Flying to Lukla...

Our wake-up call was set for 4:20 a.m. The hotel provided a box breakfast and we were ushered into a van. The roads were empty, so it was an easy drive to the airport. The domestic terminal was a bit chaotic and we were very thankful that our trekking guide Ishor was there to sort everything out. Strangely enough, he couldn’t fly with us but would be on the next flight. He explained that since tourists pay $150 per flight and locals only pay $50, tourists always have priority. Once Ishor arrived on the mountain, he would stay there until the trekking season was over in late-November with no visits home to see his wife and toddler son until the two-month break between seasons. 

Apparently, all flights were cancelled the day before to Lukla, Nepal’s second highest airport at 9,334 feet (2,845 meters), due to poor weather on the mountain. We were very lucky as our flight took off as scheduled at 6:15 a.m.

Our 14-seater Tara Airlines prop plane had no overhead bins; our daypacks were wedged in front of our seats.

I ended up siting behind the co-pilot and could see out of the windshield once the pilot wiped off the inside of the wet window with his hand.

We were given cotton to protect our ears against the loud engine sounds.

The views were pretty awesome along the way.

I’d read that Lukla is one of the most dangerous airports in the world because of the exceptionally short runway of 1,729 feet (527 meters) with a 12% gradient ending in a mountainside on landing and a cliff on departure.

The 35-minute flight was quite smooth and never actually scary.

It was remarkable how fast the passengers and luggage were off-loaded...

 ...and re-loaded.

Beyond the colorful roofs of Lukla, we saw our first peak.