Flight into Lukla

Lukla has been named the most dangerous airport in the world.  Whether or not that is true, it is definitely a very tricky place to fly aircraft into or out of.  Located at 2,800m elevation, the runway itself is only 525m long, is at an 11% gradient and has a cliff wall below the lower approach and at the end of the runway.  Fortunately we opted to fly via helicopter to Lukla from Kathmandu instead.

Our flight was beautiful with clear weather and light winds.  The flight was about 38 minutes long and I was lucky enough to get the co-pilot seat so I could talk with the pilot while he was flying.  

I recorded the flight into Lukla, you can watch it here:

Helicopter flight to Lukla

Once on the ground, we quickly sorted out our baggage and took off.  We are using porters to carry our gear up (and back down) the trip.  Words fail to describe what the porters in this part of the world are capable to doing.  So many passed going up and down the trail, all carrying loads that vary from around 50kg to some well over 100kg.  They use their head to carry the bulk of the load while they lean forward to balance.  Most have only tennis shoes on and trot up and down the terrain like they are part of the mountain.  It is truly humbling to watch these people work.  These are the three people carrying our bags as we left Monju.

Here are a couple porters as we walked out of Lukla.

 And there are yaks and horses hauling even heavier loads.  It is amazing to watch these animals navigate their way up and down these narrow, rough and steep paths.