There were a few hangovers the next morning. We were unsure whether we would fly today as there was still a backlog of trekkers in Lukla created by the snow storm we had experienced at Base Camp. But we were not too bothered, unlike 12 days earlier when we were desperate to fly in. Whatever would be would be. In the end it was relatively straight forward. We headed for Terminal one – well, the building at the airport – where we had to get through customs. Customs? Really?? One or two (or thirteen) of us had picked up small rocks at Base Camp and these were confiscated if found. The Nepalese are obviously nervous of their biggest asset, namely Everest, being taken out of the country a pebble at a time. Fortunately my two pebbles were not found and for years afterwards they sat in the bottom of our goldfish tank at home. The goldfish were blissfully unaware they were swimming around rocks from 5,400m. That would have blown their minds. But, let’s face it, they would have forgotten 5 seconds later.

After about a two hour wait it was our turn.

The pilots who fly into and out of this airport are very highly trained and experienced – thank god! To add to their mystique they have leather flying jackets with multiple gold stripes and also cool aviator shades. I bet they’ve all seen Top Gun multiple times.

This video was taken by one of our party when we took off. I’m very happy because I have discovered a way to embed it in this blog without having to pay for the privilege. Enjoy!

The flight was uneventful and soon we were back in Kathmandu. Here’s a picture of the security guard on the airport perimeter.