From Peter: more on the flight to Lukla + expedition ground crew

From Peter: The plane to Lukla was something. It started with a series of religious gesticulations by the pilot before take-off. The inside of the plane was entirely riddled with cracks from age. I took this as a good sign. Many cracks were managed with glue that looked more like gum. Regardless, everyone on the plane was super exuberant after having navigated so many hurdles and now finally getting here. Our stomachs soon joined our spirits when we went above a high pass and we were hit by turbulence. This did not last long. Everything went suddenly dark as we went down into a valley and there was an abrupt and hard landing. The reason is that the runway is on a fairly steep hill that is pitched uphill. The whole thing reminded me of a Disney ride because next we were heading toward the end of the runway which turns out to be the mountain. And, like every amusement park ride, there was an abrupt turn at the last minute.

This is Lukpa. His name means Monday. As far as Mondays go, he was a very good one. He escorted me from Kathmandu to Lukla. Sounds simple, but this is Nepal. He owns a teahouse in Lukla and has close ties with SummitClimb.

Below is Mr. Marari. In COVID Nepal, he makes all the impossible logistics possible. I spoke to him a few times from home. He helped figure out all the changing COVID quarantine rules. Permits, visas, gear, transportation, booking, covid regulations, accommodations, itinerary, fees, all during crazy times in a developing country. When I got to Kathmandu, we essentially played 20 questions...actually it was closer to 100 questions. He's one-man ground control. Since I'm here first, it was especially difficult. He's also the guy I called today when at checkpoint #5 of 6 after Lukla the police would not let me pass. I finally got Mr. Marari on the phone and he smoothed things out so I did not need to turn back.