Lukla means "the place of many goats and sheep". Lukla is a small village situated at 2860m in the Khumbu region of the Himalayas. The town developed as a township of lodges since the construction of the airstrip by Sir Edmond Hillary in 1964. It is also here that a few years later Hillary will loose his wife and children in a terrible plane crash. Most trekkers will fly to Lukla from Kathmandu to start their treks in the Everest area. At the airport lots of porters and guides will offer their services to the visitors. Lukla is also full of mountain climbing and trekking equipment shops, so trekkers can also do last minute shopping, if they can't find find what they want here, they have another chance in Namche Baazar further up.
The airport is surrounded by army barracks to protect it from the Maoist rebels.
Lukla businesses are very dependant of the weather, if the weather is bad planes can't land, hundreds of people can them crowd in the lodges waiting to leave back to Kathmandu.
I have to admit that Lukla is not the most pretty village in the area, as it does not truly represent the sherpa culture. [edit text][editors]
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