Day 3 Kathmandu to Lukla to Phakding, Wednesday May 1, 2013


2600m 2.75 hours

Ahhhh the sounds of German soccer fans watching their team win a semi-final championship match. Yes that was my ‘alarm’ at 2am this morning rather than the planned 4am!

Spencer said he laid down after dinner, woke up feeling rested and bounded out of bed thinking the clock said 4:15am. After showering and heading downstairs he realized it was only 9:30PM – now that is a power nap!!

Needless to say, not much sleep happened between the 3 of us – we were certainly on time for Bikesh to pick us up.

There wasn’t much of a crowd at the airport, however the organized chaos of airline staff weighing group’s baggage, Nepali guides and porters running and shouting to get their group through first and the trekkers looking confused and helpless was a familiar sight! How we managed to depart 5 minutes early is beyond me – it is a riot to watch knowing how the system ‘works’.

It was a beautiful morning so the weather gods are with us. We were the first aircraft to take off and, other than the odd jostle of turbulence, we arrived in Lukla by 7am.

First order of the day – breakfast and tea, relax a and we started trekking by 8:15am. From Lukla to Phakding is mostly downhill so in no time we arrive at the Snowland teahouse at 11am!
The guys were having great time with the porters, sharing their huge loads with them. They would take turns carrying our luggage and trekkers would stop and stare and other porters would just giggle – I imagine them thinking “now those porters have their clients trained properly!”

Second order of the day, you got it – lunch and buckets of tea! I forgot how huge the Medium Pot of lemon tea was and Spencer’s eyes popped when he realized it was for only him and I.

Lunch was great and then the show begins. Teams of joepkes (cross between a cow and a yak) would pass by, owners yelling at the top of their lungs to keep them in line. There is always a renegade in every crowd – one of the yaks heads into the open doorway of a teahouse causing quite a ruckus until the owner chases him out. Spencer laughing tells us the yak looked around almost as if to say ‘hey what am I doing in here’. From this point onward we decide the saying is now ‘like a yak in a teahouse’ rather than bull in a china shop.

The afternoon is spent wandering, napping, and chatting. Dinner was equally as good and before long we succumb to our beds calling us.

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