We were stood down at about 3pm yesterday afternoon, when it became clear we weren’t going to fly. Lukla was open yesterday, but there’s now such a backlog that it may take days to catch up,
and since our flights were on the third day of delays, we’re at the back of the queue: they fly each day’s scheduled flights first, and then start on the oldest part of the backlog.
…and the wait goes on. We gave up in the middle of yesterday afternoon and Rich (my room-mate) and I walked to Patan Durbar Square, one of the seven Monument Zones that make up the Kathmandu Valley World Heritage Site. The square is full of temples but seemed pretty similar to Kathmandu Durbar Square, so Rich and I adjourned to a bar overlooking the square and sampled some Nepal Ice beer.
A small group of us went out for some food in the evening, and Andy told us a few stories from previous trips he’s been on. I came away thinking that I don’t want to be one of his future horror-stories, so had better put in a good effort when we start climbing!