Day 1 Part 2: Lukla to Phakding – Everest Base Camp + Video
Everest Base Camp (5,600m)
Khumbu Glacier, Nepal
April – May 2016
Lukla to Phakding
This post covers the adventure from Lukla airport, to the town and the journey to Phakding. Being at the very starting point of this long journey, the spirit, resolve and interest is still at record high. The scenery was breathtaking and the people I met along the way were extremely friendly.
Being the main official starting point, I wasn’t surprised with how this town wass so efficiently equipped. It had state of the art facilities to house and manage planes and helicopters. You’ll encounter large groups of students walking back and forth on this path.
Passing through Lukla town.
Photo by John Teh
Exiting Lukla was pretty straightforward – when the concrete jungle ended and nature started to take over, it was trekking in the semi-wilderness all the way till Phakding. Needless to say, the view so far has yet to disappoint me – I doubt it would anytime soon. The weather was still OK, so all of us were still on our minimal winter gear.
Just exited Lukla town, on the way to Phakding.
Photos by John Teh
At the first suspension bridge moving towards Phakding, there was quite of a bottleneck as people were queuing to cross the bridge, waiting for a herd of donkeys to make their return trip to Lukla. The view was beautiful and it’s nice to see this specific location bustling with activity. Donkeys will change to yaks and oxens as we go up higher in altitude. All of them obviously play an essential role in the locals’ everyday lives.
There were lots of donkeys along the way carrying supplies, serving as the main transport for moving inventories between towns. Based on the “right of way”, they’re right at the top, followed by the local porters.
The first suspension bridge.
Photos by John Teh
Eventually, we reached Phakding town after approximately 2 1/2 hours later and stayed for the night. Tomorrow, we’ll be heading towards Namche Bazaar. By norm, hikers would go straight to Namche Bazaar directly from Lukla, but I guess we needed to condition ourselves at a slower pace in the beginning stages of this journey, which I totally agreed.
Depending on your availability and budget, one could even stretch the journey even longer, taking it super easy and probably stay the whole day at Phakding to know the locals better and move forward to Namche only on the third day.
Stay tuned for our third post (2nd day), covering our trek to one of the most famous and developed town – Namche Bazaar.
Reached Phakding.
Photos by John Teh
As usual, this post would not be complete without a video covering the second part of the journey. You may view it below or visit my Youtube Channel for the whole series of videos. To keep abreast of the whole series, I’ve prepared a full list right at the bottom of this post and where you’re currently at.
Day 1 Part 2 – Lukla to Phakding
Everest Base Camp – Visit my Youtube Channel for more videos
This post / video is a part of a 21-part series, covering everything from:-
- Day 1 (Kathmandu to Lukla)
- Day 1 (Lukla to Phakding)
- Day 2 (Phakding to Namche Bazaar)
- Day 2 (Namche Bazaar)
- Day 3 (Syangboche Acclimatization)
- Day 3 (Back to Namche Bazaar, dropping by at Sagarmatha National Park)
- Day 4 (Namche Bazaar to Tengboche)
- Day 5 (Tengboche - Dinboche)
- Day 6 (Dingboche & Nangkartshang - Acclimatization)
- Day 6 (Getting down from Nangkartshang & Snow)
- Day 7 (Dingboche to Lobuche)
- Day 7 (A Heart-Wrenching Stop at Thukla Pass and Scott Fischer’s Memorial)
- Day 8 (Lobuche to Gorak Shep)
- Day 8 (Kalla Phatthar Acclimatization)
- Day 9 (Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp)
- Day 9, 10 & 11 (Gorak Shep to Pheriche, Namche Bazaar and Phakding)
- Day 12 (Phakding to Lukla)
- Day 12 (Flying back to Kathmandu from Lukla Airport)
- Day 13 (Kathmandu - Swayambhunath Buddhist Temple)
- Day 14 (Kathmandu City Adventure)
- Journey to the Roof of the World: A Trekker's Final Post and Summary of the Epic Everest Base Camp Trek
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