Mount Everest Basiskamp Trek

The adventure of a lifetime begins as your plane lands at Tribhuvan International Airport where you are greeted by your personal representative of Himalayan Planet Adventures and taken to your hotel to relax from your long flight. You will find friendly faces at the Himalayan Planet Office as you are briefed on the final details of your Easy Trek to Everest Base Camp without Altitude Sickness. In the evening, enjoy a traditional Nepali welcome dinner complete with incredible Nepali food and drink followed by an amazing cultural program of ethnic dances. You will delight in the many unique and marvelous cultures that you will find across the Himalayan land of Nepal. Following the program you will return to your hotel for a restful and enjoyable night, breathing in the pure Himalayan air.

This is your first full day in Nepal and no trip to this magical land would be complete without taking a day to see the amazing Kathmandu Valley! The history here dates back thousands of years as various dynasties came and went. Each has left its mark that is best preserved at seven different UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  On today’s adventure, you will enjoy three of those exotic places. The first is the holiest of Hindu temples in Nepal: Pashupatinath.  Situated on both sides of the holy Bagmati River, nearly 50 temples bear homage to a host of Hindu deities that make up the pantheon of eastern spirituality. Colorful sadhus (Hindu Holy Men) can be seen teaching and performing various pujas (rituals) while rhesus monkeys perform amazing antics for your enjoyment. We move on to Boudhanath, the largest Buddhist stupa in Asia and third largest in the world. This is the home of the largest concentration of Tibetan refugees who practice authentic Tibetan Buddhism.  In the afternoon travel to the legendary ancient city of Bhaktapur which has been preserved as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore its alleys, squares, and temples before returning to your hotel.

The morning comes early 5-6 am as your private car picks you up and takes you to the domestic airport in Kathmandu. You board the flight in anticipation as your journey to EBC is now underway! The flight is only 35 minutes, but what a flight it is! You literally fly over the backbone of the Himalayas, gazing down at the world’s highest mountains. Lukla is a picture postcard place where we land, collect our gear and begin our trek. The trail passes through dense forests and over fast-flowing glacier-fed rivers.  Along the way are small farms of the Sherpa people. Even though at times the jungle is dense, we will have places where we can see the mighty snowcapped peaks. Our lunch spot is an outcropping where we have a magnificent view of Mt. Kusum-Kanguru (elev. 6.369 m/20,890 ft.).  We cross a short suspension bridge and then walk another 1 ½ hours to reach the Sherpa village of Phakding. We will stop here for the night. It’s been a short day of trekking, and there will be time to explore the village as we begin to learn about the local Sherpa culture.

We rise to the smell of breakfast as the morning sun begins to break across the Himalayan skies. It’s a hearty breakfast which we’ll need as we have a full day of uphill trekking to reach the traditional Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar. We follow along the Dudh Koshi River, crossing it from time to time. Today’s mountain is Mt. Thamserku (elev. 6,608 m/21,675 ft.). Its lofty summit glistens white reflecting the rays of the morning sun. At the small little village of Monjo, we officially enter Sagarmatha National Park. We soon cross a suspension bridge over the Bhote-Koshi River, reaching the village of Jorsalle. From here on, it’s just jungle until we reach the beautiful Sherpa village of Namche Bazaar.  As we climb higher in elevation, the vegetation becomes less and less, affording us views of the picturesque Kwangde Peak as well as Mt. Lhotse. We trek a total of 5 – 6 hours in order to reach Namche Bazaar with its colorful houses and maze of streets. We will spend two days at Namche Bazaar at a very nice guest house with great food.

The Everest region is a land of high elevation, which requires us to stop and allow our bodies to acclimatize. The Sherpa people who live up here are used to the thinner mountain air. However, you are not, and once you cross the 3000-meter mark, it is necessary to take 24 hours to allow your body to adjust to the thinner air. You will notice that you are short of breath when you arrive in Namche Bazaar, but by the end of today, you will be breathing much easier. Namche Bazaar is a perfect place to acclimatize because there is so much to see and do. If we arrive on a Saturday, the marketplace is alive with people and vendors. There is a wonderful bakery in town, along with the Sherpa Museum where you can stop and learn more about the culture of the Everest people. Walk up the hill to Everest View Hotel for your first close-up view of Mt. Everest in all of its glory. Everywhere you look is incredible scenery. You are in no hurry today as you prepare for tomorrow’s trek.

The Everest region also is called the Khumbu and today’s journey will take us to the western part of the Khumbu to a little village known as Thame. As we climb higher, the dense jungle of a couple of days ago gives way to juniper shrubs. This region is limited in what can grow here at this high elevation. Most of the farms we will see grow potatoes, carrots, and buckwheat. Diets are limited up here, supplemented by butter tea made from the milk of yaks. You’ll see lots of yaks on this part of the trip. They are big, hairy cows weighing as much as 1 ton. Their milk is rich in butterfat, helping the Sherpas to survive. We’ll have a chance to sample yak cheese, which is a delicious cheese with its own unique flavor. Below us opens the Thame Valley which has more agricultural opportunities due to the lower elevation. This place is popular with mountain climbers and features a very beautiful Buddhist monastery.  Today’s journey takes us between 4 and 5 hours before putting in at a quaint little tea house for the night.

We circle around today as we climb upwards to reach Khumjung Village, home of the world’s highest hospital. Sir Edmund Hillary on his historic climb in 1953 fell in love with the Sherpa people. He saw their primitive living conditions and made it his life’s work to improve the lives of these hardy mountain people. He built schools, suspension bridges and even the Khunde-hospital here which has saved a countless number of lives. We’ll drop down in elevation to reach Khumjung Village where we find a large monastery. It is here that we can see a real yeti scalp! Don’t believe in yetis, you say? Well, the local people do and at night, you will hear a strange cry that fills the night. The Sherpa people claim it’s a yeti! As you listen to the cry in the night, you will be glad you are indoors staying at a nice little guest house and under a thick, warm comforter. It’s about a four to five-hour trek today as we make our way closer to EBC.

One of the most beautiful places in the Khumbu is the amazing little village of Tyangboche. From its lofty heights is the world’s highest Buddhist monastery. Here the monks can gaze upon Mt. Everest in all of its glory as they meditate. The air is so incredibly crisp and pure up here. There may not be a lot of vegetation this high up, but the scenery is superb.  The entire trek today will allow us sublime views of Mt. Everest, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Ama Dablam, Mt. Thamserku and Mt. Kwangde. Be before we climb, we descend into the valley below to cross the Imjatse-River at a tiny little mountain village known as Phungithanga. The valley will feature some trees, including rhododendron and blue pines. Occasionally there are even a few magnolia and birch trees.  Once past Phungithanga, we trek upward to reach Tyangboche, passing fields farms. We walk today around 4 – 5 hours to reach this Shangri-la of the Khumbu region. We will spend the night at a lovely guest house. And, of course, we will visit the famous monastery with its magnificent views.

Lobuche is close to Gorakshep, our final place to stay on our way to EBC. It’s about two hours to Gorakshep. There is no settlement here, just places for visitors to stay. EBC has only Camping sites and does not offer a view of Mt. Everest. Instead, once we drop off our backpacks at Gorakshep, we will climb to the top of Mt. Kalapatthar for the most spectacular close-up view of the world’s highest mountain. From on top of Mt. Kalapatthar is the most awesome view of all the peaks of the Khumbu region. We can see five 8000+ meter peaks from here. The climb to the top is not particularly challenging. Mt. Kalapatthar is considered a trekking peak, which means no special equipment is required to climb it. We go next to the Khumbu glacier for even more amazing sights to photograph. The entire day will be a spending taking in the magnificent scenery as well as breathing the pure Himalayan air. Crisp and cold, it will make your lungs tingle with delight.