Omg!!!!!! X 100000000000000

Holy Toledo! Our flight into Lukla was freaking crazy! I didn't realize that you could pack so much excitement into a 27 minute flight! As the plane approached the Lukla airport we had views of Mount Everest and much to close to comfort views of the peaks and passes we were flying between. We could could easily see baseball sized rocks on the passes we were flying over and the turbulence made the closeness kind of unnerving! Then we rounded the corner for our final approach into Lukla. For a moment I could see the short runway in the distance with the mountain at the end of it. I quickly realized that our pilot was highly skilled because this was not remotely close to a typical landing. The runway has a pretty intense uphill slope to assist in landing and also to assist in take-off. All I can say that I was torn between excitement and a little bit of nervousness. For sure I had to surrender all control to a higher power and let life take its course. I was thankful to finally place my feet on the ground! By the way the views are amazing. Lukla is nestled in between huge mountains!!! 

I had ants in my pants and rust in my knee!!!

Uffda!  That's how we say it Minnesota when something is a little too much!  I do have to say that 25.5 hours in a plane was a little much but 100% worth it.  Our flights:  Denver to New York was 3.5 hours, then New York to Hong Kong, China 16.5 hours, and then our last flight to Kathmandu, Nepal was 5.5 hours with a quick refueling stop in Dakha, Bangladesh. The worse part of the entire trip was the last two hours on the New York to Hong Kong flight.  I just got to the point where I couldn't sit any longer and had to get up and remove the ants from my pants!  I am pretty sure when I got out of my seat the creaking in my 90 year old knee must have woken up the entire plane!  Sitting still never worked for me when I was younger and clearly still doesn't!  At least the media center in the plane was amazing with personal TV screens with well over 100 listening and watching choices.  Our final approach into Kathmandu was exhilarating for the both of us because our "dream" of going to Nepal was really going to happen!  Our landing was surprisingly bumpy because of earthquake damage to the runway.

(Welcome to the birthplace of Lord Buddha)

Right away when we got off the plane the smell of burning wood filled our senses and reminded us both of our trip to Bolivia.  Paying for our Visa and negotiating the airport went without a hitch and our ride to the hotel was waiting outside the airport ready to take us to our beds.......and trust me we were ready to get some sleep!  

Our first day in Kathmandu felt like we were in a fog......the "jet lag" left us feeling kind of spacey all day.  When it's 11:45 am in Nepal, it's actually 11:00 PM in the United States. Our circadian rhythms are completely off and our bodies are wondering what the heck we are doing?  The streets of Nepal are very tight with hundreds of wires strung between buildings.  Aside from the poor air quality from all the motor bikes and fires, there is a vibrant "feel good" buzz to the Nepali culture!  Not a dull moment!  Well.....I should probably try and get some sleep so I am ready for more adventures in Kathmandu tomorrow!  We have one more day in the city and then we are flying to Lukla, Nepal to begin our Everest Basecamp (EBC) trek.  You should check out Youtube for videos of flying in and out of Lukla......it's a trip!

Getting ready and geared up!!!!

11/13/2015  (The pre-trip countdown begins!)
Right now I am sitting at Middle Park High School in Granby, CO for our school district's inservice training day.  One week from today I will be in a plane heading for Hong Kong and then to Kathmandu Nepal.  The "to do" list for this weekend is growing by the minute!  There are so many things that need to be done before we shove off for six whole weeks!  I have lists within lists consisting of, Walter and Winston, packing list, PE classes, house responsibilities, etc.  My poor animals must think their mama has gone crazy!  Git er' done!
:)