Lukla to Phakding
Today was the start of our trek! We left the Kathmandu airport and flew 30 minutes to the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla (the most dangerous airport in the world). The flight and scenery were phenomenal! The pilots are very skilled at backcountry flying and made a very difficult approach and landing on a short strip look easy.
Once we landed, Wongchu worked on the logistics with the porters and then started us up the trail and toward base camp. Wongchu is an excellent tour guide since he has been walking this trail for the majority of his life and is quite well known. As we trek, Wongchu is able to give us a history lesson as we see the sights. What a privilege to have this man as our Sherpa Guide.
Today we started our hike at a out 9000 feet and we will lose approximately 1000 feet upon our arrival to our first tea house. We crossed two suspension bridges today, which were fun for most, scary for some. They do rock and sway a bit! We had lunch at a tea house on the trail, which was quite tasty. Momosare very popular. We had a light rain on the trail after lunch as we made our way to the first stop, Phakding. Our Phakding tea house is beautiful and relatively luxurious. We have bathrooms in each room here. Bob Veno scored the best room with a view with two sets of windows. Our evening consisted of repacking, resting, and a CME lecture. Dr. Tony Islas continues demonstrate his excellent grasp of the material. Tomorrow is a bigger hike!
Day 2 Phakding to Namche Bazaar
Today was a great day! After an omelette and chapati with jam, we were off on the trail. Wongchu lead us on a great hike that consisted of a lot of ups and downs early in the day until we made it to Namche hill. This last little bit was slower going but we all made it! Today we gained approximately 3000 feet as Namche is just over 11000 feet in elevation.
Namche Baazar is an amazing village, sitting in a valley surrounded by majestic peaks. Namche has an impressive market, especially considering it all has to be brought in on foot by porters. Porters are typically low landers who carry huge loads up and down the trail.
Our Sherpa guides, of which we have many, take excellent care of us. We have Wongchu in front, always walking and lecturing on Sherpa and Nepali history. We also have Doma, Mingma, Sang, and Chirri, among others. One Sherpa will frequently go ahead of our group to set up lunch, dinner, and to deal with tea houses. The remaining Sherpas will walk with the group, take pictures, pick up stragglers, and assure our safety. These amazing people are always looking out for us. Lucky for me, they are also happy to teach me as much language as I can learn. I have greetings and a few other basics down. Tomorrow I hope to learn numbers so I can barter even better!
For food tonight, more chappati and some fried rice for me. We had our traveler’s diarrhea lecture tonight, which was earlier than planned due to several people succumbing to it early on. I’m fine, as I’m being extremely careful and even pickier than normal, if you can believe that is possible!
Tomorrow morning we will do some day hikes close by and visit a local hospital, take some pictures, and shop in the bazaar. We will stay another night in Namche tonight.
It is a Blue Sky Happy Day here in the Khumbu!
CORY EXPLORES 
And here I was worried that all you’d be eating was Clif bars. Glad you’re feeling well!
I had to laugh at the comment of him being pickier than normal… He still makes us laugh many miles away!
The trek seems so amazing! Make sure to take pictures!! Ha ha! Tiffany and I raised our glasses to you last night! Blue Sky Happy Day indeed!!!