Everest Base Camp Trekking Guide
Have to say that it’s one of the best experiences in my backpacking life. Since I discovered it was possible to reach Base Camp as a common tourist, I put it on my bucket list. From a couple of years ago, I’ve been fascinated with everything that surrounds Everest. Feeling that I could be part of that history was my greatest motivation. All the documentaries I saw and all the books I read came to life with every step I took in this amazing journey.
Everest Base Camp trekking consist on a trail that connect small villages in the valley of Khumbu all the way up to Base Camp. You can start your trek from Salleri with a previous 14 hour ride in jeep from Kathmandu or you can start from Lukla once you arrived from a 25 minute flight from Kathmandu. Most tourist start their way up the mountain by this second option. All the way up to Namche Bazaar that it’s the biggest village in the valley you only got one track but from that point you can diverge into two tracks that will merge in Dughla. The most popular route and short one to get to Base Camp is keep walking North-East towards Thyangboche. If you have time and are in good shape you should take the North-West route and make it through Gokyo and Chola Pass. If you are not in a tour, you can plan and decide however you want your trek.
From April to May it’s the best time to visit since it’s not that cold and the views are more clear. You will have more chances to see the peak and it’s still not high season so prices are better and still not that many tourist. I did the trekking on March and weather was good but obviously a little colder.
The monsoon hits hard on June and extends until August so the next good period to visit is from September to November. During this months you have a window between the heavy rain period and winter. You have to consider that during Autumn you will find much more climbers than in Spring.
Agency tours last 15 days considering spending one day at Kathmandu before flying to Lukla and one day once you get back.
Regular itinerary is like this:
Day 1: Kathmandu (spend the day at the city)
Day 2: Kathmandu/Phakding (fly to Lukla and trek to Phakding)
Day 3: Phakding/Namche Bazaar (spend two nights in Namche Bazaar acclimatising for the trek)
Day 4: Namche Bazaar (acclimatation day. Trek to Khumjung)
Day 5: Namche Bazaar/Thyangboche (trek through Rhododendron forest)
Day 6: Thyanboche/Dingboche (trek to dingboche to acclimatize)
Day 7: Dingboche (acclimatisation day. Opt to hike to chhukung or Nagarzhang peak)
Day 8: Dingboche/Lobuche (hike along the Khumbu Glacier)
Day 9: Lobuche/Gorak Shep (reach Everest Base Camp)
Day 10: Gorak Shep/Pheriche (early morning ascend to Kala Pattar for su rise view of Everest)
Day 11: Pheriche/Thyangboche (descend through Pangboche)
Day 12: Thyangboche/Monjo (stay in small village of Monjo)
Day 13: Monjo/Lukla (last day of trekking)
Day 14: Lukla/Kathmandu (fly back to Kathmandu)
Day 15: Kathmandu (leave at any time)
I spent 11 nights since flying to Lukla and flying back to Kathmandu. You should consider this is the minimun amount of time you will need if you want to reach base camp
My Itinerary:
| Day | Start | Finish | Hight | Km | Hours | Guesthouse | Activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lukla | Phakding | 2.610 | 7,4 | 2,7 | Green Village | |
| 2 | Phakding | Namche Bazaar | 3.440 | 10,0 | 4,5 | Namaste | |
| 3 | Namche Bazaar | Namche Bazaar | 3.440 | 7,0 | 4,3 | Namaste | Visit Khumjung |
| 4 | Namche Bazaar | Thyangboche | 3.860 | 9,1 | 5,5 | Thyangboche | |
| 5 | Thyangboche | Dingboche | 4.410 | 10 | 4,5 | Dingboche | |
| 6 | Dingboche | Lobuche | 4.910 | 7,9 | 4,0 | Mother Earth | |
| 7 | Lobuche | Gorak Shep | 5.140 | 12,4 | 5,5 | Himalaya | Reached EBC |
| 8 | Gorak Shep | Pangboche | 3.930 | 17,4 | 7,3 | Everest View | Climbed Kala Pattar |
| 9 | Pangboche | Namche Bazaar | 3.440 | 13,0 | 4,5 | Namaste | |
| 10 | Namche Bazaar | Lukla | 2840 | 18,0 | 6,3 | Lukla Lodge |
The two most common starting points are from Salleri or from Lukla. To get to Salleri you must take a 14 hour ride on a Jeep to complete almost 190 km of mountain road. From there, you got one or two days of trekking to get to Lukla. The most popular way of starting the trek is taking a 25 min flight from kathmandu to Lukla. Prepare to land at Tenzing-Hillary’s airport. At one side of the runway there is a wall-end and to the other side there is a 600 mts drop. High winds, cloud cover, and the huge drop make this one of the most dangerous airports in the world. Once you get out of the small airport you turn left and turn left again until you see the runway straight forward. Tourist gather to see how the small planes manage to lift off the runway before the drop. You continue walking that way and you will be on your way to EBC.
How much you spend will depend on your budget. The costs you must consider are:
Permits: USD 45 Aprox
Visa: USD 40 (30 days)
Round Ticket Kathmandu-Lukla: USD 320
Accomodation and Food per Day: USD 10-30
Hot shower: USD 5-10
Phone Charge: USD 5
Visa: On Arrival (you can obtain it at the Airport). Fill in an application form and provide a passport photograph. A single entry Visa valid for 15/30/90 days costs USD 25/40/100. At international airport you can pay in multiple currencies but at land borders they will only accept payment in cash USD dolars (be sure to have exact change).
TIMS Card (Trekking Information Management System): Individual (Green Card USD 20) and Organized (Blue Card USD 10). If you are trekking with an agency they will issue it for you. You need to provide your passport and a passport size picture. If you are trekking independently you must obtain it at the Nepal Tourism Board on Kathmandu before your trekking. You can´t obtain it once on the trekking.
Sagamartha National Park: Mount Everest is located inside this park so you must obtain the permit. The cost is USD 30 + 13% Gov Tax and it will be issued at the chechpoint in Monjo where you must show you TIMS Card. You can obtain it once in the trekking.
Along the trek you will find small villages with accomodations where you can find all the essential you need to rest, eat and continue your journey. You can find from simple Guest House to more fancy Hotels. In the first ones you can sleep for free if it’s low season and you are good negotiating but you will be foced to have at least two meals on the place. Local Guest House sustain on the meals they provide. Prices on the trek are way more expensive than in Kathmandu and they get higher as you are getting closer to Everest Base Camp.
In my opinion it’s not a must and I didn’t used one because I wanted to feel I could achieve the goal completely by myself. The trail is clearly marked and with the help of a map or apps like maps.me you won’t have any problem. The use of a guide I think is unnecesary. If you want to feel safe or need help carrying your bag you should hire a porter. His work will be helping you carrying some or all your weight, recommending you where to stay and show you the way. I would suggest hiring it at Lukla because you won’t need to pay him the plane ticket and his fare will be lower than in Kathmandu. Prices should start from USD 10 / Day.
It will depend on the time of the year you are but to be safe I would recommend:
Trekking Bag: USD 25
Waterproof Shoes: USD 35
Trekking Pants: USD 20
Waterproof Jacket: USD 20
Feather Jacket: USD / 1 / Rent Day
High Quality Socks: USD 2 / Pair
Water Bottle: USD 3
First Layer Shirt: USD 10
First Layer Pants: USD 15
Sleeping Bag: USD 1 / Rent Day
Buff: USD 1,5
Sunglasses
Camera
Nepali Rupees
Water Purification Tablets: USD 4
High Altitude Pills (diamox): USD 1 / 10 Pills
Extras recommended:
Gloves: USD 9
Entretainment (book, music, ipad, cards, etc
Snacks
Toilet Paper
Babywipes
Cold Caps: USD 2,5
Trekking Poles
Map: USD 3
External Battery
What you don’t need:
Bottled Water
Food
Gas stove
Credit card
All the gear can be bought at Thamel in Kathmandu. In this tourist neighborhood you will find plenty of stores selling all the equipmemt you need. Best advice is to choose one store and buy everything in there in order to bargain and get the lowest price. The more you buy, the more power to negotiate you have. A good tip is that sleeping bags and feather jackets can be rented for the days you need them. You will leave a deposit you will recieve back once you return the staff in good shape.
High Altitude Pills like Diamox are highly recomended to prevent and reduce the symptons of altitude sickness. Best results if you start taking 1 to 2 days before starting to climb and finish 48 hours after you have reached your final altitude.
You don’t need any specific vaccination. You should have general medicines like: stomachache pills, cold medicines and pain pills
Very important is to have water purification tablets. They will let you drink water on the way without any risk.
1.- Even if you feel good to continue trekking to the next village, always consider that climbing more than 600 mts in altitude per day is a risk of getting altitude sickness. The best way of reducing your chances is drinking a lot of water, climbing slow and taking a day or two for acclimatation. It’s normal that you have headaches but if you also feel sick to your stomach and dizzy you must descend to avoid any risk. If symtoms are not intense you can stay where you are and rest to evaluate if you can continue.
2.- In terms of food and accomodation I would recommend arriving to a village not later than 4 pm to find a good place and stay warm before it starts getting too cold. Like I said before, Guesthouse earn money for the meals they sell and not for the money they charge you for staying so food prices is what you should consider to take your decision. All the guesthouse will force you to have at least two meals in their place. Dinner and Breakfast are the most common so to save money I recommend having lunch on your way in local restaurants or places where porters eat. Not only the food is great but also is less touristic, prices are half than in a guesthouse and you have the chance to share with locals. This places are easy to recognize because their names are writen in Nepalise. The owners are really nice and they appreciate tourist eating at their place because life for them is way harder than for Guesthouse that earn more money with tourist.
3.- Batteries die in cold weather. Even if it can be uncomfortable, the best advice is to sleep with your electronic devices inside your sleeping bag to keep them warm. During the day it´s not a problem but at night temperature can drop so low that if you leave your electronic devices even inside the room, you can wake up without being able to use them anymore.
4.- In terms of weight in your bag, just take the necessary with you. When you take more than 7 kg, every gram matters and you will notice it all the way.
5.- During the day you are in constant movement so you won’t feel too much cold unless it’s very windy. In that case a good windstopper with a buff is recommended and can save your day.
6.- The khumbu valley doesn´t have any type of roads so all the access is by foot or by helicopters. As you can imagine, this second option is really expensive. This makes it very difficult to access to electricity. The cost of energy is high and the access difficult so guesthouse will charge you a lot for charging your cellphone or any electrical device. A good external battery is recommended. Hot showers are a luxury because water is heated by electricity and it´s so cold it takes a lot of energy to achieve that. Consider that a hot shower will be expensive and it´s not available in every place. Baby wipes are an excellent option in that case.
6.- Everything starts getting more expensive as you go up getting closer to Base Camp. Try buying everything you need in Kathmandu. A good way of saving money is taking snacks like snicker, chips or anything you might need on your way as long as you don´t add a big amount of weight to your bag.
7.- Be safe and enjoy your trip. Make the most of this experience to admire the amazing landscape and share with locals. Some days can be exhausting but when you look back, you will realize that all the effort was worth it.
