We had a fantastic on the Everest Base Camp trip in late August of this year (my apologies for the late posting of this review). All the way throughout our trip we were supported by our fantastic guide Hemanta, our porter Akas and Krisna back in Kathmandu. On the first day of our trip we were greeted at the airport and got a lift to Thamel, where we were greeted by Krisna who ran us through all the need-to-knows for the week and reassured us. (Throughout the trip while we were in Kathmandu we had access to lifts/taxis to different sights). Our guide Hemanta had a worth of local knowledge, having lived in Dingboche for many years and this made such a massive difference to our experience - at all the tea houses conversation/translation with the hosts and getting breakfast/lunch/dinner was easy. I cannot reckon highly enough the benefits of going with a guide! The benefit of going with a guide was evident when, a few days into walking, our guide recognized our speed in covering the distances each day and offered to take us on a slight detour on our way to base camp, up to Chokung! When one of us, unfortunately, suffered from altitude sickness Hemanta was quick to recognize it and was always checking on our conditions with an oxymeter. We eventually got medically evacuated out by helicopter and Krisna and Hemnta were amazing at doing all they could to make sure we got back safe - having the expertise of locals who already know the helicopter companies, tea houses and lots of people in the valley well - made everything a lot easier. Alongside having a guide with us in the day, we were fortunate to have a porter, Akas, who helped us carry bags along the way (be sure to tip well if you want to).
Overall it was one of the best weeks of my life, and as someone with not much high-altitude climbing experience beforehand this was very enjoyable - it has only made me want to go back and start on some 6000m peaks. All the pathways on the route are very easy to walk on, with the guides we got to see a lot of the local culture beyond just looking at temples from the outside - we managed to be welcomed into two temples on our way to base camp! I took a lot of photos as you might expect throughout the trip, but as I constantly told my family back home, photos really don't do it justice, you constantly feel overwhelmed by the landscape around you! There are few places like the Himalayas and the Khumbu Valley in particular in the world, and I would highly recommend adventuring into the landscape with this local travel expert.