Mountain Flight in Nepal

One of the best ways to get close to the Himalaya is the mountain flight that takes you alongside the awesome peaks for an hour of exhilarating sightseeing. The mountain flights that take off from Kathmandu provide spectacular close-up views of the eastern Himalayan range while the one from Pokhara takes you on a gorgeous eye-level tour of the western Himalaya. The aircrafts used are Hawker-Soddley Avro carrying a limited number of passengers to ensure everybody a good view, or the Dornier which offers a window seat to each passenger.

One of the best ways to get close to the Himalayas, and to Everest in particular, is to take an one-hour morning mountain flight from Kathmandu. It offers an incredible close-up view of the awesome peaks like Dorje Lakpa (6,966m), Phurbi Chyachu, Choba Bhamare, Gauri Shankar (7,134m) and other Himalayan peaks above 6,000m. Domestic Airlines operate breath-taking mountain flights for tourists round the year, ensuring a window seat for all.

As the flight moves towards the eastern Himalaya, a succession of majestic mountains follows. They are: Melungtse (7,023m), Chugimago (6,297m), Mt. Numbur (6,956m), Karyolung (6,511m) and Cho-Oyu the sixth highest in the world at 8,021m.

The last and the most exciting stretch of the journey takes you close to the 7,952m tall Gyachungkang, which is considered an extremely tough mountain to climb. To its right is Pumori at 7,161m and Nuptse at 7,8565m. Finally, there comes the Mt. Everest (8,848m) called Sagarmatha by Nepalese and Chomulungma by the Tibetans. It is an altogether different feeling as one comes face to face with the world’s tallest and most enigmatic of mountains.

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