Nepal is a small country sandwiched between India, Bangladesh, and Tibet. It is famous for bordering the Himalaya mountain range - the tallest mountains in the world, and home to Mount Everest, THE tallest mountain in the world at 8848 m. (Click here to see my previous post on elevation to see Canada's tallest mountains). The most popular thing to do in Nepal is trek. There are many National Parks to visit, and you can hike for weeks along the border of the country! Many visitors go to Everest Base Camp, where people prepare for the treacherous climb up it (complete with ice climbing gear and oxygen tanks!), just to admire views of the famous mountain. Others opt for a view from the sky, which is what I did!
My family treated Mr. Elder and I to a Mountain Flight to see Everest from the air in honour of my birthday the week before. We were at the airport at 6:30 am, but had to wait hours for the fog to lift so we could leave. It was worth the wait, though! We had been in the air only minutes, and I was looking at Kathmandu from above when something caught my eye. There, looming above the city, above the horizon, above the clouds was the wall of giants, nothing like I'd ever seen, even coming from the Rocky Mountains!
The flight attendant handed out sheets with the panorama of mountains drawn on them so we could keep track. Then once we'd hit cruising altitude, guests were invited up into the cockpit for a full view, and I got to go first!
The pilot pointed out two twin peaks up ahead and told me that the one on the left was Everest - my first look! We then flew all the way out to it, turned around and flew back, so the other side of the plane got good views, too. It was a great birthday present!
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| Mount Everest is the peak on the left |
Next, we're leaving to go on a nine-day trek through Langtang National Park where we'll hike from 1900 m up as high as 4610 m to go through a mountain pass, and down the other side. We'll stay at little 'teahouses' which are really basic cabins with bare beds and shared squat toilets. Check out my next entry to read all about it!
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