Lukla to phakding

Tuesday,  May 22nd

We left Lukla this morning at 0805. Russ doing good.

A typical load for the porters. Five cases of beer and some light stuff. 

Half -yaks are carrying loads now. Watch out for their horns. 

 I'm amazed at the loads the porters carry.  This guy was carrying 120 big bottles of coke.  They suspend the weight from the headband, taking a rest as required.

Ramesh says long haul porters carry up to 60 kilos. Short haul, such as here from the airport to someplace nearby, they will carry as much as 80 or 90 kilos.

 This little building contains a prayer wheel driven by the water wheel visible below the floor, through the hole on the rock wall. 

 As explanation in English about the benefits of turning the prayer wheel. 

These hand carved stair banister spindles where just inside the door to the building where we stayed.

This is the longest suspension bridge in Nepal, around 450' long.

I took this shot of our bathroom this morning. Nothing fancy, but remember, everything had to be packed in. 

 The bucket next to the toilet is for used toilet paper which is not supposed to go in the bowl. We saw the same arrangement in Vietnam when we were there a couple years ago.