Nepali Flat!

An awful night 'sleep' due to jet lag, for me (Phil) anyway, and a 2am departure for a pretty horrendous 4+ long hours road journey up to a mountain airport, often washed away by recent (and unseasonally late) monsoons. Outside of the high season you can fly from the main airport just a few km away =(

The airport itself was an experience - basically a shack & lots of people milling about until you were, but a lot more crazy! It made me chuckle that a cricket bat was on the banned items to take up the Himalayas.

The little plane creaked off the runway and slowly gained height, having to turn into the neighbouring valleys as it climed as there was nowhere else to go. Then, suddenly the majestic white peaks soared on the near horizon, and the pilot cranked the plane towards them. Slightly mesmerised, I suddenly noticed the ground not far below us, then with a bump we braked hard on the UPHILL runway, before we hit the cliffs at the end. Within a couple of minutes we were out, and backpacked up.

A short(ish - 4 hours!) hike followed, and we learned the meaning of Nepali Flat - basically if you end up at the same sort of height it's considered flat, regardless of how much up and down there is! Food isn't going to be an issue, with plenty of spots for hot food, and every variety of tea.

We ended up at our first 'tea house' (overnight lodge). These are more glamorous than I was a expecting, although glamorous might be overdoing a bit! There is always a big communal eating room, and basic (but comfortable after a day's hike) twin rooms. A hearty veg meal (not risking the meat out here) and some delicious honey, lemon and ginger tea. We were all flagging due to jet lag and the early start so were in bed by 7pm.Read more