- Lukla
Lukla is a town in the
Khumbu region of easternNepal where most people visiting theHimalayas nearMount Everest start their journey. Lukla, at 2,860 metres (9,380 ft.), contains a smallairport where most people begin and end their adventure in the region. Although Lukla means "place with many goats and sheep", one is not likely to see many roaming around these days.Somewhere between 90-95% of the foreign nationals who reach Lukla will arrive by a ½ hour flight from
Kathmandu . The remainder will mainly trek in fromJiri , about a seven to eight day walk. On organized treks, most of theNepal ese guides and kitchen staff will also walk from Jiri to Lukla, albeit in about half the time unless clients are also with them. WhenTenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary made the famous first ascent of Mt. Everest in1953 , that expedition also walked in from Jiri.Lukla has a variety of shops and lodges where one can have basic western style meals and pick up any last minute items for the trekking or climbing ahead. If one cannot find required items in Lukla, better luck can be had in
Namche Bazaar . There are a couple of good climbing shops (e.g. Mountain Madness) in Namche where one can rentcarabiner s, helmets,ice axe s, jumars and harnesses. However, plastic mountaineering boots andcrampons are best rented in Kathmandu if they are needed.From Lukla, most trekking groups will take two days to reach Namche Bazaar, a nice easy pace to help in
altitude acclimatization . Distance wise, this segment is doable in one long day (~8 to 10 hours) but not advised due to increased risk ofaltitude sickness . If not in a formal trekking group, one should double-check tickets with the airline before leaving Lukla. Empty seats on flights between Kathmandu and Lukla are a rarity during the prime seasons and people being bumped off their flights is not uncommon.Airport
Lukla is served by Tenzing-Hillary Airport (
Lukla Airport ). There are frequent daily flights (i.e. no night service) between Lukla and Kathmandu, weather permitting.External links
* [http://www.gonomad.com/alternatives/0602/everest.html Hiking Everest from Lukla, GoNOMAD feature article]
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