We all walked into Lukla late yesterday afternoon in a light drizzle. Matt and Prakash went straight to the lodge, while Pawan, Mandeep, Eliza and I accepted Ngima’s invite to go via her house in the nearby village. Now I know from past experience this invite can seem like an innocent welcome into a local house and a nice and honourable way to complete the trek. But there ARE hidden dangers...! You see, our little innocent “butterfly” porter with that harmless beautiful smile, becomes a dominating, muscle bounding tyrant in her own home. You simply DO NOT have a choice but to have a meal cooked for you, and even less choice when “forced” to have a large can of beer and a full glass or two of a local brew called Raski, which tastes like something that likely fuels the planes between Kat & Lukla..! We managed to escape this warm hospitality still able to walk and completed the 40min climb up into Lukla. A very nice and emotional farewell dinner with our porters capped off our final trek night. We were awoken this morning at 6am and were rushed over to the airport due to the planes departing Kat right on time. The Lukla “sling-shot” takeoff is always good fun and we were soon en-route to Kat. We had no sooner landed when we were advised that Lukla was now closed due visibility and snow/rain..! How’s that for timing? Already showered, shaved and massaged, and feeling oh so good. Pawan and Mandeep are exploring options to bring their homeward flights forward, although surprisingly, nothing is available. Matt and Eliza are catching up with wife/mum who arrived into Kat a few days ago and have some touristy stuff organised. I will be catching up with friends in Kat. A few thanks for the 2020 blog. Firstly for those who followed us and sent some encouraging and cheeky responses. Several of these made for amusing reading amongst the team. And for sister Sue who did such a splendid job updating the blog every day, particularly during those 4-5 days when we were off the air due no reception. For the non-Facebook users, the blog still serves a purpose. Great job Sue, Thanks. EBC 2020 signing off. Namaste. |