Everest Base Camp Trek - 12 Days

Our guide comes at your hotel to pick you up for the flight to Lukla (you will be pre informed of the time and you will be ready at your hotel lobby with your equipment and luggage). Weather permitting and depending upon flight time we will try to reach Lukla as early as possible after a scenic flight. The flight to Lukla itself is an exciting adventure with aerial view of the vast landscape with lush valleys and hills, view of the glittering mountains, wavy rivers and valleys. After landing at Lukla airport we meet with rest of the team, i.e. porters and we embark on the short trek to Phakding . We descend to Chheplung village past mani walls, spinning prayer wheels, watching the locals at small settlements enroute. We today walk through dense forest that houses diverse flora and fauna. We cross several suspension bridges today along the route and reach Phakding.

With beautiful scenery at our sight and blessings from old Mani stone prayer carvings, we begin our trek from Phakding after breakfast. Near the village of Jorsale at 2740m, we enter Sagarmatha National park after getting our permits checked. We march ahead spinning Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels occasionally and pray for safe and successful Everest Base Camp trek.

Besides the ups and downs, the trail cut back and forth between different sides of the valley, connected by tall steel suspension bridges, which span several hundred feet above the river. Just etween Phakding and Jorsale, we cross at least 4 suspension bridges. Get assured about the safety of these bridges as they are well-maintained and safe.

See the Everest for the first time on our trek and have a special kind of feeling. The desire to witness the elusive Everest keeps us moving in the trail and the same motivation helps us reach the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaaar after few hours of strenuous climb. Colorful, well-maintained Sherpa village of Namche Bazaar is surrounded by serrated, snow-covered mountains and has rocky cobblestone footpaths and quaint stone cottages. In this traditional trading post, most of the buildings are teahouses besides the trekking shops, restaurants, Pubs, bakeries, pizzeria, etc.

Namche is also home to the first official viewing spot of Mt. Everest along the trek. Gray stone rising up to the left of Mt. Lhotse, with its iconic white column of snow glazes off the summit– Mt. Everest! Surrounded closely by other mountains and still more than 40 km away, Everest appears less gigantic than neighboring mountains.

In order to assist acclimatization today is a rest day at Namche Bazaar, which is an ideal place to spend a rest day to acclimatize to the new altitude before heading off towards higher elevation.

It is recommended that you stay active and mobile during the acclimatization day instead of resting in your lodge. If you trek a few hundred vertical feet during the day, it will help you to properly acclimatize. You can either spend the day exploring Namche Bazzar or taking a hike to Thame or Khunde.

Tucked away between two ridges amidst the giant peaks of the Khumbu, Namche Bazzar is centre of Everest region and has plenty of lodges, tea shops, souvenir shops, money exchangers, government offices, ATMs, Internet cafes, restaurants, bakeries, etc. You can also even enjoy colorful market each Friday evening and Saturday. You can visit Visitor Center near the headquarter of the Sagarmatha National Park where you can observe an assortment of things allied to the first Everest ascenders, Sherpa culture and learn about the various flora and fauna of the Sagarmatha National Park.

You can also take an interesting side trip up to Khumjung, Syangboche airstrip and Everest View Hotel, a Japanese built deluxe hotel which offers you great views of Mt. Everest, Ama Dablam, Nuptse, Lhotse and others. Surrounded by the snowy peaks of Kongde and Thamserku and the scared peak Khumbila, Khumjung hosts a well known monastery that houses a yeti scalp. You can also visit Hillary School at Khumjung.

We have a gradual climb following the trail high above the Dudh Koshi River, a further 2 hour steep ascent to Tengboche. Get yourself immersed in the scenery that surrounds the trail as we are literally surrounded by mountains and the views of which just will keep getting better as we move ahead.

Everest stays in view most of the day, often recognizable due to cloud surrounding the black rocky summit. We trek along this section through forests of birch and silver fir trees and possible view of wildlife including musk deer, a herd of Himalayan Thar and colorful pheasants.

Passing through the village of Sansa, we drop steeply to Phunkitenga where we relax and have lunch. The walk ahead is a tough climb through pine forests until we reach up to an exposed ridge which is Tengboche.

Tengboche boasts of the biggest monastery in the Khumbu region and the view of lofty peaks of Tawache, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Thamserku, and star attraction, Mt. Everest. After relaxing, we visit Tengboche monastery and witness the ceremony performed by monks there.

A resilient monastery, it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1933 and was rebuilt and again badly damaged by fire in 1989. The current building was constructed in 1992.

This section of the trek has a 400 metres elevation than our previous overnight spot. We make our way through musk deer trail (the trail is called so as plenty of musk deer is seen there among birch and rhododendron forest) and the village of Deboche and descend down to the suspension bridge over Imja Khola.

This stage of the trek has Ama Dablam towering over us on our right the whole time with the bluest of sky showing every detail of this magnificent mountain. We pass through several Chortens and Mani walls and small villages. You would better have a tea break at Pangboche to enjoy the view of the most beautiful mountain on earth, Ama Dablam while sipping your tea. After Pangboche, we spent most of the day walking close to the river with a reasonable ascent towards the end of the walk before arriving Dingboche.

At this altitude 4410m the lack of oxygen in your breath is normality. At Dingboche you will notice there are no more trees around and the only vegetation present is small spiny shrubs. While trekking in these parts you better watch where you land your foot. There are stones and rocks everywhere and accidentally kicking one really hurt. On arrival at Dingboche, we will see beautiful array of fields enclosed by stone walls to protect barley, buckwheat and potatoes from the cold winds and grazing animals.

Dingboche, nestled in a small protected valley and surrounded by imposing snow-covered mountains, is a small village with some farmlands, lodges and internet cafes. On our second rest day at Dingboche we shall take some activities rather than getting a full day rest at the hotel.

As per the rule of acclimatization, we will climb high and sleep low. After breakfast we hike to Nagarjun Hill (5100m) on the flanks of the Chhukung valley directly above Dingboche for good views of Lobuche East (6119m), Lobuche West (6145m), Taboche Peak (6367m), Thamserku (6608m), Kangtega (6685m) and Ama Dablam (6856m).

Weather permitting; we may also have view of Mt. Makalu, the world’s fifth highest mountain and beautiful views of the Pheriche Valley. After a short rest, you start the descent back to Dingboche. It deserves a good rest after lunch.

Today, we have one of the most beautiful days of our Everest Base Camp trek at our disposal. With each step away from Dingboche, we stumble upon larger snow-capped mountains wherein the tiny villages dwarfed in their shadow add grandeur to these lofty peaks.

From the scrubby bush area yesterday we are now in the area without any vegetation and only dirt and boulders along the valley floor until we reach Dugla. Past the Trekkers Aid Post at Pheriche (4240 m), where there are western volunteer doctors supported by the Himalayan Rescue Association for treatment and consultation to trekkers.

We reach Chukpo Lari after a short and steep climb. This beautiful, yet heart touching place has an array of memorials in tribute to the climbers who died during Everest expedition. This is an interesting place and as you take in these memorials you realize the vastness of what Hillary and Tenzing achieved in 1953.

We move on with view of beautiful vista of the peaks that are in the Nepal-Tibet border. Further on the trail eases off as we follow the valley to Lobuche (4,910m) our next destination, a small settlement with a few teahouses. Though we are in the neighborhood of Everest but the great mountain still remains beyond our reach. After a rest explore the surrounding and don’t miss the sunset over Nuptse. Prepare for the much awaited ascent to the Everest Base Camp tomorrow.

We have a big day today which starts at around 7 am from Lobuche after breakfast. We are supposed to walk slowly to avoid over-exertion to enjoy stunning scenery. After about an hour, the landscape begins to change significantly. We have the majestic and stunning Khumbu Glacier to our right, the highest glacier in the world, which has deteriorated piles of rocky spires, blocks, and boulders. We caution against the possible slippery trail here and any undesired incident due to that.

Two hours after Lobuche we have Gorakshep ahead of us which is a calm place with few lodges and no permanent settlement. After a tea break at Gorekshep before we resume our journey towards Everest Base camp.

The trail reaches the top of the ridge and follows the mountain’s ridge due north towards the cul-de-sac at the end of the glacier. We shall forget our breathing difficulty, indicted by the clearly audible breathing, when we look at the beautiful mountains in our view. After a walk of about 40 minutes along the edge of a mountain we finally arrive at EBC marked with piles of stones, dozens of strings of prayer flags, and a few “Everest Base Camp” signs.

We get views of Lingtren (22,142 ft/6,749 m), Khumbutse (21,867 ft/6,665 m), the Khumbu Icefall and many other mountains from the Everest Base Camp. After spending some time at Everest Base Camp cherishing the moment and snapping pictures, we retrace our steps through the winding, rocky terrain of Everest Base Camp to Gorakshep. Except the seemingly endless climb off the glacier and back up to the trail, the way back is easy-going and mostly flat or downhill.

Surprising to many trekkers, Everest is not visible from Everest Base camp (view of Everest is blocked by some other massive mountains) in the Everest Base Camp, and thereby the focus of Everest Base camp is actually the Kala Patthar peak for the view.

Kala Patthar (5,550m) is a small peak literally meaning ‘black rock’. It appears as a big brown bump below the impressive Pumo Ri (7,165m) and above Gorak Shep. Kala Patthar is just west of Gorak Shep, and considered the best viewpoint especially at sunset.

Itinerary may be altered where we may schedule Day 10 for Kalapatthar and Day 11 for Everest Base Camp, if you prefer sunset view from Kalapatthar.

As scheduled, we start early in the morning and after about two hours of an ascent, we reach Kala Patthar. The strenuous ascent to the summit of Kalapatthar is rewarded with a view beyond our imagination. Surrounded by glaciers and incredible panoramic view of the mountains including Pumori, Nuptse, Changtse, Ama Dablam, Taweche, Kantega and Everes.

Kalapatthar is decorated by prayer flags and cairns and has small stupa and weather station at its summit. We have breakfast back at Gorekshep and descend to Pheriche for a well earned rest.

The trekking is easier as we descent to the lower altitude. Breathing becomes easy and temperature keeps rising as we move further to the lower altitude that has some uphill climb as well besides the descent.

Dudh Koshi River rages with increasing fury as it fed by its tributaries and dramatic rise in temperature helps the volume of water rise substantially which makes the torrential river swell.

We shall trek today through the forests filled with pine trees and rhododendrons bushes that line these well-marked trails. Watch out for faunas such as mountain goats, snow leopards, colorful pheasants, etc in this section of the trail.

After several ups and downs we come near the army camp at Namche Bazaar and after a last look at Everest we head for our hotel. On reaching our lodge at Namche, we will relax with a nice hot shower that will help relive our tired and aching muscles.

Today the trail goes steeply downwards, so we need to walk carefully having control over our shaky legs. After multiple crossings over the prayer flags festooned suspension bridges over the fast flowing Dudh Koshi and its tributaries, the trail becomes more level and natural.

The more we trek downwards the more we feel easier to breathe as the air gets denser. Any remaining sore throats and colds will be gone by today. Although we are following the same route down, we feel completely different views with open plains, rhododendron and pine forests, and in the distance snow covered peaks.

Upon arrival in Lukla, stretch those sore legs and summon up the experiences of the last couple of weeks. Celebrate your successful and safe trek with your crew. Overnight in local lodge

The early morning flight drops us off in Kathmandu. Flights to Kathmandu are usually scheduled for mornings only because of the fierce winds during the day.