The pilot stuck the landing!

Flight:
- Get there early (6AM or so). Flights are first-come, first-served.
- Sit on the left side of the plane for a view of the himalaya. Beautiful
- Only about 18 seats in the plane. I assume the seatbelts are for show only.
- Stick the landing. The runway is short-- it starts at the edge of a cliff and ends at a wall (just below baggage claim).

Lukla:
Beautiful town. No cars. Cows (not yaks, that only live above 3000m) are the local transportation. One "street" with shops on either side selling water, snickers bars, pringles (yep), and various trekking gear.

My group:
4 people total. Holly, me, and a couple (mid-30s) from NJ.

Our crew:
Guide: Harka- head guy. He's worked for World Expeditions since '96. Educated in "commerce" in university in Kathmandu. The guide is the go-to guy for everything and is in charge of the staff. Harka walks behind us on the trek.

Sherpa guide (it's what they call him though he's not sherpa?): MingMa. 2nd in command. He's done 40+ treks. He's on a 45 day holiday from university in KMD (also studying commerce). He serves us our meals, washing water (in a sing-song voice) and morning wake-up tea. He walks in from on treks.

Cook: we haven't met him yet but the food is good and plentiful.

Porters: at least 10. They carry our kit bags, tents, food, and cookware. Lots of stuff. All are shorter than me and carry bags over their heads!!

Trekking: So far so good. Today was the hardest day: 30 minutes down, 4 hours up, up, up. We're now at 11,500 ft. Lots of up. No altitude sickness thoough. so far so good. Oh yah, watch out for the big, huge, cows with long, sharp horns (not yaks). They tie a bell around their necks so you can hear them coming. Stay to the inside of the path and away from the cliff edge. No sudden movements.

That's all for now. The internet here is 15 rupees a minute (crazy). We're in Namche Bazaar for two nights, staying in a lodge (heavenly!). Stay tuned for the bathroom report tomorrow. I know you were all wondering how that would go.

Also, if you have questions, I"ll try to answer them. Send me an email tlgortner@yahoo.com today and I'll read them tomorrow (at a cheaper internet cafe, hopefully).

Namaste!