Lukla

And so that is the region of the Himalayas that we started in.

And so if you are – basically, if you are going to hike a mountain in that region – then most people will fly into a city called Lukla.

So Lukla is well-known because it has, you know, whatever.

People call it the most dangerous airport in the world.

I think it's become safer over the years, but it's...

It's pretty gnarly.

So that is generally how people get to that region to start hikes, whether they're going to Everest, whether they're doing Lhotse or Merripik.

So the unfortunate thing is because of where Lukla is located, it is very temperamental in terms of weather.

A little bit of a side top tip, and I've spoken about this on some Everest Base Camp episodes.

One of my favorite things to take with me on an Everest Base Camp trip, and I will buy it once I've landed in Lukla, is I will buy a small umbrella.

Now, I've spoken to people before, and people, if you're listening to this episode and you've been on one of my Everest Base Camp trips, you will know that I preach about the umbrella.

And the reason for that is because I am yet to find a super expensive Gore-Tex jacket that will last longer in the rain, keeping you dry, than an umbrella.

So I spent another night on Camp 2, and next morning, we easily expected to-- for me to go down with the help of Sherpas or be evacuated by helicopter, and fortunately, the weather was good.

So at 9:00 in the morning, helicopter came and brought me to, first, Surke, and then from S- Surke is located next to Lukla.

And from Surke to Kathmandu, and at, at 12:00, uh, at noon, on May 12th, I was in a first hospital, ERA Clinic, where they put me...

It's a very small hospital.

Yeah, it's really similar

... from Lukla to, to base camp.

The, of course, the topography and the geology is slightly different.

Sure.

We were surrounded by...

To go back to, this, it was extraordinary, unprecedented, unrepeatable, unforgettable moment.

I flew from London to Kathmandu, and then within, I think within 15 hours, I was in a helicopter from Kathmandu to Lukla.

So Lukla is where you land if you want to trek to base camp.

Yeah.

So, um, I was put on oxygen and flew back to, to yeah, Lukla, and I ended up staying a night in Lukla, so the first village of the entire trek.

Yeah, at first I thought I maybe was gonna be okay, and maybe I could heal up.

I had some people messaging me on Instagram that were like, "Hey, I had HAPE, and I did Ama Dablam like after resting for five more days." So I had some like stories of people who had recovered, but obviously this is a lot different.

There was already a lot of stuff.

So they were gonna throw my bags down later.

So I flew to Lukla.

I was gonna wait for my bags, and then fly back to sea level at Kathmandu.

So it's very crowded.

But in any case, the point coming back to the question is in October, when tourists try to go because of the unpredictable and the bad weather conditions, which is very unusual if you're looking at decadal climatic history, a lot of people get stranded either at Lukla because they cannot fly out or in Kathmandu because they cannot fly in.

And what that has done is put a lot of pressure on the tea houses and lodges in villages like Lukla where there is the airport.

But the other villages along the trail to Mount Everest Base Camp, they suffer because Their businesses suffer because there are days and weeks of no tourists during high peak tourist season.

And then suddenly there's this, you know, huge crowd.

And then the young lad of Harry, who was a kid, kid, you know, he's 10.

Um, and, um, we made our way up to Lukla in a crazy airplane, which was brilliant crack.

And then maybe whatever it was, I think maybe eight, 10 days to get up to base camp.

But that was a lovely experience.

That is just that's an incredible experience.

And it involved a nine day trek from the town of Lukla.

And you fly into Lukla because there aren't any roads at that point.

You fly into Lukla and then it's nine days of trekking up to the Everest base camp.

And along the way, you'll have a couple of days where you stop because you have to acclimatize to the altitude.

So you'll spend a day in a town and maybe you'll climb higher that day and then come back down to sleep.