Sunday, 7th November …..

This is listed on our itinerary as a leisure day but all of us opt for a flight around Everest. We had booked for today and for the 9th just in case the weather was not kind. This trip is a bit like Cradle Mountain or Milford Sound where you only get a small number of clear days each year.

The sky was cloudy when we got up (at 5 o’clock!) but everyone was confident so we headed for the airport. I think there were five flights scheduled, three by Yeti Air (isn’t that a great name?) and 2 by Buddha Air. Our Yeti flight was the third to be called and we trooped on to the Jetstream F4. They only sell window seats so we all had a great view. Marilyn and I were sitting over the wing but it didn’t matter as we all moved around when the seat belt sign was turned off.

The weather was sparkling and the mountains were enormous. The pilot flew along the range, then turned 360o so that people on both sides of the plane could have a good view. She (yes, the pilot’s name was Sabina!) flew as close as possible to the mountains so that we could see every details of the rocks, snow fields and glaciers. The hostie had a bit more to do on this flight. After handing out the obligatory mints (we didn’t get cotton wool because the Jestream is pressurized) she took us all one-by-one into the pilots’ cabin where we had a front-on view of the mountains and an explanation from the First Officer about what we could see. All-in-all, a memorable experience!

We had started out so early that we were still able to have breakfast when we returned to the hotel and the rest of the day just seemed to merge into one meal after another. The evening meal was enjoyed at a quite expensive Thai restaurant which cost us a total of $52.