Return to Lukla

We spent a night in Namche, Phakding, and Lukla before flying back to Kathmandu. We were “scheduled” to be on the second flight out in the morning. We arrived at the airport after an early and quick breakfast, went through security (not the tightest, but they did search our backpacks and persons), and stood around for a long time while watching planes arriving but not leaving. The tarmac held 4 planes so the fifth one had to park at the end of the runway. The airport was full up. I leaned out the door and shot this panorama.

It turns out the problem was fog in Kathmandu. Until it cleared none of the planes could leave. The powers that be felt the wait would be long so we were allowed out of the airport. We settled in a nearby lodge for some tea. I used this opportunity to hike above the airport and photograph this pan. For fun I added two images shot in Khatmandu to this pan. can you find them?

While up there the sun, clouds, and mountains put on a nice show, but none of the photos I took are big enough for the gigapan site.

Back in the lodge we heard plane noise about the time Chhongba told us to head back to the airport. (The delay turned out to be fairly short.) We hurried through security barely being looked at by the soldiers and watched plane after plane leave to my horror. Seems we were on one of the next set of planes.

Lots of shopping back in Kathmandu, a long trip home (long enough to read “Into Thin Air” from cover to cover), and a safe return to Etna concluded an unforgettable trip to a very interesting and spectacular country.