The flight back from Lukla was mainly over low-ish mountains, which are all farmed. These Himalayan foothills are as steep and rugged as any mountain in the UK, but farmers have terraced every possible square metre so they can grow crops. It’s quite a sight, and makes you think how hard some people are prepared to work to make a living.
From Kathmandu airport we were bussed back to the hotel we’d left three weeks earlier, where we washed, repacked for the international flight, and re-connected with the normal world.
Namche Bazaar was our first taste of civilisation as we returned down the valley towards Lukla, and we finally had flushing toilets for the first time in over two weeks. There was still no hot water, but even a tap with running cold water was an improvement on recent nights. Waking up, it was great to feel warm enough that one didn’t have to put on every possible item of clothing in order to survive the next few minutes. Unlike Dingboche there was no ice on the inside of the windows, and none of the clothes left outside the sleeping bag had frozen solid.
The views this morning were incredible. The snow transformed the valley and it looked amazing, with the trees all covered with snow and the mountains even more dramatic and imposing than usual.
As we set off from Pangboche we admired the new views and Rich and I began talking about climbing Ama Dablam. I still can’t believe we’re considering it, but Andy mentioned it last night and we’ve been debating whether it would be feasible since then.
