Luckily our bags were found and we grabbed a cab back to the hotel to work out the airline tickets. Shadow asked if I wanted to do the negotiations and said not to accept anything more than 600 Nepalese Rupees. First guy said 1,000. I waved him off and told him he was crazy. That didn't work so well so Shadow took over. He has more fun with it than I do.
Luckily our hotel had room for us an additional night and rebooked our flight. After settling in we walked to a local Korean restaurant for dinner. You don't drink the tap water here, really anything you eat that isn't processed is a crap shoot. Shadow has already stayed in Kathmandu too long. The smog and risk of illness is high here.
We were told to be at the airport at 7am again. This time we knew the drill and were ready to tag-team the challenge. We made it to the ticket counter at 6:45am. They told to come back in 45 minutes, 3 times. The trekkers booked through guided trips where getting first priority. Finally a gate agent looked our way and just like that we had a ticket. Departure time "About an hour." Everything here and is an "hour". The trekkers we met had become familiar with one another and were positioned in such a way, within the madness of the Kathmandu airport, to make eye contact with any new flight information. Communication spread within our group until our flight was called. We rushed to the gate and and 2 flights of passengers squeezed onto the bus. Our planes arrived from Lukla and baggage was divided and loaded. Then came word of an hour delay. Everyone scatters outside and finds a place to sit. There are 3 of our company's planes sitting due to weather. Not weather here, or in Lukla, but somewhere in between. Word has it that clouds cover the Lukla airport everyday by lunch time that cancels flights. We watch the left engine cowling open on the plane with our packs. Maybe we should just walk to Lukla.
They pull a part off the top of an engine and put another part back in its place, restart the engine, wipe it down and remove the chocks. Plane back in service. Shadow and I get out the guide book and find a bus route that gets us 5-6 days from Lukla. Just in case.
We wait. Passengers strung along the edge of the tarmac near the bathrooms watching every move of the airport employees looking for any signs. "Are we going yet? Maybe. Looking the flight attendants are walking back to the planes. Now they are walking to another plane." "Here comes a lady with a badge!" Someone says. Everyone hustles back on one of the buses and it takes off to an airplane. Our bus sits and waits. Then suddenly we get the go signal and everyone boards. The others are excited. Smiling. Taking photos. Yeah, we did that yesterday.
Sure enough we took off. Intersection takeoff with another airplane on the same runway. Looks like the replacement part on the engine worked. Full speed on the engine the whole way. Who needs to worry able fuel consumption. Turbulent airspeed is more of a suggestion, right? The white Himalayan rugged peaks poke above the clouds. It was an amazing sight. The airplane flew unpressurized and it wasn't long before the ground began climbing towards us. We hauled butt across a mountain about 300 feet below us making a hard left and pulling the power to start our descent. I saw the airport and my stomach dropped. What the hell am I doing here. I'm going to die. Overshoot the runway, run into the mountain. Literally it's at the end of the runway. Undershoot and we run into the cliff and pieces of us drop a couple thousand feet down. Deep breath. But don't hyperventilate! The YouTube videos don't even come close. This is the craziest airport I have ever seen.
We grab our bags and the sweet locals are asking for us to use them as porters. Sorry guys, we carry our own stuff. We found our room for the night. Before walking the main path of town we had a nice rooftop lunch of veggie fried rice, yak burger, and beer. From the roof we watched the last few helicopters and airplanes land and takeoff. We are just in awe of this place. Friendly and gentle people.
We settle into our room. From this point on, we probably won't have hot water unless it's solar or we pay big bucks. Looks like we may break our 12-day no shower record from the PCT. Our room is basic, with two twins and a comforter and pillow. Plus a bathroom. Oh yeah, you want toilet paper? Hope you brought it with you! We brought 4 small rolls. Fingers crossed we can buy some along the way.
After a short power outage we were able to have dinner and some slow wifi. I'm shocked we even have wifi here. There a tv in the main room/restaurant with 3 Nepalese men sharing some weird historical fiction tv show about mythical gods and a cute white dog is staring at us while we eat.
2 comments:
What a wild and crazy place! We enjoy reading about your far-flung adventures as we enjoy our simple life here at the edge of the woods. Have fun and stay safe. ~~Flame and Pyro
I am loving you two adventurous souls even more! This is awesome!
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