Stranded in Kathmandu!

"ALL FLIGHTS TO LUKLA 

DELAY DUE  LUKLA WEATHER"

...is what the sign at the airport has been saying since Sunday. 

Well, 3 days later, and we're still waiting on a flight to Lukla, the Everest Base Camp trail head town. It's been poor weather there for 4 days, and all flights have been cancelled. That's about 90 flights, times about 15 tourists/flight, equals 1300 tourists who haven't been able to fly. This is a major pickle for many people, as they are only in Nepal for a few weeks to do this, have international return flights booked and jobs back home. We've found that lots of people have been helicoptering to Lukla, for a mere $3000 hire that can carry only 6 people. (The flight is only $140). Others have switched to other multi-day treks through different ranges in Nepal. We're holding out for Everest though. We've been showing up at the airport at 6am, regardless of our flights (or if we have tickets), to see if we can get squeezed onto flights.

Jacob, our cousin and travel mate, has a flight booked home to India and his family on the 20th, and was getting tight for timing. So, out of hope and desperation, he miraculously got on a flight to a village that is a 2 day hike away from the EBC start point. He flew out this morning and should be hiking in the snow capped Himalaya right now!

For the 3rd time this morning, Andrew and I taxi'ed back to Thamel, a neighbourhood in Kathamndu that is the tourist hub and where we've been staying. We've memorized the airport route, know which side of the taxi to sit in to be in the shade, and know appropriate taxi fares to agree on with the driver before we take the ride. Our guesthouse staff give a sympathetic smile at us everytime we re-walk through the doors, asking to stay another night. We've exhausted everything to do in the city, and have resorted to sleeping, eating and reading. LOL. An exciting existence! ...all we can do is wait... and breathe in gross pollution and dust... which undoubtedly is contributing to our health (head cold, funky stomach issues...!)

We have a flight (our 3rd attempt) Thursday at 7:45am (approx 10pm Wed. night in Ontario). The online weather for Lukla looks promising, but it did the other day too, that all the flights were cancelled. If we make it to Lukla tomorrow, even Friday morning, we MAY be able to meet up with Jacob and complete to trek together, as planned.

SO! Here's hoping - if you're the praying kind, we'd love if you could pray that the weather clears enough to fly in on Thursday. Thank you! :)