Everest Base Camp Trek: 14 Days, Nepal

What we work through with you

1. Your dates and priorities

   Tell us when you want to visit Everest Region, Nepal, who is travelling and what you would change in the outline below.

2. The route and pace

   We discuss the 14D / 13N starting itinerary, your preferred stays and how much you want to fit in. Any changes depend on availability and are agreed in your written plan.

3. Your written quote

   Review the final arrangements, total price, inclusions and payment and cancellation terms before booking. An enquiry does not reserve this trip.

The route we start from

These are the stages published for this trip. A stage can cover part of a day or several days; it is not a separate travel day.

1. Stage 01

   Kathmandu

   Arrive in Kathmandu and check into Thamel. The afternoon is the gear check, which is a real inspection rather than a formality: boots, layers, sleeping bag rating, and anything missing is hired or bought here where it costs a fraction of what it does at home. Full briefing in the evening.

2. Stage 02

   Fly Lukla

   The flight to Lukla, into a 527-metre runway built on a slope against a mountainside, which is the most talked-about airstrip in the world for good reasons. Flights go early because the wind gets up later, and they are weather-dependent. Then a gentle three-hour walk downhill to Phakding at 2,610 metres.

3. Stage 03

   Namche

   The climb to Namche Bazaar at 3,440 metres, which is the hardest day so far: several suspension bridges over the Dudh Koshi, then a long steep haul with the first view of Everest from partway up, if the cloud allows. Namche is a horseshoe of a town built into the hillside and is the Sherpa capital.

4. Stage 04

   Acclimatise

   An acclimatisation day, which does not mean a rest day. You climb several hundred metres up to the Everest View Hotel at 3,880 metres, have tea looking at Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam, and come back down to sleep low. Climb high, sleep low, is the entire principle keeping you safe.

5. Stage 05

   Tengboche

   On to Tengboche at 3,867 metres, through rhododendron forest that flowers scarlet in spring, with a steep descent to the river and a long climb out the other side. The monastery at the top is the spiritual centre of the Khumbu, and the afternoon prayers are open to walkers who sit quietly.

6. Stage 06

   Dingboche

   Up to Dingboche at 4,410 metres and a second acclimatisation stop. The tree line is now behind you and the landscape turns to stone walls, yak pasture and moraine. There is an afternoon climb up the ridge for the height gain, and oxygen saturation is checked every evening from here on.

7. Stage 07

   Lobuche

   To Lobuche at 4,940 metres, crossing the Thukla Pass where memorial cairns stand for climbers who did not come back from Everest, including a number of Sherpas. It is a sobering hour and the right one to have before the last push. Short day, thin air, early night.

8. Stage 08

   Base Camp

   Base Camp. Along the Khumbu glacier moraine to Gorak Shep at 5,164 metres, drop the pack, then out to Everest Base Camp at 5,364 metres, where the icefall tumbles down at the head of the valley. In climbing season it is a small city of tents; out of season it is ice and silence.

9. Stage 09

   Kala Patthar

   Up before dawn for Kala Patthar at 5,545 metres, which is the highest you will stand and the one place that gives you Everest entire, from base to summit, as the first light hits it. Then the long descent begins, down to Pheriche at 4,371 metres, where the air feels thick and generous.

10. Stage 10

    Descend

    The walk out, which covers days 10–12: back down through Pheriche and Tengboche to Namche, and on towards Lukla. Descending is faster and much harder on the knees than anyone expects, and every village you drop into feels wealthier in oxygen than it did on the way up.

11. Stage 11

    Fly Out

    The early flight out of Lukla back to Kathmandu, weather permitting, with a contingency day built into this trip precisely because it sometimes does not. A shower, a real bed, and a celebration dinner in Thamel that has been earned in a way few dinners are.

12. Stage 12

    The Return

    Fly home. Fourteen days, around 130 kilometres on foot, a high point of 5,545 metres, and a walk that stays in your legs for about a week and in your head considerably longer.

What this trip lists

Use these inclusions and exclusions when reviewing your quote. The displayed price starts from ₹1,34,999 per person; your written quote confirms the total for your dates and arrangements.

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