October 15, 2014
Great news from Lukla! Both teams made it out of Kathmandu and into Lukla this morning.
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- Ama Dablam Team out the door (Ang Jangbu)
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- 3 x 3 Trekkers departure from the hotel (Ang Jangbu)
Everyone was up early this morning with a 4 am wake up call, both teams had a quick breakfast and loaded the bus to go to the airport.
It is quite the scene at KTM airport heading for Lukla. Organized chaos is the best I can say. Find the tallest member of the team and group up. Get through security and wait. When the team leaves, it is normally a “hurry up and wait” situation. Once through security this morning, the team sat around for a while as Kathmandu was fogged in. Once the fog broke, it was time to load the plane and head to Lukla, where the weather was great. Both teams made it in with all their gear.
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- Loading the plane in KTM (Tye Chapman)
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- Thumbs up for the ride to Lukla (Mark Allen)
Off they went for their first leg of the trek to Phakding. Their first night on the trail is spent in a little village along the river.
Tomorrow, the weather looks great and the teams will have their first chance to test themselves on the trail. It should be pleasantly cool in the morning as they trek up to Namche hill. There is a new bridge they will cross as they head up the hill…it is even higher above the valley than the last bridge. The key to success? Take it slow and stop to take in the scenery. It is a great hike and the reward is worthwhile.
Psyched to have the teams on their way “up valley.â€
Greg Vernovage