Everest base camp trek how long

Get your camera out as now there will be your first glimpse of the peaks of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and Taweche. Namche will be your last chance to check your equipment and hire any additional gear for the high altitudes from Dingboche onwards.

Namche Bazaar is also the last chance to enjoy the local nightlife or take to the pool hall and video parlours. Day 4: Namche Bazaar m. Taking a walk to see both the sunrise and sunset views from the national park headquarters above the village is also a great option. This stunning vista includes a super panorama of the Khumbu peaks and great views of Everest.

The national park headquarters are home to interesting displays about Sherpa lifestyle and culture, and the local flora and fauna. Namche gained its importance during the period when Tibetan salt was traded for the lowland grains of Nepal.

Rugs, clothing, salt and dried meat still all do a roaring trade in the village centre, so haggle for any extra supplies you might need.

Day 5: Phortse Gaon m. Today we trek for about hours to cover the 9 km from Namche Bazaar to Phortse. This route offers amazing insight into the life and culture of the sherpas, and that night we stay in a village that is home to a number of sherpas who have reached Everest's summit. Looking out from Phortse, the views of Amadablam are great.

Overall altitude gain between places we sleep is m. Day 6: Dingboche m. Climb above the tree-line and trek approximately six hours covering the distance of 8 kms to Dingboche. These walls protect crops of barley and potatoes from the cold winds. The scenery is once again spectacular and although Everest will be hidden behind the Lhotse-Nuptse Ridge, the huge peaks that tower above the eastern end of the valley are more than worthy.

Day 7: Dingboche m. Today is another acclimatisation day. Day 8: Lobuche m. From Dingboche, ascend the small ridge behind the village above the Pheriche valley. From the stupa at the top, Taweche and Cholatse m make for a pretty striking scene; they seem to lean forwards from across the valley in the west. To the north, Lobuje Peak m and the snowfields of the Cho La are the kings of the skyline. Late in the morning you will cross the Khumbu Khola at Dughla and take a light lunch at the foot of the huge terminal moraines of the Khumbu Glacier flowing off Everest.

In the afternoon, there will be a solid and quite steep climb on a rocky trail to the top of the moraines. From here the view is downright spectacular once again, with Pumori m , Lingtren m , Khumbutse m , and across the border in Tibet, Changtse m , surrounding you. Then follow the valley stream to the lodge at Lobuje, arriving early afternoon. The trek to Lobuche is about six hours and covers 7 km, bringing us close to our ultimate goal! This is the big one, the day of Everest Base Camp.

From Lobuche, follow the broad valley that runs parallel to Khumbu Glacier, with a gradual ascent enabling you to build the slow, steady rhythm required when walking at high altitude.

When you reach the moraines of Changri Nup Glacier, you will make a series of small ascents and descents over a rocky trail lined with cairns that eventually leads to the surprising glacial sands of Gorak Shep m — reached after about three hours of walking. The trek to the base camp can be achieved in around three hours, and if trekking in the popular climbing period of March to May, you will almost certainly encounter yaks and porters supplying food and equipment to expeditions here.

From Everest Base Camp you will not get views of Mount Everest, but you are able to see glorious glaciers, lakes, caves, and the notorious Everest Ice Fall that flows from the Western Cwm. It's regarded as technically the hardest and most dangerous section of the mountain. The return journey from the Base Camp to Gorak Shep takes the same amount of time. You will have an early dinner so that you are able to get up early the next day for awe-inspiring views of the Himalayan giants from Kala Patar.

Notes: Trekking time approximately 3 hours to Gorak Shep m and approximately 5 hours round trip to Everest Base Camp. Day Kala Pattar - Pheriche or Orsho. Today we witness some of the Himalayas most recognisable sights. We make an early start to avoid the early morning clouds and trek to Kala Pattar m to witness the best views of Everest. Embrace that emotion and spend as long as you like here to savour this extra special moment.

To get there from the lodge the ascent is quite steep, so start very slowly and try to ascend at a steady rhythmic pace. Kala Patar is the rocky hilltop below Pumori. It will probably take a good hour and a half to reach the summit from Gorak Shep, although lower viewpoints can provide views that are almost as good. About three kilometres away and some metres below, the area of the Everest Base Camp can be seen in a bowl at the bottom of the Khumbu Ice Fall. After breakfast you will set off to Lobuche and Thugla, where you will stop for lunch.

It's a tough walking day approx. Day Tengboche m. Descend through the small settlements at Orsho and Shomare before passing through Lower Pangboche. Tengboche was destroyed by an earthquake in , rebuilt and again badly damaged by a fire in Construction of the present monastery was completed in Spend a bit of time visiting the monastery and the Sherpa Heritage Foundation museum. Trek to Tengboche is approx. Day Monjo m. Descend steeply through beautiful forest of juniper, rhododendron and fir.

Cross the Dudh Kosi River and ascend to Trashinga. From here the trail contours high above the valley through Shanasa and on to Namche Bazaar, before descending steeply down to the large suspension bridge over the Dudh Kosi River. Day Lukla. Today we walk back to Lukla via Benkar through blue pine and rhododendron forest, with great views of Kusum Kangaru. It is undoubtedly better to rent your down jackets and sleeping bags if you are only going to the mountains for two weeks.

If you are planning on going for a month which we did plan on , I would consider buying a sleeping bag as it may end up costing more to rent it. Please do not bring 10 rolls of toilet paper with you on the trek, like many advise. There is plenty of it available to buy for cheap even if you are on a budget in case you run out.

Save some space in your bag for other, more important things like wet wipes that can be very expensive. No one ever warns you about the enormous ATM fees in Kathmandu. True story! Most people nowadays expect to have wifi everywhere they go and that includes the highest mountain range in the world.

Telecom companies in Nepal have spotted an expanding market and are cashing in big time on the luxury of internet connections high in the mountains. The mb of data gets more and more expensive the higher you go. This will mostly be enough for a couple of emails and to update your Facebook status, but nothing more. I saw this happen way too many times.

I would recommend buying a local SIM card with a data plan from Kathmandu before your trek instead, as there is reception up to around metres and in some cases even in Base Camp. All of this does add up. Before my trek, I found so many different opinions about using Acetazolamide for preventing and reducing the symptoms of altitude sickness. There are several side-effects to consider before taking Diamox to aid with acclimatisation, the main being numbness, having tingling sensation in fingers, toes and lips, ringing in the ears, loss of appetite, vomiting and sleepiness.

As these can also be signs of your body reacting to high altitude, knowing the difference can be difficult. The medication, however, can decrease headaches most common side effect from not drinking enough water , nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath. This together with the need to drink at least three litres of water per day will make you go to the toilet a lot. Diamox works by decreasing the amount of hydrogen ions and bicarbonate in the body, thus allowing you to breathe deeper and faster while also taking in more oxygen.

The increased oxygen will then aid with acclimatisation. I went the preventative way, taking half a tablet in the morning and half at night when I landed in Lukla and an extra one when I felt as I was about to faint with a splitting headache on my way to Lobuche. However, if you are going in a group, thus having to keep up to a certain schedule regardless of how you feel or just want to make sure you have done everything you possibly can to get to the top, taking Diamox as a preventative measure is the way to go.

The medication is not to be used when you already have symptoms of acute mountain sickness and immediate descent is the only cure.

Also I'm obviously not a doctor and you should consult your own personal doctor to see if using Diamox is right for you. I hope you have found something interesting and useful from this article and my wish is that it will aid you with your dream of hiking to Everest Base Camp. Having travel insurance is essential on a trek like that in case of an emergency and even though I was lucky to not having to use it, it gave me great peace of mind that if something would happen, I would be well taken care of.

Most walking is done in the morning and afternoons are for relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere and culture of the amazing environments you trek through.

The secret is to acclimatise well and to do so you need to take a slow pace, a good itinerary, ascend to altitude slowly, rest, eat good food, sleep well and drink plenty of fluid. The actual distances from Lukla to Everest Base Camp can be covered far quicker than we do it, but that will make you ill.

For this very reason the trek is relaxed and of course enjoyable. The whole trek is through Sherpa villages, the last community is called Gorak Shep and is at nearly m. They run pretty quick along the trails and have been known to bump into people and send them flying. There is a good helicopter network for the main trek destinations in Nepal and the Everest trail is very well covered should there be an emergency whilst trekking to Everest Base Camp.

From March to May it starts cold and gets warmer and the opposite is true post monsoon. How hard is it to trek to Everest Base camp?