Everest Marathon 13th November 2015

A really early start with a wake up call at 3.30 am and breakfast at 4am to leave the hotel by 5am. We arrived at the airport by about 5.30 to join the queue for security checking in with our bags exactly weighed at 10kg for the kit bag and 5k for the day sack. We then had a long wait because the 6.30 flight was delayed because of a lack of visibility at the Kathmandu airport. We eventually go off at 8.30 in a whirlwind of activity and 18 of us piled onto a small twin propeller plane. The 27 minute flight was a bit bumpy but great views to the west of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manasulu and the Ganesh Himal.  We also spotted a cloudy Everest to the east.  We had a quick land and disembark from the plane to go to the Namaste Lodge garden in Lukla (2800m) for tea and to wait for the rest of the group to arrive in the sun.

After getting a packed lunch we had the leisurely walk to Phakding in the 400m valley below. A lovely walk with prayer wheels, prayer stones and nice tidy villages with vegetable gardens. En route we had two tea stops and met up with the others to have a rest.  In the sun it was warm but as soon as we went into the shade or it clouded over we were cold, very cold. On arrival on arrival at the lodge there was a youth meeting for a festival going on that included dancing, music and various young people doing turns.  Phakding was a cold night in the lodge but some nice food. I had a decent sleep but Menai was a wake quite a bit.