Everest Base Camp Trek

Everest Base Camp Trek in Nepal.

Everest Base Camp Trek in Nepal is one of the most sought after Himalayan Trekking Trails. Trekkers take this Everest Trail every season with a dream to reach the Everest Base Camp if not the summit of the world's highest peak. Everest Base Camp Trek is a high altitude trek and one needs to plan properly as well as be fit to do this trek.It is highly recomended that one prepares atleast two months before embarking on this himalayan journey. One can do the Tea house Trek or can also opt for camping trek. Lodges with clean rooms & good food are available at every destination.One needs to get the Trekkers Information Monitering System (TIMS) from Kathmandu. It is best to do the 15 Days Everest Base Camp. This allows trekkers to get acclimitized before reaching Everest Base Camp.

Lukla Airport

Everest Base Camp Trek starts with a 30minutes flight to Lukla from Kathmandu.Lukla at an altitude of 2840m has a 600m runway Airport & is considered one of the most dangerous airports in the world. Porters throng the Airport perimeter with a hope that they get the porters job. Money earned from this Everest Trail is important for them as this is the only means of livlihood for these Porters. These porters come from the solu region of Nepal and are mostly from the Rai community.
These are hardy and strong people & make up the work force of the Khumbu region.Lukla itself is a small town perched on the Himalayan hillside sorrounded by the majestic Himalayas. Everest Trail starts with a gentle downhill trek on a wide path through small villages. Phakding 8Km from Lukla is the next big village on this Trail. Trekkers usually halt for the night here. We decided to go further on to Jorsalle as we had enough time on our hands. Sagarmatha National Park office is
at Monjo where we paid our Park fees. Further on we trekked through small farming villages and over suspension bridges untill Jorsallee. Jorsallee is a small village with a couple of  Lodges and tea houses.

Namchee Bazaar(3440m) is three hours Trek from Jorsallee. First two kilometre of the trekking trail

Namchee Bazaar

follows the river bed and is fairly easy. After crossing the long suspesion bridge the uphill begins. The uphill is till Namchee Bazaar and will test the stamina of the Trekkers. Namchee Bazaar is the Sherpa capital of Khumbu Region. It is the hub of all Trekking and Mountaineering activities.This is where trekkers take a break to get acclimitized before proceeding on to higher altitude and also to refill their supplies. Namchee Bazaar is a fairly big village with a number of hotels & with a sizable population who run this place. Came across a number of Bakeries,Coffee shops and Shops selling good quality trekking gears. One can buy La Sportiva or salomon shoes and sherpa trekking gears in Namchee Bazaar at a reasonable price. On approaching Namchee Bazaar one can prominetly see Kongdae Peak on the left,Thamserku and Kangteka on the right. On the rest day one can Trek to the Everest View Hotel to get acclimitized or Trek to Thame Village. It takes about 6-7 Hours for a good Trekker to go to Thame Village and Back. This an interesting side Trek where one goes towards the tibet border.This route used to be the Trading route between Nepal,India and Tibet. At the moment the trading post is closed.

Tengboche

The 11Km trail from Tengboche Monastery to Dingboche is gentle except for a few uphills at places.The Trekking trail gently snakes down almost to the river bed and then climbs up to Pangboche.From Pangboche the trekking trail gently leads up to Dingboche(4410m). Dingboche is situated in a valley & is sizably bigger than other villages after Tenboche.As is in the Everest Region, Dingboche is sorrounded by Amadablam,Thamserku and Kangtega on the right.Everest,Lhotse,Nuptse,Island Peak and

Dingboche

other unknow peaks to the North.Taboche,Lobuche and Pumori on the left. Rest day at Dingboche is important as the trail leads to higher altitude and is advisable to get acclimitized before preceeding to Lobuche.One can take a side trek to Chukung(4710m) and Island Peak Base Camp. This is a gentle 4Hours/8Km Trek(Round Trip). When in Dingboche climb upto the view point above Dingboche for a 360 Degree splendid views of the Everest Range. Makalu can also be seen from here. There are a number of Lodges and Bakeries offering Trekkers value for money. Climbing equipments can also be hired here in Dingboche. This also the main gateway to Island Peak and Lhotse.

Lobuche seen from the rim of  Lobuche Glacier

9Km distance to Lobuche from Dingboche can be covered in 3Hours for a good Trekker. Trail passes through valleys and meadows under the glare of Taboche and Lobuche until Thukla(4730m). Thukla is a small settlemnt with Three lodges and a cafeteria. 30minutes uphill leads to Chyan Dara or burial ground at the top. This place is dotted with memorials built in the memories of the climbers and Trekkers who have perished in the Everest Region. From Chyan Dara the Trail is gentle besides the Lobuche glacier until the Village of Lobuche at 4910m.Climb upto the rim of the Lobuche glacier to get the views of Lobuche Peak and Khumbu Glacier.

The 3.7Km trek to Gorakshep traverses through moraine laden paths and it takes about 3hours for an

Gorakshep

average Trekker to cover this distance. One can easily trek further on to Everest Base Camp and return back to Gorakshep for the night. Trekking trail goes through glaciers untill the Everest Base Camp & Khumbu Glacier. Any given day one will find Mountaineers waiting to summit the World's Highest Peak at the Everest Base Camp.Mountaineers of various Nationalities were camped on the Khumbu Glacier at the time we visited the EBC. Everest Base Camp becomes a hub of activities with Sherpa's and their Helpers going about their Chores of transporting equipments to various levels of Camp sites in Khumbu Glacier.

View of Everest, EBC & Khumbu Glacier from Kalapathar

Morning saw us at Kalapathar(5550m). Highest point on the Everest Base Camp Trek. Distance is just 2Km but for the altitude it becomes harder to reach the top. Views of the south flank of Everest Nuptse and the entire range is incredibly beautiful. It gets windy at the top so keep your Goretex jacket handy. Return Trek of 10Km from Gorakshep to Perishe was less interesting as it was the same route back.Instead of trekking to Dingboche the route to Perishe goes down hill from Thukla and ends on the other side of the valley.Perishe at 4240m is much warmer and less windy than Dingboche. There is a small Hospital manned by a few Foreign Volunteers. Charges were about US$150 per person or so.

Trekking from Perishe to Phortse village on the return Trek was also interesting. Trek route all the

Perishe

way seems to have been carved on a hillside with Thamserku and Amadablam looking down upon us all the way to Phortse Village. Returned to Namchee Bazaar via the twin villages of Khundae & Khumjung. Visited the Monastery at Khumjung where it is being said,skull of the Yeti is being kept.Did not get to see the Yeti Skull as the monk in charge of the monastery was not there.Took our time for lunch at Khumjung and Trekked slowly downhill towards Namchee Bazaar. Saw the dusty landing strip at Syangboche with building materials scattered on both sides of the runway, wondering how these planes land and take off from such an airport. Trekking from Namche Bazaar to Lukla was on the same Trail.One can opt to fly out of Lukla or can also trek all the way to Phaplu and drive back to Kathmandu. It is two days trek to Phaplu from Namchee Bazaar & 8Hours drive to Kathmandu from Phaplu.One can also relax at the beer pub in Phakding.

The Everest Base Camp trek is a very scenic Trek in terms of  Himalayan Beauty. Mountain views are stunning. Every destination and Trek route is always accompanied by the majestic Himalayan Peaks. Accommodation at the lodges are Basic but clean with common & Hygenic Restroom and washroom. Food in these lodges are Good but a little expensive in local terms. Bottled mineral water is available and can be bought at an inflated price. Higher one goes expensive it becomes. In Gorakshep a bottle of mineral water can cost around NRs.400/US$4. Where as the same Bottle will cost NRs.80 in Lukla.

Flights from Lukla to Kathmandu can get delayed or cancelled due to bad weather. It is advisable to have an extra day or two when planning to do this Trek. Bakeries on this Everest Base Camp Trek Route is incredible.Bakery at the Gumba Lodge serves some tasty bakery products.Mobile Phone coverage is incredible.

One can make international calls from all these places.Internet services are available for a small sum. One can purchase coupons (NRs350) for 15Hours high speed internet services. Internet is available right upto the Everest Base Camp.

Contact for more details & to Book this Trek :
info@farouttrek.com / farouttrek@gmail.com
Visit : http://www.farouttrek.com