Everest Base Camp Trek – 15 Days

After early morning breakfast, we will take a bus to Thame Danda. We will stop at Kharikhola for lunch and then continue the ride, eventually reaching Thame Danda. The motor road stops at Thame Danda, and from here, we will trek to Paiya, where you will spend the night.

It will be your first full day of the trek. You will leave Paiya in the morning and heading to Phakding, walking past several villages, forests, and suspension bridges. It will take us around six hours to reach Phakding, our destination for the day.

We continue to trek north up the Dudh Koshi River Valley and briefly stop at the Sagarmatha National Park check post to register our permits before continuing inside the Sagarmatha National Park. From the forests inside Sagarmatha National Park, you will get the first views of Everest. We will continue at the trails, crossing several high-suspension bridges, and finally make a challenging climb through dense forest to arrive at Namche Bazaar, the gateway to Everest. The Namche Bazaar is a throbbing marketplace with Wi-Fi-connected pubs, restaurants, and shops selling everything from gear and equipment for climbers to souvenirs for tourists.

It will be the first day for rest and acclimatization at Namche. However, you can also take part in several activities. You have the option to visit the famous Sherpa villages of Khunde and Khumjung. There is a yak farm in the vicinity, and you can also visit the Sagarmatha National Park Visitor Centre. If you love Everest, you can go to Everest Hotel and watch Everest from the premises.

It is time to climb out of Namche. On clear days you will enjoy the fantastic views of Everest and other surrounding peaks. Similarly, from the remote parts of the trail, you might even catch glimpses of high-altitude wildlife. As you hike forward, the trail drops to the Dudh Koshi river and ascends steeply to reach Tengboche, famous for Tengboche Monastery, the largest in the Khumbu region. You can get fantastic views of Ama-Dablam from Tengboche.

Early morning, we provide you the option to observe morning prayers at Tengboche monastery, and then you will trek through some serene dense forest, reaching Pangboche. You will have your lunch at Somare and then hike forward to reach Dingboche. As the elevation increases, you will notice that the terrain looks arider and barren. Just before entering Dingboche, you will see the farmlands encircled by stone walls. These walls safeguard crops from cold wind and wild animals.

We will spend one more acclimatizing at Dingboche to adjust to the thinning air. There are several activities we can indulge in. We will take you to a ridge above Dingboche to show the close-up views of Mount Lhotse (8,516m / 27,940ft), the back view of Ama Dablam (6,812m), and Island peak(6,189m). While your body acclimatizes, your mind will calm in the mountain serenity.

You will start on our trails with a short uphill near a ridge and then follow a wide valley path to the glacial moraine and a small collection of lodges. As you climb higher, a better view emerges. On the way to Lobuche, you will pass through a memorial dedicated to those who couldn’t succeed in this hostile terrain. Lobuche has many shops and hotels, unlike other places, we passed a few days ago.

It will be a remarkable day, perhaps in your whole life. From Lobuche, you will follow the glacial moraine that will gently take you upwards until you reach Gorak Shep. However, at Gorak Shep, you will leave your belonging and head to the Everest Base Camp. From the Everest Base Camp, you can enjoy the grand views of Khumbu icefall and other tall mountains in the neighborhood. After enjoying the views to the heart's content and taking enough pictures, you will return to Gorak Shep to spend the night.

You will wake up early at Gorak Shep and hike to Kala Patthar to witness the grand sunrise at Mt. Everest and surrounding peaks. We are sure you have not seen anything more awe-inspiring than the early sunrays striking Mt. Everest. After spending enough time at the viewpoint, you will trek back to Gorak Shep for breakfast. After breakfast, we will rest for some time and start our trek back to Pheriche, our destination for the day.

After a good night's sleep at Pheriche, we wake up early in the morning, have breakfast, and start trekking to Namche Bazaar. The trail passes through the rhododendron and juniper forests, crossing the Imja Khola bridge to reach Tengboche. From Tengboche, you will hike through forests full of high-altitude wildlife such as musk deer, mountain goats, or snow leopards to reach Namche Bazaar.

We leave Namche Bazaar after breakfast for a short trek to Phakding, following the banks of the Dudh Koshi River and crossing several suspension bridges. After passing through several forests and a few small villages, you will finally reach Phakding, where we will stay for the night.

It will be your last day on the trekking trails. We head towards the lower Dudh Koshi Valley on a route that gently ascends to Kusum Stream, but before reaching Lukla, the path rises steeply up to the west, taking us to Toktok. From Toktok, the views become entirely different, and we will savor those views before continuing to Lukla. It will be your last day of trekking, and you will be resting at Lukla for the night.

When your trek ends in Lukla, the flight destination from Lukla can be Manthali or Kathmandu, depending on the specific trekking season. You'll probably board a Manthali-bound flight, followed by a five-hour drive to Kathmandu if your trek falls in March, April, May, September, October, or November. For treks in other months (December, January, February, June, July, and August), direct flights to Kathmandu are the norm. If you do not want to take the Lukla-Manthali-Kathmandu route, you can book a helicopter with four other persons at an extra cost of around 950 USD each, and fly from Lukla to Kathmandu directly. After arriving in Kathmandu, you can return to your hotel. You are free to spend your time in Kathmandu as you like.