rest of our trek staff
and set off straight away for our first night in the mountain village of Monjo. Depending on
what time the flight arrives in Lukla, we may have to stop in the town of Phakding (2,600m/
8,530 ft) for the night. Hopefully, the team will make it all the way to Monjo. Both villages are
situated on the banks of the Dudh Kosi, which drains the whole of the Khumbu Region, and is
the main trade route for the entire region. This can be the busiest part of the trail. Today we will
walk for 3 hours to Phakding and a total of 5 hours to Monjo. The total distance is 8.8 miles/ 13
km to Monjo from Lukla.

I survived my first day trekking to Everest Base Camp!!  I posted our official itinerary above and will do for each post that so you can see the plans for the day.  The “early morning start” was, indeed, early AF as we were to meet in the lobby at 4.30am, ready for a 4.45am departure to the airport.  I knew my FlyKit wasn’t going to be happy with me (sorry) as I attempted to go to bed at 8pm rather than the proscribed 9.45pm.  Alas, I ended up having a shitty night’s sleep – not because of jetlag, but mainly because of Excessive Door Slamming from my inconsiderate hotel neighbors.  Grrr.  I finally gave in at around 3am and got up and futzed around finishing my packing, taking care to stay within my luggage weight allowance of 10kg for the holdall and 5kg for my backpack.  I mainly achieved this by stuffing as much as I could get away with into my puffy coat’s pockets (my phone, 2 battery banks, Garmin sat nav, wallet, hat, macrame kit, fiber chews – you know, the essentials).  I did feel a little sheepish when I had to empty all my pockets before going through the security scanner, but I’m sure these people have pretty much seen it all.

Kathmandu domestic airport was as I remembered it (I’m feeling like a very savvy world traveler right now) and, as expected, our 6am departure time was more of a serving suggestion, than a hard and fast time. We’d been booked on the first flight out and were delayed a bit because of poor visibility in Lukla but we finally were shepherded onto the transfer bus just before 7am, then onto a teeny tiny plane. Only 14 passengers in total!

Despite the small number of passengers, there seemed to be a disproportionate number of emergency exits on tiny plane.  I counted 4 – and all of them pretty tiny.  You would need to fold yourself in half to fit through – one chonky passenger would plug that sucker up like a cork!  The one cabin crew lady went through the safety briefing and then proceeded to hand out boiled sweets (to stave off airsickness) and some cotton wall balls to stick in your ears to reduce the noise of the engine.  There was so little space inside the cabin she literally had to climb over each of us as she made her way from the front to the back of the plane!  I had managed to snag a seat on the left hand side which, allegedly, was best for views but for most of the flight there was thick cloud/fog/smog so I saw precisely bugger all.  Ah well – I’m sure there are much better views of Mount Everest to be had later on in this trip anyway!

It turned out that we had gotten Very Lucky Indeed as the airport ended up closing for the rest of the day, only about an hour after we had arrived, due to poor visibility.  Result!!  We hung out for a while at the tea house next to the airport, rehydrating with some tea, while our team sorted out some logistics and equipment etc.  We finally got underway just before 10am, first of all trekking through the touristy town of Lukla, before heading into the forest and tracking with the river.  The scenery reminded me a LOT of the ABC trek (not surprising, I guess) but a little different because its earlier in the year, so there were fewer spring blooms dotting the hillside.  There were some steps but, thankfully, not as many as on the ABC trail and – for the most part – the trail itself was pretty wide and well groomed.  There was one bit that was a bit ropey- about 50m or so of a narrow dirt track, climbing steeply up into the forest, that was clearly a temporary trail – I think there had been a flash flood that had washed the original away.  But that was the worst of the terrain, so it really wasn’t all that bad.

We crossed the river several times, so had to navigate 4 suspension bridges – they were not that intimidating (unlike the looooooog one on the ABC) except the second to last one felt a bit sketchy as it was super slippery, mainly due to being covered in a fine sheen of mule shit.  Up until this point, we had also gotten lucky with the weather as it had stayed dry for the day – but a light drizzle had started to come down in the last half hour, which made everything a bit slicker underfoot.

We made our way through Phakding and finally made it to our final destination of Monjo just before 4pm.  I have my own room (huzzah) and it even has its own ensuite  bathroom!  Luxury!!!  It feels less mouldy than the ABC teahouses – though its still not heated, so I can already see my breath as I sit here in the room typing (its 630pm).  My (non weird) cheese sandwich lunch is sitting very odd on my stomach so my digestive system is in need of some relief. I think its still deciding what form factor that will be.  At the very least, its great to be able to sit here and slowly deflate in private.

All in all, the first day on the trail was pretty good. We were hiking through rhododendron forests again – one or two had flower buds just starting to appear.  It felt pretty easy for the morning, then after lunch started to feel a bit more challenging, partly though due to feeling bloated and in need of a jolly good shit.  The pollution is not as bad as ABC but I can still feel it a bit in my chest as I type this at the end of our first day. I am wearing a buff (thin cotton scarf thing) so I’m being careful to use it to cover my nose and mouth when going past any smoky areas or when the mules kick up lots of dust from the trail.

I am not expecting this feeling of easy breezy trekking to continue, though –  tomorrow its upwards and onwards to Namche Bazaar – about 11,286ft and its only going to get progressively harder!  At least the trails are not too crazy busy – while there are already a ton of mules we are having to navigate, apparently in the height of the season, there are so many of them that sometimes you have to wait about 40mins for a gap in the Mule Train so that you can cross the suspension bridges!