Everest Base Camp Trek

Reception by the Office Representative at the airport and we shall transfer you by our comfortable vehicle to a hotel located in the downtown followed by a short pre-trip meeting.

After breakfast, sightseeing tour of World Heritage Sites will be started by an experienced City Tour Guide. Tour includes to Swoyambhunath, Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Patan Durbar Square. The entirely stone made Krishna Temple, three-storied golden temples and the three main courtyards of the Durbar Square are the major attractions of Patan.

We set off early morning from our hotel to domestic airport for Lukla flights. After a 35 minute scenic mountain flight by a small aircraft, we land in Lukla airport (Tenzing-Hillary airport). Today’s trek from Lukla to Phakding is only about 3-4 hours. The trail from Lukla is seen broad and clear. From the airstrip it heads north through a kani (arch) and then slopes downhill to a low agricultural land. A splendid view of the difficult trekking peak Kusum Kangaru (6,367m/20,889ft) is seen while walking ahead. The trail is rich with teahouses, prayer wheels, gompas (Buddhist monastery) and huge boulders decorated with Buddhist mantra (prayer chant). Finally we arrive in the village separated in two parts with about a 10 minute trek between them, and a long suspension bridge over the Dudh Koshi River. This village is called Phakding where we stay overnight.

Today’s trek is about 5-6 hours. After crossing the suspension bridge at Phakding, we trek for 2-3 hours following the climbs steeply up rough stone steps before reaching the long paved Monjo village on the edge of Sagarmatha National Park. In addition to the lodges, single-roofed houses and a few basic shops, there is a small gompa nearby. The trek from Monjo to Namche Bazaar will take another 3-4 hours. There is an entrance to the Sagarmatha National Park where an entry permit must be showed or obtained and kept safely for showing on exiting the park. Once passed through the gate, the trail drops to river level which is set among fields of huge cabbages, crosses to the west bank of the Dudh Koshi river on a long suspension bridge and passes teahouses and lodges in Jorsale (2,775m/9,104ft). This is the last available accommodation before Namche Bazaar. About halfway up, at a bend on this ascent we should get our first brief view of Mt. Everest, Nuptse and Lhotse. As our trek continues up mostly among trees, we will eventually come to a group of buildings, then broad stone steps and finally arrive in one of the lower streets of our overnight stop Namche Bazaar. This town is known as the Sherpa “Capital” and gateway to the Mt. Everest. Namche Bazaar has many facilities – a post office, banks, ATMs, money exchange centre, a health post, a dental clinic, numerous shops, restaurants, cyber cafés and telephone facilities, a gompa and several chortens. The headquarters of the Sagarmatha National Park and a military post are situated above the town. We stay two overnights in Namche Bazaar for acclimatization and excursion around. Trekking time 5-6 hours.

Today we stay in Namche Bazaar for acclimatisation. Because of the altitude, it will be necessary for us to spend a minimum of two nights here. On this day, we have the choice of just relaxing and roaming round this interesting hill town, or alternatively trekking round a nearby 3-4 hour circuit with stunning views. On this excursion trek, we pass through two traditional Sherpa villages Khumjung (3,780m/12,402ft) which has a chorten at its entrance and Khunde (3,841m/12,602ft) where there is a small hospital. This day helps a lot for acclimatisation for our further trek to Everest Base Camp.

On this day while climbing out of Namche Bazaar along the hillside to a point, we will have the stunning views of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. A large white chorten is built along the trail to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest on 29 May 1953. After waking through the rhododendrons and some small settlements, the trail continues on a steep descent to cross the Dudh Koshi on a suspension bridge. From the bridge, there is approximately a 2 hour steady climb up to Tengboche. Just beyond the bridge, a series of water-driven prayer wheels and lodges alongside the trail are found. We then continue to climb mainly through forest and before reaching the ridge at Tengboche, the trail then past a chorten with Nepal’s largest gompa nearby. The up valley view from the top is unbelievable with Mt. Everest dominating the background (a great photo shoot). Tengboche or Thyangboche Monastery (3,867m/12,687ft), also known as Dawa Choling Gompa, is a Tibetan Buddhist monastery of the Sherpa community located in the Everest Base Camp trail of Nepal. It is the largest gompa in the Khumbu region which was built in 1916 by Lama Gulu with strong links to its mother monastery known as the Rongbuk Monastery in Tibet. We stay overnight in this beautiful Tengboche village. Trekking time 4-5 hours.