From Wolfhound to Wayfarer: The Himalayas and Mount Everest

24 January 2009

The Himalayas and Mount Everest

Because the Himilaya mountain pictures were so bad from ground level the day before, my 3rd full day in Kathmandu began with a 1-hour sunrise flight up close to the incredibly beautiful Himalaya mountains. Because of Chinese flight path restrictions, all these pictures are taken from the Nepalese side of the mountain range. I flew on Yeti Airlines in a small STAL (short take off and landing) aircraft.

To get the best views, altitude was maintained at 25,000 ft and air speed was kept at a minimum (just enough to keep us in the air. Each of the 8 passengers aboard had window seats and were allowed several times to go in the cockpit to take picture.

Because we were flying so close to the mountains, the air instrumentations' auto-audio-warning system kept blaring "PULL UP - DANGER"! Fortunately we were warned about this in advance - but in very broken English. I was in the cockpit the first time it barked out the warning - caused considerable brow sweat and jitters!
The ole Blackberry camera did surprisingly well. But it is really difficult for me to tell how clear, good/bad the pics are viewing them on my Blackberry. Let me know what you think of these in general and which Mt Everest picture you think is best.

It was truly a breathtaking, spectacular, even spiritual experience <-- adjectives I seldom use individually let alone collectively. The pictures speak for themselves.

Flying over the Himilayan peaks. I have a map identifying the various peaks - but found it impossible to match pics with the map!?

More beautiful mountain peaks!

Everest - one of my life-long dreams was to see this magnificent mountain. It’s difficult to believe that I can now say "Been there, done that". Mt. Everest is the tallest peak in the image. Although taken from different perspectives, Chinese flight restrictions prevents getting a "top to bottom" perspective of the mountain.