A fence lines the perimeter of the airport, but even though it’s technically illegal, people can easily pass in front of the runway just below the beginning of the track. My heart skipped a beat as I watched an airplane approach straight at me and then just fly over my head onto the strip.
My friend in Namche Subash led me up to the Hillary viewpoint. Just like the Tenzing-Hillary airport, it’s named after Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay, the first men to summit Mt. Everest. The memorials for Hillary, his wife and daughter stand just above the viewpoint. His wife and daughter tragically died in a helicopter crash during the construction of the Phaplu hospital.
