Several airline companies such as
Yeti Airlines &
Buddha Airlines in Nepal offer an itinerary called mountain flight, operating out of Kathmandu's
Tribhuvan International Airport that fly a loop alongside the Himalayan Mountains. These mountain flights offer an opportunity to experience the high Himalayas from a bird’s eye vantage, and are primarily appealing to non-trekkers. On this particular trip, we choose to go with Buddha Air as they seemed to have the cleanest windows.
Weather in the mountains can be very different from the weather in Katmandu and most of these flights typically leave just after sunrise, to leverage the low altitude cloud layer in early morning. On a clear morning, the Himalayan range east of the Mustang, ranging from Langtang to Makalu is visible. Notable peaks visible were Langtang, Shishipangma, Gauri Shankar, Menlungtse, Cho Oyu, Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and Makalu, several of them 8,000m and higher.
Having been on the mountain flight, I have to add that viewing the mountains from the air and rubbing noses with them are completely different experiences. I have had the opportunity to spend some time in close proximity with both Mount Everest and Mount Shishipangma on two separate occasions and I can attest that the scale and grandeur of these mountains is something that certainly needs to be experienced on the ground.
Gear:Camera: Canon EOS 5D II, Canon Powershot G9 (Dad)
Optics: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM, EF 1.4x II TC
Filters: Hoya Pro 1D UV & CPL
Lighting: Ambient (Poor, through airplane windows)
GPS: Columbus V-900
© Shri Chandrasekharan Photography
