On Sunday morning we were up very early and transferred by bus to Kathmandu domestic airport to take our flight to Lukla. The flight into Lukla is notorious for being delayed so we were lucky to only have to wait an extra hour for our flight. The last tour had to wait 3 days for the unpredictable Himalayan weather to clear! The flight is also infamous for its outstandingly poor safety record... flight to crash ratio it is one of the most dangerous flights in the world so we were understandably a little anxious! We boarded our tiny Twin Otter prop plane (owned by 'Yeti Airlines') which was just big enough for two pilots, our tour group of 12 and bags. We sat on the left hand side as advised to get the best views and began our 45 minute flight. 
As our little plane ascended above the haze and pollution of Kathmandu the whole snow-covered Himalayan range emerged to our port side. The flight was spectacular and we spent the whole time gazing through the tiny windows at the enormous snowcapped mountains around us. Below us, the hills were all terraced for farming and as we neared the end of our flight the plane seemed to pass over some of the mountains by what looked like only a few feet! We finally entered an enormous valley, the mountains close on either side and rising high above us. We began our descent into Lukla airport. The runway is tiny, only 500m long, 20m wide, on a sharp incline and at one end it drops off the mountainside into the valley far below and at the other end is an enormous stone wall! The pilot literally dumped the plane down onto the runway and shoved the reverse thrust and brakes on as hard as possible.... we had made it and we all whooped and cheered with delight!
On stepping out of the plane we were awestruck, both with the quality of the scenery and the cleanliness of the air. We were surrounded by towering mountains and green forests. We wandered through the small Nepali sherpa village of Lukla, grabbed some breakfast and began our trek. We were well equipped... 4 excellent guides and 5 small but enormously strong porters helped us make our way to Mt Everest and it's Base Camp. It took us 9 days (including 2 rest days) to reach the dizzying, altitude sickness-inducing heights of 5,450m above sea level. As we started out our trek we hiked through tiny sherpa villages where life is clearly very simple and self-sustained with the local people growing all their own food. 
There are no vehicles with all goods, including building materials all transported from town to town via 'human' lorries. We were amazed by the loads carried by these local porters along the trek; some were bent over double with huge, impossible loads strapped to their backs and supported by a band around their heads.Each day we would walk about 5-6 hours along dusty, windy tracks that took us higher and higher into the Himalayas; often stopping to let herds of yaks past. As we ascended, the villages became much smaller and sparser, and the vegetation was replaced by towering rock mountainsides and huge snow-capped peaks of a scale we have never seen before. 
The scenery was truly majestic, lined with Tibetan Buddhist stupas and adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. As we climbed higher the air became thinner and thiner, making every step arduous; by the time we reached Everest Base Camp the oxygen levels were only at 52% of what we normally breathe at sea-level.
The scenery was truly majestic, lined with Tibetan Buddhist stupas and adorned with Tibetan prayer flags. As we climbed higher the air became thinner and thiner, making every step arduous; by the time we reached Everest Base Camp the oxygen levels were only at 52% of what we normally breathe at sea-level.Our accommodation each night were small, family-run teahouses and on arriving we would do our usual, have a wet-wipe 'shower' and change into our warmest clothes and then huddle around a small stove in the centre of a communal room. The facilities were extremely basic but adequate. 
At bedtime (usually around 8pm because it was so cold!) we would return to our freezing, draughty, wooden rooms and dive into our sleeping bags to try and get warm. Most mornings our water had frozen in their containers and putting on our trekking clothes was like getting into blocks of ice! The food was actually quite reasonable, all home-cooked rice, noodles and the local Nepali dish, dahl baht ('lentils, potato -vegetable curry and rice'). It was very hearty and good mountain food so we indulged many times! For breakfast we would normally share a bowl of porridge and a Tibetan Bread, akin to a large, flattened, deep-fried doughnut (and spread with peanut butter it was unhealthy but quite tasty!).
At bedtime (usually around 8pm because it was so cold!) we would return to our freezing, draughty, wooden rooms and dive into our sleeping bags to try and get warm. Most mornings our water had frozen in their containers and putting on our trekking clothes was like getting into blocks of ice! The food was actually quite reasonable, all home-cooked rice, noodles and the local Nepali dish, dahl baht ('lentils, potato -vegetable curry and rice'). It was very hearty and good mountain food so we indulged many times! For breakfast we would normally share a bowl of porridge and a Tibetan Bread, akin to a large, flattened, deep-fried doughnut (and spread with peanut butter it was unhealthy but quite tasty!). 
In order to acclimatise and prevent the onset of altitude sickness, we stopping for a day each in the towns of Namche Bazar and Dingboche (situated at 3,440m and 4,530m altitude respectively). On these 'rest' days we climbed higher to the Himalayas Museum and Ama Dablam Base Camp and then returned to the towns which was supposed to combat the effects of altitude very well. 
On one night we stopped in the tiny town of Tengboche, the site of a large Tibetan monastery where it began to snow heavily! It was the coldest night's sleep we have ever experienced that night, in our small wooden hut. The following morning the whole valley was covered in snow and it resembled a winter wonderland... we sang Christmas songs as we trudged along a snow covered woodland trail; it was so atmospheric.
We reached Base Camp on day 9 of our 15 day trek. Located at 5,360m along a rugged, glaciated valley that resembled a messy, rocky, moonscape, it was little of an anti-climax to such a stunning scenic walk and quite a disappointing site if we are honest. Nevertheless we celebrated with a bar of Cadbury's Fruit & Nut chocolate before making the journey to our teahouse. The way back was a little precarious with steep lateral moraines covered with the most enormous boulders which hung by a thread. The exceptionally slow and stop start pace of the resdt of the group in such dangerous cohnditions made Bi a little panicky, so in the interests of our own safety we shot off down the path leaving our group a way behind. We continued the pace home and the rest of the group caught up with us 1.5 hours later, where we were already sat by the fire - washed, wearing clean clothes and enjoying a cup of tea! Compared to other treks we have done the pace of this trip was little a slow but it did give us plenty of time to admire and soak up the amazing scenery around us.The real highlight of our trip was the day after Base 
Camp when 7 of us from our group decided to ascend Kala Patthar, 5,643m above sea level and the highest any of us have ever been (and only 50 metres short of the altitude at base camp 2 on Everest). We were up super early (5am) and began climbing in the dark. Every step was an effort and Bi really struggled with the altitude (not helped by the lack of breakfast for energy) and the lack of oxygen, stopping several times from bad nauseaous. However, she made it thanks to sheer determination, a Mars Bar and sucking on some Werther's Originals sweets! Bagging the summit felt like a proper achievement and the stunning surrounding mountain vista, including awesome views of Mt Everest, was a great reward. It was bitterly cold on the mountain, perhaps -20 degrees and we all had painfully frozen hands and feet so we only managed about 10 minutes on the summit before heading back down. It took two hours to make the ascent and only 25 minutes to get back down again.
Camp when 7 of us from our group decided to ascend Kala Patthar, 5,643m above sea level and the highest any of us have ever been (and only 50 metres short of the altitude at base camp 2 on Everest). We were up super early (5am) and began climbing in the dark. Every step was an effort and Bi really struggled with the altitude (not helped by the lack of breakfast for energy) and the lack of oxygen, stopping several times from bad nauseaous. However, she made it thanks to sheer determination, a Mars Bar and sucking on some Werther's Originals sweets! Bagging the summit felt like a proper achievement and the stunning surrounding mountain vista, including awesome views of Mt Everest, was a great reward. It was bitterly cold on the mountain, perhaps -20 degrees and we all had painfully frozen hands and feet so we only managed about 10 minutes on the summit before heading back down. It took two hours to make the ascent and only 25 minutes to get back down again.
Over the following 5 days we descended back through the mountains and returned to Kathmandu by the same Twin Otter aircraft. The take off was as exhilirating and terrifying as the landing had been and most definately one of the biggest highlights of the trip. The plane edged up as far as it could to the wall at the top of the run way and then it was full throttle down and downward sloping runway that just dropped off a mountain. The plane didn't actually have to point upwards or gain altitude, it just glided off the end of the runway and we were flying! Having been blessed with good weather for the whole trip, we arrived back in Kathmandu by 9am with a nice full day ahead of us. First stop was a good shower as we had only had the opportunity for 2 showers in the past 2 weeks. We did copious amounts of laundry, collecting our Indian visas and air tickets and had a huge pizza for lunch as we are completely sick of dal Baht, rice and noodles. In the afternoon we took a taxi to the 
suburb of Patan, 5km outside of Kathmandu where we saw the stunning Newari architecture of Patan's Durbar Square (UNESCO world heritage site) and wandered the tiny, old, narrow streets and markets. It was a fitting end to our time here in Kathmandu. This evening we will be going for a meal at the 'Rum Doodle' restaurant which is where the base camp trekkers and Everest Summitters eat and drink (... they get to eat and drink for free for a lifetime) and the walls are adorned with their signatures and comments.
suburb of Patan, 5km outside of Kathmandu where we saw the stunning Newari architecture of Patan's Durbar Square (UNESCO world heritage site) and wandered the tiny, old, narrow streets and markets. It was a fitting end to our time here in Kathmandu. This evening we will be going for a meal at the 'Rum Doodle' restaurant which is where the base camp trekkers and Everest Summitters eat and drink (... they get to eat and drink for free for a lifetime) and the walls are adorned with their signatures and comments.
Tomorrow we say goodbye to Nepal and take a 2.30pm flight to Varanasi, India where spend our final two weeks before heading back to the UK. It is nearly the very end of our 13 month trip and we are filled with mixed emotions. We look forward on one hand to the home comforts, good food and wine, nice clothes and doing normal things but on the other we will miss the excitement and the liberation of being totally free and seeing and experiencing so many different and wonderful cultures.
