In Chicago. Almost home.

Day 8. Today we fly back to Katmandu from Lukla flying out of "the scariest airport in the world".  The guest house had a bathroom with a toilet and a sink but there was no water at the sink.  We will stay in the '3 star' rathole in Katmandu for 3 nights then will move to a five star on our own dime the last 2 nights so we can easy back into the world.  

Day 7 of hiking was nominal and short.  It only took us about 3 hours to hike back up yo Lukla.  We checked I to the guest house.  We said our good-bye to our porter Kumar with a $120 for his service.  They suggest 10 to 12 per day for the porter.  We were hiking 7 days and so tipped a little over $17 per day.  The guide, Ross, typically gets 15 to 20 per day.  Ross was a good guide despite his deficiency in English but he will be with us about 10 days so will get at least $200.

Nick and I found a 'Scottish Pub' and have spent the afternoon talking.  I shared some of my engineering war stories and we talked about his prospects for law school and such.  

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Scariest airport in the world

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Not sure if this will work but this is a video of the bridge we crossed

Day 6 of hiking was a moderately strenuous 5 hr hike down Namche to Phakding.  This was the reverse of the hike from hell on day two.  That hike took over 7 hrs as it had that relentless climb up to Namche.  My left ankle has rolled on my about 4 times today.  IDK if the muscles are getting weak or I'm just jetting tired and/or careless. 

The rivers here are mostly all the color of concrete. This indicates it is glacier melt. The glaciers grind the rock into a very fine powder that is so light it does not drop out of the water so it looks like concrete.  Today we passed a crystal blue stream indicating a snow melt stream.  I went down to the stream and there was a deep blue hole there. I took off my socks and shoes and soaked my feet in the icy water.  I was putting my shoes back on and thought I should get into the water!  No, i couldn't.  Then I decided I had to do it.  I took my shirt and shorts off and waded out into the water.  I went in to about my waste.....then I went under water!  I came up with a whooooooooohoooooooo!  I took one more plunge and another whoooohooo!  It was so cold and so awesome!  I dried off a little and then got back on the trail for another 3 hrs of hiking feeling totally refreshed.

I took a video of the shy high suspension bridge with my iPad and will try to upload it.  We are at the guest house we stayed at the first night after we left Lukla.  The have wifi here but it is unreliable and slow and I can't connect yet.