Day 16 - Back to Lukla

Our last day hiking in the Himalayan mountains was serene and beautiful.  It didn't take long to arrive back in to Lukla, the gateway to Mt. Everest.  Stepping over sleeping dogs and dodging porters carrying oversized supplies up the valley.  

It was lunchtime and we decided to stop by the airport to see if we could catch an early flight out.  In typical fashion the gate agent told us to come back in an hour.  We visited a tea house close by that we heard had influence with the flights.  He said maybe we could get out this afternoon and if not, he had room for us to sleep.  We agreed and ordered some tea and fries for lunch.  After an hour Shadow went back to the gate agent.  He came back and told me to grab the bags.  I slurped down my mint tea and grabbed the fries and bags.  Hurry up.  Wait.  Hurry up.  Wait.  

The tea house is literally 10 feet from the "terminal". A rusted and bent chain link fence keeps you from walking onto the runway.  I think it's more for keeping the cows off the grass than the people.  A lonely guard with no weapon watches over the tarmac.  He mainly keeps the tourists from walking into a propeller while taking photos.  

Shadow said he walked in on the tea house owner and airline representative exchanging cash.  The owner looked at Shadow with a smile and said, I got you on a flight.  I'm not sure what happened, but it didn't cost us anything.

4 planes arrived but no room for us.  A small group of trekkers stared out the window looking for any sign of more planes to arrive like puppies in a pet shop.  Everyone is dirty and hungry for a meal without potatoes.  A tiny snack shop inside stayed busy selling crackers, soup, and candy.

I settled in for a long afternoon book reading. The clouds began to descend down the mountains.  Shadow and I were sure no more flights would arrive.  An old Russian cargo helicopter landed full of rebar for construction, astroturf for indoor carpet, and plastic buckets for kerosene.  After the locals pulled out the load, he cranked up the helicopter and flew away blowing AstroTurf and blue containers all around.

A small tv came on airing a soccer game, but quit about 30 minutes later.  I noticed a sign on the wall with a photo of the national bird of Nepal, the Danphe.  It looks like a peacock with no tail feathers.  I guess that's what we saw the other day.  Shadow had spoken to the security guard a few times about flights coming in.  He assured us one would be here soon.  Sure enough an airplane came in.  The guard wanted to get a photo of us for some reason, so we got one of him too before leaving.  This plane had 2 passengers and a load of supplies, mainly food.  Potatoes, noodles, and garlic.  Luckily there were seats on board too.

Full power on the engine and zooming downhill like a rollercoaster we went.  Lifting off just before the end of the runway.  40 minutes later we were back in Kathmandu.

Shadow had a plan for dinner.  We checked back into the Hotel Ganesh Himal, a place that could easily be the focal point of a Wes Anderson film, dropped our packs and headed to a Korean restaurant.  It was good to be back in the city.  We were like locals dodging the scooters, stopping by the local fruit stand for fresh pomegranates and bananas, and finding a laundry service to clean some clothes.  We gorged ourselves on grilled porkbelly lettuce wraps, tofu soup, and spicy kimchi, all cooked on a small grill on our table. I had found my appetite!  We lived like Kings and Queens strolling back to the hotel while window shopping the local's small store fronts.  Life was good and we had earned it.

Kathmandu 

After a relaxing morning we spent the day walking the streets.  Stopping for breakfast where Shadow could get a "real" cup of coffee.  You can get anything you want here.  Pharmacy, there's a street for that.  Seriously, probably 6 blocks of nothing but open air pharmacies.  Hardware store,  there's a street for that too lined with tiny shops selling anything from ropes to nails.  Fabric, clothing, carpets?  You want it? There's a street for it.