Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Mount Everest

"I may not have climbed mount Everest, but I touched it with my heart."

I was originally reluctant to pay the $150 fee for a one hour flight to Mount Everest by charter company Bhudda Air, afterall, $150 USD is a small fortune in Nepal, many people won't see that much in a year. However curiosity finally kicked in and I paid, even managing to haggle down to $140 in typical Nepali fashion.
Arriving at the airport at 5am (6:30am flight) with a group of seven volunteers who had decided to go I was dumbfounded when I realized the airport was not even open yet. The guide had told us to get there at 5:30 but we decided to get there early to get good seats; true to Nepal, everyone showed up at 5:30 to actually open the airport...or what is considered and airport.
After paying our departure tax and all trying to get seats near the front of the plane and avoid the wing, we waited at the gate. I was disappointed since I got a seat at the back of the plane, sure to be a disaster for getting some good pictures...I was soon corrected.
The plane was a small Beech twin propellar aircraft and it became apparent that the back of the plane was the best place to be. After a 15 minute ascent we reached above the clouds and within minutes began to see peaks. They were gorgeous and the hostess came around to vainly explain which each peak was. Finally commotion stirred in the whole plane, we were near Everest. One by one passengers of the seventeen-seater made their way to the cockpit for the best view. Finally it was my turn.
When I first got there I didn't know what I was looking at, but soon it became clear. Sitting there, higher than them all with a little "cloud halo" was Everest; it was beautiful. But the other peaks were just as amazing, all looking like giant ice bergs rising up out of an icy ocean.
Definitely worth the $150!!!

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