We had breakfast at our guest house overlooking the main runway and were relieved to at least to see a trickle of flights landing on this amazing runway - 20 metres wide, 460 metres long, a 15 % slope and a Mtn at the end of the strip that worked very effectively as a full stop !
Sadly Lukla has seen 3 tragedies over the years giving the airport the title as one of the most dangerous in the world !
Although delayed, people were slowly getting out on flights so just after 9.a.m we took the long 100 meter walk to the departures section of the terminal
Organised chaos would best describe the check in process and we were soon allocated flight number "3" signalling that it would be the 3rd Tara Airlines flight to depart Lukla that morning.
Security was amiable if not thorough, with the guy I presented my carry on bag to suggesting that i had books in my bag without opening or scanning the bag - when I said cameras , he replied "yes books" and allowed me to continue !
Without announcements of any kind we waited for another 3-4 hours as the 3rd Tara Dornier 229 plane arrived only to be told (without explanation) that it was in fact Tara flight number 4 - go figure !!
Watching these small planes being unloaded provided at least some form of entertainment as everything from sacks of rice to engine blocks appeared to be carried by these 14 seater planes to supply nearby local villages ! Up to 100 flights a day can occur during the peak season !
Finally with the weather beginning to close in No. 3 finally arrived and in the Lukla tradition kept an engine running while the plane was offloaded and then loaded with us in less than 10 minutes - all while the pilots were taking a cup of coffee !
The 460 mete runway appeared incredibly short particularly when the end of the runway plummets over a steep drop, but with full throttle we basted over the void with at least 10 meters 2 feet and 3 inches to spare !
The flight to Kathmandu was all of 40 minutes - the peaks we'd crossed on trek now appeared like "black icebergs" piercing the fully clouded sky while on Monika's side a vista of the remarkable Himalayas were evident !
Kathmandu was typically recognisable on approach by its smoke haze ! After landing we taxied to the airports extremity as a result of security arrangements in place for visiting Prime Ministers of sensitive nations Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Maldives as part of an Asian economic cooperative !
The security arrangements extended to limiting road traffic and calling a 2 day holiday to co-incide with the summit making progress to our Hotel significantly easier
After 21 days on the go, a collective loss of 10+ kgs and a bag full of dirt encrusted clothes our first question at our Hotel desk was " when can we get our washing done" !
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