Top of the World

So today was my day to do the Everest flight. Apparently the weather has been so bad that they haven't had any mountain flights get off the ground in several days and the weather forecast wasn't good for later in the week. I decided to take my chances.

The taxi picked me up at 5:30am and took me back to Tribhuvan International Airport. The domestic flight part of the airport was still locked up, so we had to wait 20 minutes for some guy to come and remove the padlock to the front door. Once inside, I paid my airport tax (about $2) and got my boarding pass. Eventually, we boarded a shuttle which took us out on the tarmac to our plane. We sat and waited until the pilot came out and gave the thumbs up -- apparently the cloud cover had left the mountain tops and we'd have a view. We quickly boarded, took off and hoped for the best. We'd missed sunrise, but at least we got a clearing in the weather.

The plane itself has 12 rows, with 1 seat on each side so that everyone gets a window. They go up and fly alongside the Himalayas heading east toward Everest, turn and come back. The folks on the left side of the plane got the view going, and my side got it coming back. As we approached the mountains, the flight attendant told me that I was welcome to go up to the cockpit and look out the front of the plane. Jackpot!!! I love that stuff. While up there, the co-pilot pointed out all the mountains, told me their names, and then pointed at Everest. We were just about at eye level with the summit, but still pretty far away. I went back to my seat to let someone else get a chance up front. Eventually, we made the turn and there it was -- the tallest mountain in the world. Right outside my window. We were only allowed to go about 10 miles from the summit, but it's such a big mountain that it was pretty spectacular anyway. They all were. The Himalayas are pretty fantastic. I wish I could describe them and do them justice. I can't wait for the weather to clear so that I can see them from Kathmandu.

As we got off the plane, we were each handed a certificate from Buddha Airlines for us to put our name and the date on. It has a wonderful picture of the mountain and reads "I did not climb Mt. Everest, but touched it with my heart!". All together now: aaawww!

By the way, the Nepali name for Everest is Chumolungma. How did it get named Everest? I'm glad you asked. Some British dude back in the 1800's came and surveyed these mountains. He worked for some official British surveying office. When he realized that he'd surveyed the highest mountain in the world, he named it after the guy who was head of the British surveying agency. Talk about some serious ass kissing.

I got back just in time to watch Hillary's speech live. We don't get CNN or BBC here, but we get PBS. Jim Lehrer! Nice.

It's a drizzly day and pretty gray. I think the travel has caught up with me 'cause I got me a head cold. I'm going to lay low, maybe meander around, but basically take it easy. And find a way to upload photos in this town. And start using the new camera. Cheers!