| https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DqgZvb37NX0
Pretty much our reaction when we land or take off from Lukla Airport safely. The 18 passengers in the plane clap hands and go Yaay!!
I closed my eyes the first time we landed.
The runway is locked with a blatant wall on one side and a deep cliff on the other. There is not much room for error. And weather has to cooperate. A lot of flights get cancelled if the weather is bad and visibility is low, which can happen quite often in the region.
If you want to skip this dangerous airport, and still want to trek to EBC, you have to start hiking from near Kathmandu, from Jiri and add a good 6 days to your trek. That is just how tricking inaccessible this place is. Mountains and ridges and valleys and more and more and more of them.
The village is so small it took us less than 5 minutes to walk from our lodge to the airport. A favorite pass time for those stuck in Lukla due to bad weather is to watch the flights take off and land. And helicopters too are in plenty. One of my most favorite memories of the Himalayas is the red and white helicopter flying across the mammoth mountains looking like a fly on a wall. Makes you realize how insignificant you can be. |
