Day 1 – Monday 10.10.2011 Kathmadu to Lukla: 2840m

Today we arrived at the airport at 8:30am eager arrive in Lukla around 10am to begin our much anticipated trek to the base camp of Mount Everest. Unfortunately our flight was delayed due to high winds and fog that have been taken much more seriously now that another plane has crashed, flying into this infamously dangerous airport of Lukla. Eight very long hours went by, but sure enough we heard “Flight 307” crackle through the soft speakers. Excited to have finally been called, we raced up to the ticket counter and headed out onto the tarmac where one of the smallest commercial planes, I have ever seen, awaited Ryan, Kelly and I and the ten other passengers that stuffed into the tiny aircraft. The good thing about the size was that everyone had window seat that displayed an amazing view of of the dense Nepali cities, countrysides, and mountain ranges. It was truly impressive how the Nepali people use up ever bit of land to farm crops. Steep mountainsides groomed to perfection to fit as much vegetation as possible. All of the terrain looked as if it had folds in it or stairs even. Mind boggling the amount of time it must have taken to do this through thousands of miles of geography. Through the billowing clouds we were able to catch a glimpse of the breathtaking Himalayas, almost as if it were a sneak peak as to what we had coming. All of this tranquility was suddenly halted as the mountainsides began to close in on the plane. Closer and closer the steep cliffs came upon us. Was this it? Did we just come all this way to become another airplane crash statistic?! With a sudden bounce on the 100yd, uphill runway, a cheer arose followed by a round of applause as glided into Lukla airport. Everyone's faces went from terror to relief and the back to terror as we stepped out of the plane and realized that we had just landed on what was basically a protruding cliff against an enormous mountain. Once gathering our 45lb trekking backpacks, we set out into the village of Lukla to search for a guesthouse that would take us in for the night. After this crazy day, I cannot wait to see what adventures the rest of this trip will bring.