Well that was some flight from Kathmandu!

I got a good seat on the favoured left hand side of the plane. Despite thick clouds for most of the way, you could see some high snowy peaks off to the left, mostly quite distant - but some were not so distant nor very far beneath us either!

The really scary moment was after we had become almost blasé flying over these steep valleys and sharp peaks. And then the engine note dropped by a couple of octaves. Heart in the mouth time!!

But as I looked forward I saw a relatively flat area on the shoulder of a mountain and it was there that we were destined to set down. The airstrip is on an upwards incline of about 10 degrees or so, which helps to slow the plane down a bit once it has landed - just as well, as it’s just mountain rock at the end of the runway if the plane fails to stop in time!

It bounced a couple of times but managed to come to a stop, to the relief of all present. Away go the rosary beads until the take-off!

Now we’re over 9000 feet, the highest I’ve ever been on land. I can feel the thinness of the air but it’s not too bad as long as you don’t make a sudden effort.

Me Beside a Giant Mani Stone

Colin, the porters and the red kitbags

• We carry day (ruck-) sacks, with most of our other trekking stuff in the red kitbags supplied by Terra Firma (the porters carry two of them: up to 30 kilos in total weight).

• Non trekking stuff such as already read books, souvenirs, and ‘civvy’ clothes are locked up in our Kathmandu hotel in our suitcases. And our credit cards and passports are also in lock-ups in the hotel.

• Trekking permits are all we need for identification on trek - and Sherpa Dawa keeps hold of these.