The phone in my hotel began ringing, I fumbled for the receiver as I looked at my cell phone stating the time was 00:02. I had slept pretty hard and woke up thinking I was in Marrakesh, Morocco. I had one hour remaining before my Sherpa was due to arrive at my hotel.\u00a0 As I became a bit more aware it hit me that none of what just went through my head made any sense.\u00a0 Suddenly a pounding on my hotel door began echoing through my head. Ok, it was my Sherpa, but I was in Katmandu and not Morocco.\u00a0 Dammit, it happened again: I lost track of where I was.\u00a0 To add to the matter, the Sherpa was an hour early or I was an hour late.\u00a0 Either way there was a gap in communication somewhere and it was time to get going.<\/p>\n
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Having just spent two days exploring and meandering through the vast number of temples in Kathmandu, the time had come for me to load up my gear and begin a 12-day trek to Everest Base Camp.\u00a0 Once having my wits about me and double checking all my sensitive items were in tow, my Sherpa and I began our walk to a local bus stop where we would catch a shuttle to Ramechhap Airport.\u00a0 My flight was set to depart at 0700 that morning.<\/p>\n
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The 5-hour shuttle ride to Ramechhap was anything but smooth.\u00a0 Most of the roads through this portion of Nepal were under construction so there was no sleep to be had by anyone along the ride.\u00a0 Eventually the rough van ride came to an end.\u00a0 I had arrived at Ramechhap Airport with enough time to grab myself a coffee and my Sherpa a hot tea prior to checking in for what was to be a quick flight to Lukla Airport.<\/p>\n
Lukla is the world\u2019s most dangerous airport. It sits at around 9,000 feet in altitude and the runway is literally a giant ramp.\u00a0 This airport even on good days faces some heavy dangers for aircraft due to winds and very low visibility. It is also the start for the Everest Base Camp (or summit) treks and during the high season is very bustling for such a small hub with only that one ramp of a runway.<\/p>\n
As I checked my backpack and went through the airport security at Ramechhap I learned my flight would be delayed due to low visibility. I wasn\u2019t thrilled but I also have the luxury of time, so there was little to do outside chat up several other travelers who were also doing the trek.\u00a0 As far as airport delays, this one was actually pleasant due to all these really wonderful people I was surrounded by.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1000013140.jpg\")
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As the day went on (as did the full ground stop) my Sherpa and I began to lose hope of making it to Lukla.\u00a0 This was a bit frustrating but out of our control, so we booked a hotel and would try again the following morning to get to Lukla.\u00a0 There was really nothing to do but go with the flow and enjoy some of the local food and people that were here.<\/p>\n
Day 2<\/strong><\/p>\n The routine was similar and again there was yet another full ground stop for fixed-wing aircraft.\u00a0 This time it was fog at Lukla.\u00a0 It was only a 20-minute flight to get there.<\/p>\n With many of the same people from the previous day there we all began talking and telling stories to pass the time.\u00a0 Some of these people chose to pay $400USD to take a helicopter into Lukla as the conditions were safe enough for them.\u00a0 Many of the others didn\u2019t have that luxury of time that I did, as most were on vacation. As 1400 rolled around we knew we would not be making it to Lukla this day and yet again a hotel was the plan. We would try again tomorrow.<\/p>\n Day 3<\/strong><\/p>\n This was starting to get a bit silly.\u00a0 The airport caf\u00e9 guy knew my order by this point.\u00a0 I was one of the first people at the airport that morning and I helped with opening the gates and letting vehicles onto the airfield (I probably wasn\u2019t\u2019 supposed to do that).\u00a0 I was feeling like Tom Hanks in the movie The Terminal, but the weather looked sunny and the first couple flights had taken off.\u00a0 Cheers erupted through the airport and it was now our turn to board our flight.\u00a0 Everyone was loaded into the small prop plane and just as soon as the engines fired up they were cut.\u00a0 We were told to deplane and that winds kicked up again.\u00a0 It was our third day being scratched and although I was in no rush this scene was getting old.<\/p>\n Rarely do I use tourism companies but this was one time I was happy I did with all the cancellations. Kiran, the tour operator from Holiday Treks & Expeditions<\/a>, took care of everything from the rebooking, to the hotels, to (sadly) my painful van ride back to Kathmandu. This made my life much less stressful and quite easy, but it didn\u2019t look like Everest Base Camp was in the cards for me. It was a somber ride back to the city, but sharing a couple beers and jokes with my Sherpa helped keep morale up.\u00a0 My main objective in Nepal was to see Mt Everest and to experience the base camp trek, so I wasn\u2019t sure what would be my next move.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/1000013235.jpg\")
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