For some, seeing Mt. Everest is a life-long dream. Many will never hike to it, let alone climb it. In order to get our shot at seeing it, at least for now, we took a mountain flight from Kathmandu early in the morning. After waiting for a while with no signage and un-discernible announcements, we boarded a bus to a 30-seater plane on Yeti Airlines. Armed with a map of the skyline, we rose up out of the city for 50 minutes of amazing views. Crystal white snow-caped peaks soared out of the clouds from the valley below. Mesmerized by the size of these features, we stared, breaking contact only to go to the cockpit to get a panorama of Everest before swinging back toward Kathmandu. A champagne toast and a certificate before we landed celebrated up the experience.
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| Mt. Everest from the plane |
Our next two days were spent gazing at the mountains, breathing crisp air, and hiking around the trails. We watched the sun crest the peaks, bathing the snow-capped summits in pink during the dawn. Our favorite part was probably the celebration of Diwali at night. We had dinner at a nice place and watched the sunset, then stopped and had a beer at this little roadside hut. The people didn't speak English, but welcomed us in. A family of 4 slept in one room, in a single bed (with a dog and chicken), and the main room was the bar. We drank terrible beer on the cheap and watched the kids chase a chicken around the dirt floor. Local children came outside and sang and played music, attempting to raise small amounts of money. The place was lit with candles. It was truly a unique experience.
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