Lukla is a place in Nepal on the highlands of the Country. This is the place from where everyone starts their trek up to the Everest Base Camp and then going up to the Everest summit. There is a very small airport here with again one of the smallest runways. Lukla is considered to be among one of those riskiest airports of the world. And truly it is. The airport is so unpredictable that they can announce at any time without any prior intimation that now all the flights are cancelled for the day, then it is like you figure out what you want to do. All of this is because of the weather. The weather can be unpredictable in the mountains. It can be clear in one moment and suddenly in the next moment it can change and become bad for flights to not operate.

Before I had travelled, I had read about this, but still I had not absorbed it completely thinking, how bad can it get, but I was mistaken, as it can get very bad. Some times for days together the flights can shut down and you have no choice but to wait. The other option is to take the helicopter, but for that you have to pay a premium price. The helicopters can also shut down but still they are better then flights and have more operations.

I had some interesting experiences both ways while going and coming. While going the weather was bad and the flights were cancelled for that day since the previous day, so my tour operator beforehand had booked the helicopter for me. And the good thing was he did not charge me extra for that, he covered it up in the already paid tour cost. So while going though I was delayed still somehow I reached and the trek that I was supposed to start in the morning started by mid afternoon. The first day was not very tough so it was ok for me to start late.

This is the runway of the airport for both take off and landing. I took this picture from the helicopter, I was sitting in front so I was able to get a clear view

We have not yet landed

For the helicopter landing we have to turn here.

In the return after completing the trek again there were weather issues, and my helicopter ride from Gorakshep to Lukla were shut down due to bad weather, so I had to spend a night in Gorakshep which I wanted to avoid but then had no choice. Gorakshep is one stop before the base camp and all heli returns happen from here. The next day morning when the helicopter services resumed I was brought down from Gorakshep to Lukla and then I had to fly from Lukla to Kathmandu.

The Lukla airport is called the Tenzing Hillary airport, they were the ones who first climbed the Everest peak.

Again a challenge here, because I was held up mentioning that the weather was not clear and the flights were cancelled and only the helicopters were operating. At the end of the journey you know how the tour operator also gets slow in their services, so similarly my person was also going slow in making arrangements. For me, I was not in a state to stay up there for even a few more hours because I was already feeling unwell and was extremely tired of the journey, moreover the cold was something that I wanted to get rid off as soon as possible. After around 3 hours of wait finally the helicopter was arranged for me.

It did not end there, the helicopter took from Lukla and then mid way suddenly the weather became very bad and the helicopter was not finding a passage to pass between the mountains, so it kept circling and I kept praying hard that somehow it should pass. After almost 10 minutes there was a narrow passage from where it found the way on the other side and then I was relieved.

All said and done, it is the most memorable experience of my life.

Both ways it was an adventurous air travel which I will never forget and as much as I would love to do the trek again but these uncertainties are something that stops me from taking this adventure again. Thankfully I had kept 3 buffer days in this journey and all of them got used up in the cancellations and delays due to the bad weather.

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