Nowadays, it is mandatory to hire a guide for any trek in Nepal, although in the Everest region specifically, this is not enforced. You cannot really get lost here; the paths are clear, and there are dozens of people attempting the trail each day, so you will see people just about everywhere while on the trek.
Hiring a guide is still highly recommended as they know the right pace, when to start, where to take a break, and can also help by taking some weight off your shoulders for a bit if your backpack gets too heavy after several hours of hiking in high altitude. I went through an agency and paid $1650 for the whole trek, which included the flight to Lukla, my guide, all accommodations, and meals. Showers, Wi-Fi, and electric charging come at an extra cost at the lodges.
How to get to Lukla
During the two main seasons, flights are not allowed from KTM to Lukla in order to keep air traffic at KTM at bay. This means that I had to get first to Ramechhap, a very small airport some 100km east of Kathmandu. A minibus picked me and a few other travelers at 1 am in Kathmandu and drove us through the night to Ramechap, which we reached around 6:20 am. I got a little worried since my flight to Lukla was scheduled at 6:00 am, but as it turned out, this would not be an issue at all.
At the small airport, there were already dozens of people waiting. There were no indications here, so it was initially very unclear what was going on. Three airlines operate flights between Ramechhap and Lukla, and once I finally managed to get through the crowd to the counter of my airline, I learned that most of the people waiting here were passengers from the day before, on which all flights got canceled due to weather conditions. That meant those people understandably had priority to be flown to Lukla, and today’s passengers would have to wait.
Around 7 am, many flights started taking off. Planes of the different airlines took off in a 15-minute rhythm, and the airport slowly grew emptier. Around 11 am, it was announced that my plane would be next. Yay! But then… suddenly no more planes. No more movement. And no information. After asking around, I found out that all flights were now put on hold due to bad weather conditions in Lukla. Then the waiting and uncertainty started… hours passed without any movement. People started looking for rooms in Lukla because it became more and more clear that we would not fly anymore that day. Finally, at 4 pm – 10 hours after the scheduled time – our plane apparently got clearance to fly. Everything happened very fast then; we boarded the plane, and 20 minutes later we landed in Lukla.
The Everest base camp trek
The basic concept for each day on the trek involved getting up at 7 am, having breakfast, then starting to hike from about 7:30 – 10:30, having (early) lunch, then continuing the hike and arriving at the next lodge around 2 pm. The rest of the day would then be used for relaxing, thankfully I had my Kindle with me. Wifi and charging are available at the lodges but the higher you go the more expensive these things become.
Here is a short breakdown of the trek, after which I will let the pictures speak for themselves:
- Day 01 : transfer to Lukla (2804 m) and then 3h hike to Phakding (2610 m)
Since I arrived so much later in Lukla than anticipated, the hike went from 4:30 pm until 7:30 pm, which means that the last hour had to be done in darkness. Luckily the first day is actually a descent in altitude, which made it quite easy. - Day 02: Phakding (2610 m) to Namche Bazaar (3440 m)
This was in some regards one of the most challenging days of the trek since we did over 800 m in altitude. This is only possible in the begining since you should not do more than 500 m per day once you reach above 3k. This was a very beautiful hike, the mountains can not be seen yet and you mostly see a lot of green hills with a lot of vegetation and a few adventurous hanging bridges to be crossed. - Day 03: Namche Bazaar – Acclimatization day (3440 m)
Your body needs time to adapt to these altitudes and this is why most people stay 2 nights in Namche Bazaar to let their bodies acclimatize properly to the growing lack of oxygen. Namche is a buzzling little town with many trekkers, going up or down, many shops (last opportunity if anything is still missing!) and bars. - Day 04 : Namche Bazaar (3440 m) to Tengboche (3890 m)
the scenery started changing during this day, less and less trees, and more rocks. Tengboche consists of 2 or 3 lodges and a buddhist monastery where I had the chance to take part in a Buddhist ceremony. - Day 05 : Tengboche (3890 m) to Dingboche (4350 m)
At this point the scenery had completly changed. We saw many Yaks on the trek and mountains in the distance, Lhotse and Ama Dablam being the most prominent ones. - Day 06 : Dingboche – Acclimatization day (4350 m)
After reaching 4k, another day of acclimatization was required. We did a short hike up a hill to have a view and the rest of the day was spend resting. - Day 07 : Dingboche (4350 m) to Lobuche (4980 m)
The views had become stunningly overwhelming by now. So many huge mouuntains in every direction. On the way to Lobuche you also pass the climbers memorial, a place in dedication to those who did not return from Everest… - Day 08 : Lobuche (4980 m) to Gorak Shep (5164 m) to Everest Base Camp (5364 m) and return to Gorak Shep
For me, this day was, without any other even getting close, the hardest one. After we reached Gorak Shep where we had lunch and left our backpacks for the night, we continued to EBC. That day snow had fallen and the “path” between Gorak Shep and EBC consisted of 2 hours of scrambling over rocks, constantly going up and down while watching to not slip on the frozen ground. This was probably the most exhausting part of the whole trek – and after having reached EBC we had to return to Gorak Shep via the same strenuous route. - Day 09 : Gorak Shep (5164 m) to Kalapatthar (5550 m), then back down to Periche (4200 m)
We got up at 4 am to ascent Kalapatthar, rigt next to Gorak Shep so we could see the sunrise next to Everest around 6 am. Set approximatively 200 m higher than EBC, this was actually the highest point we reached.
After this it was mostly a long day but since it was all the way downhill it did not feel that hard.
Sadly I had been battling with digestive problems for a few days now and I started having a bad cold in the evenig of this day. I went to bed around 7pm that day, hoping that a long rest would make me fit again for the final two days of the way back. - Day 10 : Periche (4200 m) to Kathmandu
Sadly I did not feel any better the next morning. I did not see how i could physically be able to continue that day so my guide insisted that we call a helicopter to fly me out back to Kathmandu, which we did. Read my full thoughts on that in the next chapter.
In case this would not have happened, there would have been two more days of hiking back:
– Periche (4200 m) to Namche Bazaar (3440 m)
– Namche Bazaar (3440 m) to Lukla (2804 m)
and then flying back from Lukla to Ramechhap.
Enjoy the stunning views of the Everst Base Camp trek :
