21st May 2011 - As with most days from now onwards, we started our day very early - with 5.30am wake up call. Today, the trekking and rubbish collecting process starts and it begins with a short flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, 2860m above sea level.
Our plane. It's tiny, noisy and pretty scary, but it's the perfect plane for where we're about to land.
Having some fun in the plane.
Goodbye, Kathmandu!
The view over the Himalayas from the plane was breath-taking, to say the least. It's serene, with a certain feeling of zen. It's moments like these when you start to think about God and the creation of the Earth and mankind.
If I were Superman, I'd come here and fly around the mountains, just to escape from reality and to release the weight of the world from my shoulders.
And we're here in Tenzing-Hillary Airport aka Lukla Airport! The airport was renamed in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Here is why the little plane we took is good for the job of bringing us here. Look at the runway. It's only 460m long and at the end of it is a steep 610m drop into the valley below. *Gulp!* No space for error there.
Before we start trekking, it's time for breakfast.
Oh, by the way, if any of you plan to go to the Himalayas, remember one thing - always order in advance, if you have the number of the restaurant/lodge you're eating at. That's because it's a norm there that you wait for over an hour for your food! It may be the fact that food cooks slower at that height, local culture or that the restaurants always cook every dish before they serve them.
My breakfast - fried rice with yak meat.
After breakfast, we got our tongs and rubbish bags, took a few photos and we're ready to go!
Freda (Malaysia).
The locals' choice! :)
Right when we were leaving Lukla...
OMG!!
Either Starbucks has a very extensive franchising program, or someone's gonna get a copyright infringement lawsuit very soon.
Judy (Hong Kong) and local kids.
A look into the life of the local kids...
and adults...
Judy says, "Rubbish on Mt Everest trek, we're gonna get you!" Hehe. :D
Despite most of the trekking today is downhill, it's still tough. And the bad news is, from tomorrow onwards, we'll be trekking uphill. Sigh.
The view is stunning.
After slightly more than half an hour or so of trekking, we took a short break. Yes, half an hour of trekking was enough to build up the lactic acid in our legs and back.
Judy (Hong Kong), Samuel, Ziyi (Singapore) and Faisal (India).
And the rubbish-collecting process starts!
Emma (Sweden)
June (Singapore)
Most of the trekking path and buildings here are made out of rocks. That's really impressive because construction using rocks is a lot tougher than using bricks. Imagine having to hammer every rock into shape instead of baking bricks. And it's a lot heavier too.
We stopped by an empty plain and started cleaning it up.
"Litter, you are TERMINATED!"
The common places rubbish is littered are bushes and in between rocks.
The bag of rubbish is bigger than Judy!
Team Carlsberg posing with our "harvest" for the day.
<3
Ramanan (Malaysia) with two local kids.
And because my dear friend, Marcus Fam requested it...
Wallah! :)
Carlsberg poster boy.
"By evening, comrades, we shall all be THERE!" Trololol.
FYI, Emma is around 5'10" and she's so much tougher compare to everyone else (perhaps except the sherpas). The trek to her was just like a walk in the garden. Gotta envy Swedish genes! Too bad I don't have any. -_-''
Everyone, meet Carlie (can you guess why we name him Carlie?). He followed us since we were cleaning up the plains all the way to our lunch place and all the way to our lodge for the night. Seriously! All the way! What a nice doggie to accompany us. :)
He's quite a poser too. When he sensed the camera...
He striked a pose! Not a front double biceps, of course.
Hehe.
Tiki man!
Finally, after 3 hours of hiking, we reached our destination for lunch!
Everyone was super tired after just 3 hours of mostly downhill hiking. So after ordering our food, we just crash while waiting for the food to come, which took more than an hour, of course. Zzz...
Even Carlie dozed off.
And finally, lunch is here! It's fried rice again. High carbs, low protein again, unfortunately.
After lunch, we're back on the road.
Throughout the hike, spinning instruments like these are spotted many times. They are called mane (mah-neh) and according to the local religion, by spinning them, you're cleansing your soul.
Love the Crocs, lil girl!
After another few hours of trekking, our lodge is in sight!
Finally, we get to rest for the day. It was a tough experience and all of us were looking forward to empty our rubbish bags, sit down, have a drink and share our experiences today.
Even Carlie was exhausted.
Our rooms, unlike the ones in Kathmandu, is humble and simple. Nothing more than a lightbulb, two beds, old sheets and wooden walls.
While waiting for dinner (which yes, took more than an hour to come), Judy and I played with the lodge owner's daughter. Isn't she cute... and tiny?
And what cooler thing to do than to...
Introduce the iPhone to her!! There she goes, playing Doodle Jump on Judy's iPhone.
After dinner it's time to sleep. Tomorrow we will be hiking mostly uphill! *GASP!*
You might have seen dozens of beautiful and scenic photos in this post. But there are hundreds more on the Fabodylous Facebook Fanpage! Just click here, like our page and have a look at other great photos taken at Nepal.
Ziyi wrote a post about this trip too. Check it out by clicking here!
And remember to check back cause the adventure has just begun!
Don't mean to sound like Dora the Explorer.
:)
Our plane. It's tiny, noisy and pretty scary, but it's the perfect plane for where we're about to land.
Having some fun in the plane.
Goodbye, Kathmandu!
The view over the Himalayas from the plane was breath-taking, to say the least. It's serene, with a certain feeling of zen. It's moments like these when you start to think about God and the creation of the Earth and mankind.
If I were Superman, I'd come here and fly around the mountains, just to escape from reality and to release the weight of the world from my shoulders.
And we're here in Tenzing-Hillary Airport aka Lukla Airport! The airport was renamed in honor of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first persons to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
Here is why the little plane we took is good for the job of bringing us here. Look at the runway. It's only 460m long and at the end of it is a steep 610m drop into the valley below. *Gulp!* No space for error there.
Before we start trekking, it's time for breakfast.
Oh, by the way, if any of you plan to go to the Himalayas, remember one thing - always order in advance, if you have the number of the restaurant/lodge you're eating at. That's because it's a norm there that you wait for over an hour for your food! It may be the fact that food cooks slower at that height, local culture or that the restaurants always cook every dish before they serve them.
My breakfast - fried rice with yak meat.
After breakfast, we got our tongs and rubbish bags, took a few photos and we're ready to go!
Freda (Malaysia).
The locals' choice! :)
Right when we were leaving Lukla...
OMG!!
Either Starbucks has a very extensive franchising program, or someone's gonna get a copyright infringement lawsuit very soon.
Judy (Hong Kong) and local kids.
A look into the life of the local kids...
and adults...
Judy says, "Rubbish on Mt Everest trek, we're gonna get you!" Hehe. :D
Despite most of the trekking today is downhill, it's still tough. And the bad news is, from tomorrow onwards, we'll be trekking uphill. Sigh.
The view is stunning.
After slightly more than half an hour or so of trekking, we took a short break. Yes, half an hour of trekking was enough to build up the lactic acid in our legs and back.
Judy (Hong Kong), Samuel, Ziyi (Singapore) and Faisal (India).
And the rubbish-collecting process starts!
Emma (Sweden)
June (Singapore)
Most of the trekking path and buildings here are made out of rocks. That's really impressive because construction using rocks is a lot tougher than using bricks. Imagine having to hammer every rock into shape instead of baking bricks. And it's a lot heavier too.
We stopped by an empty plain and started cleaning it up.
"Litter, you are TERMINATED!"
The common places rubbish is littered are bushes and in between rocks.
The bag of rubbish is bigger than Judy!
Team Carlsberg posing with our "harvest" for the day.
<3
Ramanan (Malaysia) with two local kids.
And because my dear friend, Marcus Fam requested it...
Wallah! :)
Carlsberg poster boy.
"By evening, comrades, we shall all be THERE!" Trololol.
FYI, Emma is around 5'10" and she's so much tougher compare to everyone else (perhaps except the sherpas). The trek to her was just like a walk in the garden. Gotta envy Swedish genes! Too bad I don't have any. -_-''
Everyone, meet Carlie (can you guess why we name him Carlie?). He followed us since we were cleaning up the plains all the way to our lunch place and all the way to our lodge for the night. Seriously! All the way! What a nice doggie to accompany us. :)
He's quite a poser too. When he sensed the camera...
He striked a pose! Not a front double biceps, of course.
Hehe.
Tiki man!
Finally, after 3 hours of hiking, we reached our destination for lunch!
Everyone was super tired after just 3 hours of mostly downhill hiking. So after ordering our food, we just crash while waiting for the food to come, which took more than an hour, of course. Zzz...
Even Carlie dozed off.
And finally, lunch is here! It's fried rice again. High carbs, low protein again, unfortunately.
After lunch, we're back on the road.
Throughout the hike, spinning instruments like these are spotted many times. They are called mane (mah-neh) and according to the local religion, by spinning them, you're cleansing your soul.
Love the Crocs, lil girl!
After another few hours of trekking, our lodge is in sight!
Finally, we get to rest for the day. It was a tough experience and all of us were looking forward to empty our rubbish bags, sit down, have a drink and share our experiences today.
Even Carlie was exhausted.
Our rooms, unlike the ones in Kathmandu, is humble and simple. Nothing more than a lightbulb, two beds, old sheets and wooden walls.
While waiting for dinner (which yes, took more than an hour to come), Judy and I played with the lodge owner's daughter. Isn't she cute... and tiny?
And what cooler thing to do than to...
Introduce the iPhone to her!! There she goes, playing Doodle Jump on Judy's iPhone.
After dinner it's time to sleep. Tomorrow we will be hiking mostly uphill! *GASP!*
You might have seen dozens of beautiful and scenic photos in this post. But there are hundreds more on the Fabodylous Facebook Fanpage! Just click here, like our page and have a look at other great photos taken at Nepal.
Ziyi wrote a post about this trip too. Check it out by clicking here!
And remember to check back cause the adventure has just begun!
Don't mean to sound like Dora the Explorer.
:)
