Everest Base Camp Trek–14 Days

Welcome to SheNature! Once your plane comes closer to Kathmandu, you’ll be witnessing beautiful views over the valley: the Himalayas and the terraced fields below. After landing and going through customs, we will wait to escort you to the hotel and give you some details about Kathmandu city. After checking in, take some rest and later, you can visit Kathmandu’s cultural highlights. We will brief you about the trip to you on this day again. In the evening, one of the main tourist hubs of the city, Thamel is a good place to have an evening walk, with food from a variety of restaurants to choose from both western and local Nepalese dishes.  

On Day 2, we will have an early morning scenic flight to Lukla that lasts 40 minutes. You can see the Khumbu region’s marvelous mountain views throughout the flight. Once landed, we will meet other crew members at Lukla, which is the starting point for many treks. You will have a brief introduction and gear-check session with the crew. Then, we follow a riverside trail downhill through the Dudh Koshi Valley, passing farms, stone villages, and snow-capped mountains toward your first overnight stay in Phakding. First day of the trek, and you will already be in awe of all the beauty!

We hit on a trail that crisscrosses the pine-flanked Dudh Koshi River on a steel cable suspension bridge this day. We should be cautious of yaks and other local wildlife that wander along the same route. The hiking path goes into Sagarmatha National Park, an UNESCO-listed nature reserve, and home to snow leopards and red pandas. After we pass a checkpoint in Monjo, we will start a steep ascent to Namche Bazaar, the capital city of Sherpas. A strenuous uphill hike arrives at the main heart of Sherpa village. We will get to enjoy the mountains and the place.

Today is the day to relax and acclimatize after gaining a significant altitude. You can go on short hikes, and visit the market’s souvenir, the Sherpa Culture Museum to adapt to the change in height. Further, you can pay tribute to the first person to summit Everest: Tenzing Norgay, and the Sir Edmund Hillary Memorial nearby. You can have an early morning walk to Sagarmatha National Park and be blessed with the enthralling Himalayan sunrise. Expect the sun to kiss the snow-covered peaks of Mount Everest, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kongde, and Lhotse. In addition, a one-hour walk to the Everest View Hotel, a famous spot for the mesmerizing view of Mount Everest, is worth visiting. 

Today’s walk above Namche will mostly be in the valley. And you will have opportunities for wonderful views of mountains that become a booster to ascend further. Continue walking through the Sherpa villages and witness locals busy in their daily routines. Steep ascents bring us to Punki Tenga Village. Enjoy the much-needed lunch with the beautiful scenery right in front of you. From here, the route follows another steep climb. Walk through a dark path that passes through Rhododendron forests and high-altitude landscapes, and take your time to see colorful bird species. Then the path leads to Tengboche, home to the biggest monastery in the Everest region. Typically, the monastery opens at 3:00 pm, if reached around or early that time, we get the chance to observe the religious Buddhist praying ceremony. 

After breakfast, we will walk through a thick forest of birch, confer, and rhododendron trees. Further walking, we will cross the Ima Ja River, one source of the Dudh Koshi River. We will reach Pangboche, which is located opposite the beautiful Ama Dablam. The village feeds a stunning scene of the mountain, the region’s oldest monastery, and the Buddhist Mani walls. We will continue walking to Ima Tse Valley and Lobuche River, ahead of Dingboche ascend. The barley crops, potato, buckwheat fields, and grazing animals dotted along those fields make the valley picturesque and amazing.

*Note* See how just reading these texts gets us all excited. Imagine living with these beautiful sceneries for 10 days straight!

After some days of continuous walking, you have an acclimatization day today for a successful journey. It’s good to do some hiking to adopt the attitude. For this, you can hike up the upper Dingboche, which is more traditional compared to the lower Dingboche. In the lower one, many teahouses and guesthouses are built. There are many options for day hikes; either you can walk to Nagarjunj Hills or Chhukung for outstanding views of Makalu, Lhotse, Chalotse, Tawache, and Ama Dablam. Also, there is another spot along the ridgeline, which you can reach on foot: Dolma Ri. The place blesses with bright players’ flags and a Himalayan vista.

After acclimatizing, we continue walking a wide valley just beneath the snow-covered peak of Choloste and Tawache on our left. The territory becomes more remote with less habitation. Further, a steady climb takes place to Dughla at the end of a terminal moraine of the stunning Khumbu Glacier. The glacier is toppled with rippled islands of debris from avalanches, with melting snows etching beautiful patterns into the ice. Climbing also includes Thukla Pass, where we will find many stones decorated in the memorial of the Everest Expedition climbers, who lost their lives while leading an expedition. The trail continues smoothly along the slope of the glacier, finally reaching Lobuche for the night. 

Here is the most important day of the trek (although every day is a special one, this is more), as you will visit Everest Base Camp. We will need more energy to ascend! We wake up early and leave Lobuche at the crack of dawn to catch the sun reaching the summits of the Himalayan peaks. The golden light view on the peaks will be one of the most hypnotic sights we have seen till. The more we ascend, the slower and steadier should our walk be. We will traverse the Khumbu glacier on our way to Gorak Shep (5,170 m/16,961 ft). Gorak Shep is a simple and rustic setting, with a few basic lodges scattered along breathtakingly harsh and treeless mountain scenery.

We will have lunch here and then continue walking on the Khumbu glacier with the goal to reach Everest Base Camp. Here comes the place! After long walks at high altitudes, we will forget all the difficulties when we reach Everest Base Camp! Take photos, appreciate the surroundings, and feel the moment. If it is springtime, we have a bonus! We can see colorful expedition camps. After being awed by the beauty over and over again, we will return to Gorak Shep overnight (even though we don’t want to). 

We reached our main destination, but there’s more to come!

Be ready for an early morning walk to Kala Patthar (5,644 m/18,373 ft), the highest point of the trek. You can do Kala Patthar on a single day. The entire day’s hard work pays off after reaching the viewpoint. The place is blessed with an unparalleled view of the ENTIRE Khumbu region below you! Further, you will have a face-to-face 360-degree view of our very astonishing Mount Everest. Carrying unforgettable and unmatched experiences, we will then descend to another Sherpa village, Pheriche (4,371 m/14,340 ft). 

Walking down through the hillside covered with birch and rhododendron trees, we further descend the suspension bridge over the Dudh Khosi to Pungi Tenga, which follows the Dudh Koshi gorge, descending rapidly through pine forests. We walk down to the base of the valley and the final ascend leads to Namche Bazaar. 

Today is the last day of our Everest Base Camp trekking. The path follows the Dudh Khosi River and suspension bridges to Lukla, where we will stay for the ultimate day in the mountains. On this day, we celebrate with the crew (guides and porters) and thank them for helping us all those days. Let’s dance and sing sherpa songs while enjoying the local brew ‘Chhyang’ (homemade beverage with rice), as we complete a successful trek to the base of Mount Everest. Cheers to this beautiful trek!

On this thirteenth day, we will bid goodbye to the mountains. We catch an early morning flight back to Kathmandu, and you can visit the highlights of Kathmandu on your own or be guided (you can know more from us, we are happy to help). In the evening, we will have a farewell dinner with the team to celebrate the trip’s success. Also, a relaxing day after all the hustles and the very best trip.

Today is the last day of the trip. Enjoy your last day in Kathmandu with breakfast cafe’, city rock, and souvenir shopping. Or, if you have more time in Kathmandu, then you have the next lottery open for yourself! There are so many places near Kathmandu, of different kinds. If you need help, we are always here for your help. Otherwise, a representative will be there at your hotel to pick you up and transfer to the hotel. It’s better to be at the airport approximately 3 hours before your departure time.