Helicopter to Phakding

Nicholas spent the evening listening to Pokin cough.

Tengboche is at 3,860 meters (12,664 feet). Lower than where they’d been, and the heated room at The Himalayan was the best lodge on the trek. But the fluid in Pokin’s lungs wasn’t clearing. HAPE doesn’t get better at altitude. It gets better at lower altitude. And 3,860 meters is still very much altitude.

The next stop down would be Namche Bazaar at 3,440 meters (11,286 feet). Still high, and the hike to get there is a full day of steep, grueling trail. There was no way Pokin was doing that hike. Po On wasn’t in much better shape after her own respiratory infection.

So Nicholas called in air support.

A helicopter would fly into Tengboche in the morning, pick everyone up, and take them down to Phakding at 2,610 meters (8,563 feet). The very first town they’d stopped at on Day 1 of the trek, back when Nicholas and Pokin had arrived by helicopter with fevers and spent the night at the Sherpa Shangri-La wondering if the trek was over before it started. Full circle. Quiet, low, and warm. Perfect for recovery.

But as a treat, Nicholas booked the helicopter to do a flyover of Everest Base Camp and a landing at Gokyo Lake on the way down. If Pokin couldn’t make it to these places on foot, she’d see them from the air. Po On had wanted to see Gokyo Lake, the last part of the original Three Passes route that got scrapped. This way she’d at least get a look.

First, though: goodbyes.

Group photo inside a lodge with warm wooden walls, six people smiling together — The crew at The Himalayan. Po On, Pokin, Nicholas, the two porters Kerman and Nilman, and one of the lodge staff who really looked after Pokin during her recovery. Kerman and Nilman were about to leave for the seven-hour hike down to Phakding carrying all the bags. These guys don’t stop.

The porters had headed out earlier that morning, carrying all the duffels down the trail by hand. Kerman and Nilman, doing what they do. Meanwhile, we took the lazy way.

Nicholas hiking uphill on a rocky trail with a red jacket and large backpack, mountains behind — The walk to the helicopter pad. Uphill. Because of course the helicopter pad is uphill.

The “helicopter pad” in Tengboche is a loose stone circle on a hill behind the village. No terminal. No windsock. Just some rocks arranged in a vaguely circular pattern and a pile of construction piping.

Mountain landscape from the helicopter landing area with coiled piping in the foreground

Red white and blue helicopter parked on a rocky mountain helipad with dramatic Himalayan peaks behind — There she is. Our ride out of the mountains.

We piled in. Headsets on. Doors shut. And then we were up.

Pokin and Po On inside a helicopter wearing aviation headsets — Pokin riding shotgun.

The pilot took us north, threading through the valleys toward Everest Base Camp. From the air, you can see the entire Khumbu Glacier, the tent clusters at Base Camp, and the peaks that Nicholas had been staring at from ground level for the past two weeks. It’s a completely different perspective. Everything that took days to hike past takes about four minutes in a helicopter.

Aerial view of the Khumbu Glacier and Everest Base Camp tents from helicopter, with the helicopter shadow visible on the moraine — The Khumbu Glacier and Base Camp from above. All those yellow specks are expedition tents. The helicopter shadow gives you a sense of how high up we are.

Aerial view of the Khumbu Icefall showing chaotic blue-white glacial ice, crevasses, and steep mountain walls — The Khumbu Icefall. This is where the glacier breaks apart into a maze of ice towers and crevasses. It’s one of the most dangerous sections of the Everest climbing route, and from up here you can see why.

On the way over, we spotted climbers on Lobuche Peak. Tiny figures in a line, working their way up a steep snow face.

Climbers ascending a steep snow slope on Lobuche Peak, seen from a helicopter — Climbers on Lobuche Peak. Single file up the snow. From the helicopter they looked like ants on a wedding cake.

Then we banked west toward Gokyo.

Nicholas holding Sumi at Gokyo Lake with snow-capped mountains perfectly reflected in the still water — Gokyo Lake. 4,750 meters. The mountains reflected in the water like someone pasted in a stock photo background. Except it’s real.

The helicopter landed right at the lake. We got out, stretched our legs on the rocky shoreline, and took in the view. The water was perfectly still. The mountains reflected in it like glass. Po On finally got her Gokyo Lake moment, even if she arrived by helicopter instead of over Cho La Pass.

Group selfie with helicopter pilot giving thumbs up at Gokyo Lake, snowy mountains behind — Group shot with the pilot. He seemed genuinely stoked to be there, which tracks. This is his office view.

Back in the helicopter. Headsets on. Time for the actual destination.

In-flight selfie with headsets during the flight from Gokyo

Here’s where it got interesting.

The pilot wasn’t told we were going to Phakding. He thought we were going to Lukla, which is the normal helicopter destination in the region. Lukla’s got the airport, the infrastructure, the helipads. Phakding is a tiny village with no obvious reason for a helicopter to go there.

So when we landed in Lukla, the ground crew looked at the passengers, looked at the paperwork, and said: “No, no. They’re supposed to go to Phakding.”

Pilot: oh.

Back in. Five more minutes of flying. Landed in Phakding.

Two trekkers stepping away from a red helicopter on a rocky helipad with forested hillside behind — Touchdown in Phakding. For real this time.

But here’s the thing nobody mentioned: there are multiple helicopter pads in Phakding. DB had booked us a family-run inn right next to the pad near the Sherpa Shangri-La, the same area where Nicholas and Pokin had been dropped at the very beginning of the trek. That’s where the family was waiting for us.

The pilot dropped us at a completely different pad. Somewhere we had never seen before. In the middle of what appeared to be someone’s farm.

The helicopter took off. We stood there.

Three trekkers standing on a forest path looking slightly lost after being dropped at the wrong helicopter pad — This is not where we’re supposed to be. The helicopter is gone. We are standing in a forest.

No obvious path out. No signs. Just us, some farm plots, and a lot of trees. We stood around looking confused until a very old woman wandered through the farm, sized us up, and wordlessly motioned for us to follow her. She led us through her property and out to the main trail.

Walking through terraced farmland and village homes after the wrong helicopter drop

Phakding village homes with corrugated roofs and small vegetable gardens between stone buildings

A trekker walking through a narrow stone alley between buildings in Phakding — Navigating the back alleys of Phakding. We’re a mile from the lodge and nobody knows we’re here.

We checked the map. We were about a mile from where we were supposed to be. Uphill and downhill. The family that runs the inn had been waiting at the other helicopter pad for two hours wondering where we were.

We messaged DB. He tried to reach the family. We started walking at whatever pace the girls could manage. After a while, a woman came running down the path toward us. “Are you from DB?” We said yes. She laughed. “My father has been waiting at the helicopter pad! He’s been there for two hours!” She led us back up to the lodge.

A trekker walking down a stone path toward a lodge with red roofs in a dramatic valley setting — Almost there. The lodge tucked into the valley ahead.

The inn is basic. Family-run, small, homemade food. But it’s warm, it’s low, and the family is genuinely kind. We settled in and decided to just stay for a few days and see how everyone feels.

Sumi the spirit bear sitting on a plaid bench by a window at the lodge in Phakding — Claimed my spot. Window seat. Sunlight. This will do just fine.

Tengboche to Gokyo Lake to Everest Base Camp flyover to Lukla to the wrong helicopter pad in Phakding to an old woman’s farm to a mile-long walk to a family inn.

Not exactly how anyone planned it. But we’re at 2,610 meters, the three of us are settled in, and the coughing might actually stop now. Steve, Alice, and DB are still up in the mountains doing the Three Passes. We’ll see them on the other side.

Rest time. For real this time.