Worry No.1 – Lukla Airport – Nepal
There’s a number of things that are worrying me about doing Everest Base Camp, i’m going to be writing about them as they pop into my head. Here’s the first and the one I will be experiencing within the first few days of leaving the comforts of the UK…
Lukla Airport or actually just the airstrip itself, to put it simply, it’s tiny and it sits on the edge of a mountain….
Here’s some facts about the infamous airport as taken from Wikipedia:
- In 2010 it was rated the most dangerous airport in the world!
- The runway is only 460m x 20m (the average sized runway is about 3 times the size) and it sits on a 12% gradient.
- At the end of the runway (this is the best part) there’s a steep angled drop of about 2,000m into the valley below, if memory serves me correct when i watched Most Extreme Airports the plane if not up to the right speed when it reaches the end of the runway can dip down into the valley, until it levels out at the right speed. (Technically this may not be completely accurate, I do remember that my heart was in my mouth by this point!!)
- It’s was renamed in 2008 after Sir Edmund Hillary and sherpa Tenzing Norgay – Tenzing-Hillary Airport
There’s plenty of videos on YouTube if you want to have a look, I may even do a recording myself and post on here….complete with girly screams and a few choice words no doubt!!
Have you ever been to Lukla? Is it as scary as it seems? What else should i worry about? ( actually probably best keep this one to yourselves!!)
7 Comments
Talon
This is an example of where too much research can be a bad idea. LOL Have you read any of http://escapeartistes.com articles about Nepal and EBC? She had quite the fun even getting a plane to leave Lukla because of weather. Some really good reads on her blog.
admin
Hi Talon, i know i probably should stop watching all the scary videos!
Yes i’ve read a few of the articles, not all yet though…even though i’m worrying about certain things, i’m also very excited!
Steve
Just think of it as an cool roller-coaster 😉
brandy bell
Talon’s totally right — water on a ducks back! 🙂
One of my favorite quotes is “you must always do that which terrifies you”. Living by this for several years, and now – not much terrifies me! Bravery is like happiness, the more you spend of it, the more you get 🙂
Can’t wait to watch your adventures!
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