Thursday, November 06, 2014

Everest View Trekking - Lukla to Phakding | Day 1

I skipped my Kathmandu City part for now.
Because I'm so eager to share my excitement / highlights of the whole Nepal trip.

Getting to Lukla, from Kathmandu:

Early morning, we got pick up by our local tour Company, Destination Unlimited. Ashok (Owner) came by our B&B and sent us together with our Tour Guide, Rajan off to the airport.

Tribhuvan Domestic Airport
Dimly lighted & unorganised domestic airport which we joke that it looks abit like refugees in chaos.
Upon checking in, the officer weigh even our weight and hand carry bags.

And handed over a boarding pass.

The check-in counter. Sorry for the blurness because of poor lightings!

The boarding pass to Lukla

We are ready to go!

After security checks, we waited for internal airport shuttle to get us to our plane sites.
Excited and anticipated to land at the World Most Dangerous Airport, Lukla.

Domestic Planes

View from my seat.

Only 2 rows. About 15 pax, i guess.

View of Kathmandu City from plane

View from Plane

Safetly landed on the World Most Dangerous Airport, Lukla.


Its a cliff after the runway. 

Porters get our bags from the baggage claim, from there, Rajan, our trek guide showed us way to nearest teahouse where we will be served hot drinks! Its 10 deg chilly morning of October! Clear skies :) I do miss this kind of weather, reminds me of New Zealand. Malaysia is too hot & humid!


Hot Chocolate to warm up~

Cozy Teahouse, Paradise Lodge


After getting ourselves warm enough & munch on our morning takeaway breakfast from B&B early in the morning, we are ready to go!

Our first "we-fie" at the Tourist Police Station

We were told that its going to be an easy day of trek.

Why? Because we currently at 2840m Lukla, and going to trek down to 2610m Phakding. About 3 to 4 hours of trek depends on the speed.

Another wefie before we start our trek!

Lukla Town

Lukla

Dogs here have thick fur & cover with leaves or dirt from mountains

Lukla

Another clean looking furry dog!

This is the Gate to treks!


No, this is not a yak.

Pathway

When the sun is up, and getting warm!

Empty potter basket

Porter with some heavy loads.


 Tourist potter only allowed to carry about 30kgs of weigh on them. But for locals, they usual exceed those weigh limit. We even saw one carrying 2 chest freezers. Show you in next pic!

Imaging all building materials and furniture carry all the way up to mountain like this!



Prayer wheel


Some lodging along the way.

Locals walk pass on their left everytime.











Milk River, Dudh Kosi





Sherpa Kitchen



Some pathway is rough and steep


Donkeys carrying Gas Cylinders down from the Mountains


After 2 hours of trek, our stop for Lunch at Everest Summiter Lodge & Restaurant. They have Dal Bhat (Nepali cuisine), Chinese, Western and even Italian food. Don't expect much though, just simple ingredients and no preservatives!

Rajan, our trek guide advised us better don't take meat/poultry in Mountain, because the Locals are not allow to kill animals in Mountains. So all the meat/poultry they have is carry all the up way from Kathmandu to the Mountains. Perhaps its not so fresh anymore.


The menu


Teahouse lodge with wide windows view of mountains.

Our lunch took us about 2 hours. Slow service, forgive them. I overheard they have only one gas cooker available so it will take sometimes to prepare different dishes.

After a full lunch, we continue our trek for about 2 more hours to reach Phakding. Rajan have to bear with us for endless stops of photos.

As we continued on our trek...






Homegrown vegetables!


Prayer wheels along the trek.


Ascending the stairs


More stone houses

Yeti Mountain Home, upon seeing this, we know we are almost there!



Our stay of 1st night in the Mountain, Trekker's Lodge & Restaurant



The onlookers. haha


Happy to get keys to our room! Our feet can rest now!


 6 pax of us, so its a private twin room with attached bathroom for all of us.

After a good rest and unpacking of stuff, we proceed to the common area / restaurant for dinner! Mind you, they have almost similar menus all over the teahouse we been to along the trek up to Everest View Point.



Summary:

Trek route: Lukla 2840m to Phakding 2610m (Easy)
Hours of trek: 3-4 hours
Lodge: Trekkers Lodge & Restaurant, Phakding
Agent: Destination Unlimited Trek & Expedition Pvt. Ltd (http://www.destinationunlimited.com.np/contact-us.html)




1 comment:

Vincent Quek said...

I enjoyed reading this, Sylvia. Very detailed and good pics. I envy you.