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05.16.16 Lukla/Phakding
You don't really "land" at Lukla's Tenzing - Hillary Airport. It's more like a controlled flight into a mountain. First, you're over 9,000 feet above sea level, and to get there, you have to weave your way through valleys in a plane, whose airworthiness is questionable, at best. And the airplane doesn't so much approach the ground, as the ground comes up to meet the plane - the runway is sloped upward at an 11 degree pitch. The term, "final approach" takes on a unique and literal meaning in Lukla. The last thing you want to do is the first thing you want to avoid - shorting the runway. There's only about 10 feet of forgiveness between the asphalt and the sheer cliff that you want to avoid at all costs... except one. Oh Greg, tell us. What could be worse than a 200 mph header into a rocky cliff? That would be over-shooting the runway, because you guessed it, there's a steeper cliff. So once the pilot commits to the landing, you will soon be on the ground - It's just a matter of where you hit it. This was more disconcerting than I thought it would be. It's against all human instinct to fly towards a mountian, even if you can see a runway through the front windows. They really should put up a curtain.
The pilots did an excellent job (not hitting the cliffs), but it was a fairly shocking landing. The real treat was getting our first peak at Everest thought the clouds right before landing. The lighting was too washed out to get a good picture, but if the weather is as nice as it was today, we should get our first good views in two days from Namche. Today's hike was a vigorous 4.5 mile trek - and got us ready for what lies ahead.
Archives:
05.17.16 Namche Bazaar
05.21.16 Gokyo Lakes
05.25.16 Gorkashep
05.26.16 Everest Base Camp!
05.29.16 Kala Patthar/Tengboche/Namche
05.30.16 Lukla
06.01.16 Kathmandu: Final Thoughts
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