Hot on the heels from:
25 May 2018, Friday, Lukla
Finally, the day to head back to Kathmandu. I woke up a quite edgy, hoping for a clear sky, so that our flight back to Kathmandu would be as scheduled.
I wouldn't say that I eagerly wanted to get out of the Himalayas. I just had one of the best 10-days of my life.
But I wanted to have another shower, which I didn't have for 2 days (since Namche Bazaar). The lodge at Lukla didn't have hot water, citing the lack of sunshine for the Solar panels...
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| What a morning! |
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| CCTV in the hostel to have real-time monitoring of the Lukla Airport runway |
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| No more hard-boiled eggs and toasts - There's no more hiking left, so it's time for some pancake with honey and jam |
We were told that we are on the third out-going Tara Air flight. We kept our fingers crossed. We are required to gather at the airport (which looked more like a bus station) when the second flight comes in.
In anything you do, never lose hope
However, in true fuzzy Nepali standards, Henry suddenly told us that we were on the 6th flight out. Alas, we were still hopeful.
On a slightly different note, we learn that our porters had ditched us, apparently not being happy with the tips they received the previous night. According to Henry, the 'market rate' was USD 60 for the whole trek. Our own research showed that it's about USD 40-60. I have no qualms tipping the porters this amount. There were 4 porters, each carrying 2 x 10 kg for the 8 of us in the team. So the 8 of us put our tips together, and handed it to head porter the night before. We then had a pleasant dinner with the porters. So, I was quite disappointed learning that porters didn't show up as promised.
To my dismay, I would later discover that a team member chose not to tip anything. Our total tip amount would be unexpectedly lower. Again, tipping is a culture, and everyone has their own right to decide. I felt annoyed knowing how people could spend on 'luxurious items' such as unlimited cans of Pringles, coke, cakes, a USD 200 half-day horse-ride...
Yet, refuse to acknowledge the work of the porters, who enabled him to 'walk' his way up empty handed (with a mere day-pack of 2 Litters of water). It was a shame. It wasn't a lot of money to us, and we could easily earn it again. However, any amount is significant income to the porters, who are still mostly teenagers making an honest living. I doubt most of my team members adhered to the 10kg backpack rule like I did. So the porters worked really hard, and were always on time in their collection and delivery.
Needless to say, our guide (performed average, at most) and assistant guide would get nothing too from some of my teammates, supposedly from a 'first world' country.
I was disgusted.
At around 10am, after the third Tara Air flight left, we rushed to the airport, looking forward to 'check-in'.
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| Lukla runway to the left |
Heading to the airport (notice Neil struggling up the steps with his hiking pole)
The airport was in quite a mess - Chaos...
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| There was almost no system, no one incharge, no certainty of flights |
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| Looks like we will be chilling in Lukla for the rest of the day |
The gang were in quite a critical situation, as their flight back to Malaysia was tomorrow morning. However, they looked chill, and confident that their guide (Mountain Guy) had arranged a helicopter for them. Mr. Chai said he burried a BN flag at EBC!
News came in that a typical 5-person helicopter was priced at USD 600/pax today, which was crazy. We came into Lukla at USD 200 / pax. The reason being, it is the last week of hiking, and there are no demands to fly into Lukla from Kathmandu. All helicopters are deployed to EBC or Gorak Shep, leaving people in Lukla.
I joined up with the team afterwards and had a pleasant vegetable burger at Everest Burger, a fast food outlet. Then, still undeterred, we head to the helipad to try our luck.
I saw off Mr. Chai and co. as they departed for Kathmandu - Notice the horrible weather
Our immediate attention was to ensure that we make it back to Kathmandu in time for our home flight. Among us, Shiva's flight was on evening of 26 May, while the rest were mostly on 27 May. Dave must have been the chillest guy among our group, as his flight to Beijing from Kathmandu was on 31 May. My flight back to Malaysia was on the evening of 27 May, so there is still some buffer.
Nevertheless, the sense of uncertainty was compounded by the fact that our guide and tour company seemed equally baffled like us. They were unable to provide a finite answer and command confidence. We started doing our own walking-about, talking and discussing with other hikers.
At around 5pm, an insurance/helicopter agent with the name of Zingten appeared out of no where, and stated that he could arrange 'helicopter evacuation' for us, using medical grounds. He needed our insurance policies, and passport details. Neil and Jaz had a case, as they were genuinely injured, and the rest could 'hitch' together on the helicopter. Others in the team also had niggling injuries here and there.
The key was to group at least 3 claimable insurance policies for a 5-person heli-ride, which requires no upfront payment. This would cover up to a total of GBP 7000 of claims. We had our policies checked by Zingten. Only the British and Aussie policies were 'suitable' where-else the rest (American/Canadian) policies were not 'suitable' as upfront payment is needed. Any medical evacuation will require a trip to the hospital in Kathmandu upon arrival.
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| Needless to say, mine wasn't suitable either (and it was a relieve) |
There was a BIG PROBLEM using medical evacuation. The ones that were usable had already contacted the insurers and informed about the flight delay, and enquired about the potential claims. It will be highly suspicious if everyone suddenly felt sick and required medical evacuation. Insurance fraud is punishable by law, especially in Britain and Australia.
At the end, we didn't proceed with the deal, as we were too aware of the consequences. Henry assured us that 2 helicopters were booked for us the next day. With our Lukla-Kathmandu flight in history, we resigned to the fact that we need to pay USD600 to get ourselves back to Kathmandu.
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| Stuck in Lukla for the day |
Still, if you are in the Himalayas, any problem that can be solved by money, is not a problem.
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