From Lukla...finally

A frustrating day today, spent in the Kathmandu airport waiting for weather holds to clear our flight to Lukla. Finally, at 2:00pm we heard our flight called. 45 minutes later we pancaked onto the uphill runway of Lukla, and our trek had started.

It has been six years since I was last here. Things have changed. There is cell service. There is a rocking Irish bar pouring draft Guiness. I am in a Starbucks, sipping a Flat White, and blogging from their free Wi-Fi. I'm not sure I like all that change, but I'm pretty sure I'll get used to it.

Tomorrow we start north, with a quick side trip to the nearby village of Syangma, where a few years ago one of our group, Ken Stober, funded the building of a bridge over the Dhud Koshi, thereby saving the children of that village a daily walk of several hours to get to school on the other side of the river. Good stuff, good karma.

Namaste,
Jim Ronning