Everest Base Camp Budget Trek

The flight to Lukla goes either from Kathmandu or from Ramechhap. If you are flying from Kathmandu, grab your early morning breakfast and drive to airport to board the flight to Lukla to enter Everest region. After a half hour of incredible flight, you will land at Lukla. It’s also the first day of trekking in the Everest region. If you are flying to Lukla from Ramechhap, you need to drive 4-5 Hours from Kathmandu to board the flight and fly to Lukla. Start trekking towards Phakding along the Dudh Koshi River. Walk past Buddhist prayer walls called mani walls, prayer flags, prayer wheels and beautiful nature.

Overnight stay at Phakding.

Walking through a beautiful pine forest, the track leads us along the DudhKoshi River through many suspension bridges, one of which is the famous Hillary Suspension Bridge. First, we catch superb scenes of the glistening Mt. Thamserku (6618m). Through the settlement of Banker, Chumoa, Monjo, we come to the check post and entrance to Sagarmatha National Park. We pass through the last village of Jorsale before reaching Namche Bazaar. The trail climbs through the forests and bridges until we reach the confluence of the DudhKoshi and BhoteKoshi rivers. After a final steep ascent of about two hours we get first sight of Mt. Everest peering over the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge. At this juncture, we stop at Chautara to admire the views. We still need to hike about 1.5 hours to reach Namche Bazaar, a gateway to Mt. Everest and the main trading Centre of this region.

This is the first 'acclimatization' day for this trek. Mountain climbing experts always advise us to stay active and move around on a rest day instead of being idle. We either spend the day taking a day hike to Thame or we visit Khunde; maybe we could just relax and explore the lively Namche Bazaar itself. This is the nerve Centre of the Everest (Khumbu) region and has government offices, ATMs, Internet cafes, shops, restaurants, a bakery and a colorful market each Friday evening and Saturday where any and everything is up for sale. If we trek a few hundred vertical feet during the day, it will help us to properly acclimatize. ABC and EBC guides will take us to the Tourist Visitor Center near the headquarter of the Sagarmatha National Park where we can observe an collection of equipments related to the first Everest ascenders, Sherpa culture and learn about the various plant and animal life of the Everest region. We also take an interesting side trip up to the vibrant Khumjung. We further climb up to the famous airstrip at Syangboche. Just above the airstrip will be the Everest View Hotel, a Japanese scheme to build a deluxe hotel with great views of the highest mountains on Earth. The Khumjung valley is surrounded by the snowy peaks of Kongde and Thamserku and the sacred peak Khumbila, which hosts a well-known monastery that houses a yeti scalp. We also visit Hillary School which is located at the same site. After having lunch and spending some time in Khumjung, we walk back down to Namche Bazaar.

After enjoying a hot breakfast in chilly Namche, we start out for Deboche enjoying fabulous views of Mt. Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, AmaDablam and an upfront view of Thamserku. Our trek follows a gradual trail with few ups and downs overlooking brilliant views of the awesome Himalayas. Along the routes, we come across some wild fauna that include pheasants, musk deer, and sometimes a herd of Himalayan Thar. The trail goes steadily down up to Kyangjuma. The path eventually reaches Sanasa, which is the major trail junction for Gokyo valley and Everest Base Camp. The pathway then follows through pine forests and after we cross the prayer-flag festooned bridge over DudhKoshi River, we reach PhunkiTenga, a small settlement with a couple of teahouses and a small army post amidst the alpine woods. After having a relaxed lunch and some rest at PhunkiTenga, its then a pretty little gritty climb that goes steeply up through the pine forests until we reach Tengboche. Tengboche is a perfect spot for close-up views of Ama-Dablam, Nuptse, and Everest and it has the largest Buddhist monastery in the Khumbu region. Hiking by rhododendron forests for something like an hour, we reach Deboche.

With the Mountains as an ideal backdrop, the monastery in Tengboche is a lovely sight to behold more in the morning. We click some pictures of the monastery and the surrounding scenes before we start our journey of the day. We hike through a few Chortens, mani walls and some small villages after which, we haul up for some grub and while enjoying our meals we savor some upfront views of Amadablam towering just above us; We trek via Pangboche, the highest of the true lasting settlements in the valley and reach the regular settlement, the final steepest climb of the day on our way to Dingboche at the entrance to the Khumbu Valley. We spend our night in a lodge. With 867 metres of ascent and 416 metres of descent, we finally hit the sack at a local lodge for the night in Dingboche.

This is a day to haul up and rest without being idle. We can stroll around the village and get pally with the local folks with some interesting conversations. This will give us deep insights into the lifestyles and cultures of the local folks in this region. At the same time we can also relish the landscapes that surround us and we can also catch up on some reading. Our acclimatizing gets a further boost with our hike to Chhukung village. we then do a steep climb up to Chhukung Ri at 5550m [if we feel like it] and as we top it with gasping breath we soon realize the gritty climb was worth the go; the rewards are as lovely as it comes with the natural beauty that greets us for our efforts, the jaw-dropping vistas of Cho Oyu at 8201m, Pumori at 7161m, the gigantic Lhotse wall at 8400m, Amadablam at 6812m, Makalu at 8481m &Baruntse at 7129m all put together set our hearts on top gear as it skips a beat while watching these massive peaks.

After crossing by some of the teahouses of Duglha, we plod higher onto the pretty risky moraine of the Khumbu glacier, passing a chain of stone monuments built in memory of Sherpas who have died on mountaineering expeditions to Mt Everest. From hereabouts, the trail lowers and goes by the west side of the valley to Lobuche. The sunset on Nuptse from this point is an amazing sight to behold.

A real early start is required to reach the Everest Base Camp. It takes several hours as the trail weaves its way through ice pinnacles and past the crevasses of the Khumbu Glacier. After a brief lunch and rest, we take the trail to Everest Base Camp through the once vast GorakShep Lake. Continuing straight ahead, we come through the Indian army mountaineers' memorials. Only upon reaching the Everest Base Camp do we really appreciate the Everest climbers who brave the risky route through the Khumbu icefall. Mountaineer's tents stand out in bright colors against the monotony of gray surroundings (especially in the spring). Nuptse, Khumbuste and Pumori are the mountains we can view from the base camp. On the return leg, we can take a higher route to get a grand view of the Khumbu icefall and the route to the South Col.

Today is the most important part of our trip. We start early at dawn to catch the dramatic views from Kalapatthar witnessing the first light of day shining on Mt. Everest. However, we need to get prepared for an early morning, dark and cold temperature (-10 to -14 C) departure beforehand. Plus, there is always the potential for chilly winds which are quite common. Familiar peaks such as Lingtren, Khumbutse, Changtse tower to the east even as Everest begins to expose itself emerging between the west shoulder crest and Nuptse. During the ascent to Kalapatthar we can pause to catch our breath at several outstanding viewpoints to click pictures. After several hours of ascent, we reach Kalapatthar. From here, we scuttle to climb the rocky outcrop near to the summit marked by cairns and prayer flags. As we reach the top, we sit on the Kalapatthar rocks and our eyes take in the unbelievable Himalayan views, wandering from one mighty massif to another. We take as many pictures as we possibly can with our camera so they can last a lifetime. After this we make our way back to Pheriche with a slow descent; for a good night’s rest which we truly deserve.

We trek back to Namche Bazar and spend a relaxing evening there.

Today, we begin to get warmed up by the light cool breeze. Although we are traveling the same route down, we enjoy completely different views. We snap a mixture of open plains, rhododendron and pine forests, and in the distance snow covered peaks. We take time and walk at our own pace today as this is the last day of our trek. We experience the Sherpa villages' impressive faith in Buddhism and culture of prayer stones and prayer flags while we walk through the villages. Upon arrival in Lukla, we have plenty of time to relax, stretch those aching legs, and recall the experiences of the last couple of days. We experience the culmination of a fantastic trek on a happy note with everyone back safe and sound with truly happy faces! Upon arrival in Lukla, we stroll around while our leader will re-confirm our flight ticket. In the evening, we enjoy last dinner with our crew and make it a party night which calls for a celebration.

Today, we fly back to Kathmandu after our long mountain journey. The early morning flight takes us to Ramechhap or Kathmandu. If we fly to Ramechhap, we need to drive for 4-5 hours to Kathmandu. Trip comes to end.