Aside from breathtaking scenery, travellers to the region can experience unique local culture by visiting monasteries, connecting with local guides and teahouse owners, and admiring Buddhist stupas and mani stones along the way. Days are filled with walking for the sheer pleasure - and determination - of it.
You will pass colourful prayer flags and traverse metal bridges strung across deep canyons. Evenings are rewarded with hot Nepali food, chai, and conversation with fellow trekkers and local guides around the teahouse fire. The trek, while not challenging in a technical sense, is still brutally tough on your body due to the altitude. Most, however, would agree that the physical challenges make the trek that much more worthwhile.
From March to May and from September to December. It gets hot in May, just before the monsoon season; be prepared for possible rain but gorgeous blooming rhododendron flowers. December reaches below-zero temperatures but the days are still stunning and there are fewer trekkers but remember to wrap up warm in the evenings.
It is not compulsory to have a guide for the Everest Base Camp trek, and the trail itself is well-marked. To further save money, multiple trekkers often share one guide, and two trekkers can share one porter. Be sure to tip both at the end of your trek. An additional benefit is that guides are trained in the signs of altitude sickness, and carry canisters of oxygen with them, helping to keep you safe along the way. Still, it is important to prepare for Everest Base Camp with physical training.
Your individual training plan should include cardiovascular, endurance, and strength work several times a week. Try to focus on running, stair climbing, hiking, and other exercise that will condition the same muscles you will need for trekking. Try to cross-train at least once a week with swimming, yoga, or another exercise that focuses on breathing. As you get closer to your Everest Base Camp trek, be sure to practice hiking, running, or exercising on continuous days. Pack lightly — aim for kg.
The climate gets colder as your trek goes on, and the majority of teahouses are unheated, so packing layers is a must. In fact, the slower you go, the better your chances of getting up there. You don't even have to be an athlete when you are like me and want to carry your gear yourself.
I was certainly not in top shape, but have always tried to go to the gym at least two times a week and perhaps do an occasional hike on my days off. A month before departure, when most think to crank up their training intensity, I stopped training all together and still managed to get to metres above sea level with 16 kg in my backpack.
Take my advice and do not pack more than 10 kg in your backpack. Practice packing your bag before you head off and weigh it with at least two litres of water in it. One of the hardest things about the hike will be packing for it and making smart decisions on what to bring and what to leave behind.
I am sure most of you planning to go on this hike have already heard that it gets more expensive the higher you go in altitude. With no proper infrastructure everything needs to be carried up from lower elevations by human power I swear porters are super humans or if the business owner can afford it, helicoptered in from Kathmandu.
It is undoubtedly better to rent your down jackets and sleeping bags if you are only going to the mountains for two weeks. If you are planning on going for a month which we did plan on , I would consider buying a sleeping bag as it may end up costing more to rent it.
Please do not bring 10 rolls of toilet paper with you on the trek, like many advise. There is plenty of it available to buy for cheap even if you are on a budget in case you run out. Save some space in your bag for other, more important things like wet wipes that can be very expensive.
No one ever warns you about the enormous ATM fees in Kathmandu. True story! Most people nowadays expect to have wifi everywhere they go and that includes the highest mountain range in the world. Telecom companies in Nepal have spotted an expanding market and are cashing in big time on the luxury of internet connections high in the mountains. The mb of data gets more and more expensive the higher you go.
This will mostly be enough for a couple of emails and to update your Facebook status, but nothing more. I saw this happen way too many times. I would recommend buying a local SIM card with a data plan from Kathmandu before your trek instead, as there is reception up to around metres and in some cases even in Base Camp. All of this does add up. Before my trek, I found so many different opinions about using Acetazolamide for preventing and reducing the symptoms of altitude sickness. There are several side-effects to consider before taking Diamox to aid with acclimatisation, the main being numbness, having tingling sensation in fingers, toes and lips, ringing in the ears, loss of appetite, vomiting and sleepiness.
As these can also be signs of your body reacting to high altitude, knowing the difference can be difficult. The medication, however, can decrease headaches most common side effect from not drinking enough water , nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath. Today we trek for about hours to cover the 9 km from Namche Bazaar to Phortse. This route offers amazing insight into the life and culture of the sherpas, and that night we stay in a village that is home to a number of sherpas who have reached Everest's summit.
Looking out from Phortse, the views of Amadablam are great. Overall altitude gain between places we sleep is m. Day 6: Dingboche m. Climb above the tree-line and trek approximately six hours covering the distance of 8 kms to Dingboche. These walls protect crops of barley and potatoes from the cold winds. The scenery is once again spectacular and although Everest will be hidden behind the Lhotse-Nuptse Ridge, the huge peaks that tower above the eastern end of the valley are more than worthy.
Day 7: Dingboche m. Today is another acclimatisation day. Day 8: Lobuche m. From Dingboche, ascend the small ridge behind the village above the Pheriche valley. From the stupa at the top, Taweche and Cholatse m make for a pretty striking scene; they seem to lean forwards from across the valley in the west.
To the north, Lobuje Peak m and the snowfields of the Cho La are the kings of the skyline. Late in the morning you will cross the Khumbu Khola at Dughla and take a light lunch at the foot of the huge terminal moraines of the Khumbu Glacier flowing off Everest.
In the afternoon, there will be a solid and quite steep climb on a rocky trail to the top of the moraines. From here the view is downright spectacular once again, with Pumori m , Lingtren m , Khumbutse m , and across the border in Tibet, Changtse m , surrounding you. Then follow the valley stream to the lodge at Lobuje, arriving early afternoon. The trek to Lobuche is about six hours and covers 7 km, bringing us close to our ultimate goal! This is the big one, the day of Everest Base Camp.
From Lobuche, follow the broad valley that runs parallel to Khumbu Glacier, with a gradual ascent enabling you to build the slow, steady rhythm required when walking at high altitude. When you reach the moraines of Changri Nup Glacier, you will make a series of small ascents and descents over a rocky trail lined with cairns that eventually leads to the surprising glacial sands of Gorak Shep m — reached after about three hours of walking.
The trek to the base camp can be achieved in around three hours, and if trekking in the popular climbing period of March to May, you will almost certainly encounter yaks and porters supplying food and equipment to expeditions here.
From Everest Base Camp you will not get views of Mount Everest, but you are able to see glorious glaciers, lakes, caves, and the notorious Everest Ice Fall that flows from the Western Cwm. It's regarded as technically the hardest and most dangerous section of the mountain.
The return journey from the Base Camp to Gorak Shep takes the same amount of time. You will have an early dinner so that you are able to get up early the next day for awe-inspiring views of the Himalayan giants from Kala Patar. Notes: Trekking time approximately 3 hours to Gorak Shep m and approximately 5 hours round trip to Everest Base Camp. Day Kala Pattar - Pheriche or Orsho. Today we witness some of the Himalayas most recognisable sights.
We make an early start to avoid the early morning clouds and trek to Kala Pattar m to witness the best views of Everest. Embrace that emotion and spend as long as you like here to savour this extra special moment. To get there from the lodge the ascent is quite steep, so start very slowly and try to ascend at a steady rhythmic pace.
Kala Patar is the rocky hilltop below Pumori. It will probably take a good hour and a half to reach the summit from Gorak Shep, although lower viewpoints can provide views that are almost as good.
About three kilometres away and some metres below, the area of the Everest Base Camp can be seen in a bowl at the bottom of the Khumbu Ice Fall. After breakfast you will set off to Lobuche and Thugla, where you will stop for lunch. It's a tough walking day approx.
Day Tengboche m. Descend through the small settlements at Orsho and Shomare before passing through Lower Pangboche. Tengboche was destroyed by an earthquake in , rebuilt and again badly damaged by a fire in Construction of the present monastery was completed in Spend a bit of time visiting the monastery and the Sherpa Heritage Foundation museum.
Trek to Tengboche is approx. Day Monjo m. Descend steeply through beautiful forest of juniper, rhododendron and fir. Cross the Dudh Kosi River and ascend to Trashinga. From here the trail contours high above the valley through Shanasa and on to Namche Bazaar, before descending steeply down to the large suspension bridge over the Dudh Kosi River. Day Lukla. Today we walk back to Lukla via Benkar through blue pine and rhododendron forest, with great views of Kusum Kangaru.
Celebrate with a hot shower and a few drinks with your group before flying back to Kathmandu tomorrow morning. Day Kathmandu. Weather permitting we take a short early morning flight from Lukla to Kathmandu on day 14 approx 45 minutes. We'll return to the hotel and have free time during the afternoon for further sightseeing or shopping. Shop in some of Kathmandu's many markets for clothing, embroidery, carpets or ceramics.
If shopping is not your thing, take a trip over the Bagmati River to the adjacent city of Patan, with its abundance of temples and monasteries. We enjoy a final night together, reliving the trek and our extraordinary achievements.
Day Depart. Day 15 is departure day and we say 'Namaste' for memories that will last a lifetime. There are no activities planned for today and you are able to depart the hotel at any time.
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