Lukla

Located in the Khumbu area of the Solukhumbu district in north-eastern Nepal, Lukla is a small town perched at the height of 2,860 metres above the sea level. While many would describe the place to be just an airport and a strip of hotels, this quaint little town definitely offers much more than that. With the development of the airport here, Lukla started to gain more and more popularity, and today it has become a popular place for tourists who further wish to visit the Himalayas. In fact, once trekkers reach Lukla, they will need only two additional days to reach the village Namche Bazaar, which is an altitude acclimatisation stop for those who are planning to continue further on. However, trekking is not the only thing that this town is famous for. It is also reputed, (or rather notorious!) for being one of the scariest airports all across the world, which has one of the most dangerous landings. That being said, one cannot deny that this airstrip has made the Everest region accessible to numerous people, and many more and not just mountaineers can now explore the beauty and grandeur of this place. 

Although Lukla means the place which houses many goats and sheep, few of these are found in the area these days. What the place does, however, house, other than the airport that services the region, are the variety of shops and hotels that cater to tourists and trekkers, providing them with Western-style meals and trail supplies. The town also boasts of having two expensive and up-scale places where visitors can stay and enjoy luxuries such as hot tubs in the laps of the Himalayas. A couple of small hotels, which are relatively simple, can also be found here. What was once a tiny farming community has now become a huge trekkers' town, since the airport that Lukla houses is the region's sole airport, and thus all trekkers who visit the region enter and exit from this town only.