This trip is graded as ‘strenuous’, with walks of 4-8 hours per day, reaching a maximum altitude of 5545m. You must be an experienced walker, ideally with experience of walking at altitudes over 3500m. Conditions in the teahouses are very basic. Due to the strenuous nature of this trip, we do not recommend it for younger teenagers and therefore adhere to a strict minimum age policy of 16 years old.

Layers, layers, layers – the weather is changeable so you can expect to experience four seasons in one day. Pack for three days at a time and make sure you have plenty of warm layers which you can shed or add as required. Take a book or a pack of cards to keep yourselves entertained - much of the accommodation is fairly basic and there will be little to do in the evenings.

Just in case your main luggage goes missing en route, it’s a good idea to wear your walking boots on the plane. Everything else is replaceable but a pair of comfortable, well worn-in boots are not.
SOME INTERESTING READING:
Himalaya – Michael Palin
Ascent of Everest – John Hunt
Living in the Clouds – Eva Kipp
Tenzing: Hero of Everest – Ed Douglas
Shopping for Buddhas - Jeff Greenwald

We offset the carbon emissions associated with the in-country travel on all of our trips by supporting a solar stove and clean energy project. However, it is your flight that will have the largest environmental impact on your holiday. We offer you the opportunity to offset your carbon dioxide emissions with a donation to our solar stove and clean energy project in Madagascar. The project is run by the non-profit organisation Blue Ventures Carbon Offset and validated by the Tourism Industry Carbon Offset Service (TICOS) as delivering measurable carbon reduction and wider sustainable development benefits for local people. We strongly encourage you to donate to our project, so if you would like to offset the carbon emissions generated by your flight, please contact us. Offsets start from as little as £5.

We work with a local Nepalese owned agency who employs responsible working practices throughout their operations. This includes a porter welfare policy to limit the load each porter to carries to 25kg, to pay a fair wage so porters can equip themselves properly and to use the same pool of porters offering them further training opportunities to become guides and more if they wish.

We also ask that you use environmentally sound practices while trekking in this fragile mountain environment. Please do not use hot showers in lodges where wood-fuelled stoves heat the water, as deforestation is one of Nepal’s biggest environmental problems. However, some lodges have electricity and others use solar power to provide hot water - these are a rare delight!

We recommend that each trekker keeps and uses a small rubbish bag. Burnable material can be disposed of at lodges, but other rubbish such as bottles and batteries must be taken to Kathmandu for proper disposal or left with the lodge owners to do so.

Do not buy bottled water on the trail as the plastic bottles are not recyclable. Soft drinks are available, with the glass bottles being carried out and recycled. However, it is not recommended to drink only soft drinks. We strongly encourage you to purchase treated water to decant into a larger waterbottle. All washing should be done away from rivers and streams using biodegradable soap. Never tip soapy washing water where it will run directly into a watercourse.

Kathmandu Living

The day starts early and you head straight out on foot to visit a number of places of worship. First stop is Swoyambhunath, where you follow the path of Hindu and Buddhist devotees, as they circle the holy stupa and spin the prayer wheels. The mesmerising wafts of incense, hypnotic chanting and surreal sound of ringing bells all create a truly spiritual atmosphere and you can’t help but feel awed by it.

Spiritually awakened, you stroll through the maze of backstreets to Kathmandu Durbar Square, with its numerous temples and market. Pick up some fresh vegetables, aromatic spices and any other ingredients you’ll need for making a local lunch. Well stocked, you then meet up with your host family, who will help you to unlock some of the secrets of Nepalese cooking with the ingredients that you bought. Then sit back, relax and enjoy your creations.

Duration: 5-6hrs

Start time: 7.00am

After your flight, you transfer to your first night’s accommodation and check in. Today your Group Leader will brief you on arrangements for your trek. The evening is free to dine at one of Kathmandu’s many excellent restaurants. Hotel - 2 nights

After breakfast you'll take a half day guided city tour to see two of the spectacular sites of Kathmandu; Pashupatinath and Bodhnath. The city is a labyrinth of streets and markets, crowded with exotic produce and a bewildering mix of people. You're likely to see Gurkhas from the area east of Pokhara, Tibetan women in their striped aprons, traders from India, and sadhus - Hindu holy men - perhaps on pilgrimage to one of the many temples and shrines of the valley.

There should be time left in the afternoon to shop for any last-minute items for the trek or simply relax. Your Group Leader will be happy to assist in any way and will meet you on both mornings in Kathmandu to help with any queries. (B)

Early in the morning you transfer to the airport to board your flight. This sometimes involves a period of waiting around, so remember to pack a book in your daypack! Once up and away, your destination on this breathtaking flight is the Sherpa village of Lukla, perched above the Dudh Kosi or ‘River of Milk’; so named because glacier melt-water makes it appear pale. Years ago, Lukla was a herding pasture (its name actually means ‘Place for Sheep’), but it is now the gateway to the Everest region and many trekkers pass through this prosperous village.

After a picnic lunch you commence your trek with an afternoon’s downhill walking to reach Phakding. One of the first things you’ll notice as you start trekking are the differences between the Newari people of the Kathmandu Valley and the local Sherpa people, who migrated from Tibet 500 years ago. Sherpas dress similarly to the Tibetans and their language is closely related to, though not easily understood by the remaining ‘true’ Tibetans.

Along the trail are mani stone walls, made from hundreds of stone tablets and giant carved boulders, brilliantly decorated with brightly-coloured paints. Buddhists hold these sacred and believe they gain merit in their next life by praying as they go past. As a sign of respect to the local people, you must always pass these in a clockwise direction.

We stop at local lodges, better known as teahouses, where accommodation is comfortable without being luxurious, toilets and washing facilities are shared and rudimentary, and the food is plain and filling. In a teahouse, you are provided with small private rooms with twin beds, mattresses and pillows. At times, in high seasons, and in places where there’re limited number of teahouses, passengers have to make do with dormitories. In some places, teahouses don’t have access to electricity and depend on solar powered lighting. In remoter regions, teahouses don’t have running water and toilets can mean just a hole in the ground. Hot shower facilities are available in the majority of the teahouses for a price and in most of the places, hot shower means a bucket of hot water, barely enough to wash your body. Teahouses - 12 nights (B)

From Phakding the trail follows the river through stands of pine and oak as far as Jorsale, the entrance to Sagarmatha National Park. Here the track starts to rise and rhododendron, magnolia and giant fir trees predominate. You start up the famous Namche Hill, your first big ascent, where you take a slow, steady pace. It is an excellent place to learn to walk from the masters - the porters. Their ability to climb such hills with enormous loads is all technique, and following them allows you to learn the rhythm that makes each ascent seem effortless. At the top you reach Namche Bazaar, a delightful mountain village and the Sherpa ‘capital’. It is also an important trading centre for the local people. You spend a ‘rest and acclimatisation’ day here, allowing you time to sightsee or relax in the sun!

On leaving Namche the mountain views start to open up and become more dramatic as you approach the holy ground of Thyangboche, with its wonderful gompa (monastery), where the rimpoche (lama re-incarnate) resides. This is the traditional site where expeditions to the mountains receive their blessing from the High Lama. From the trekker’s point of view Thyangboche is the place where one of the best mountain panoramas can be viewed: Kwangde, Nuptse, Lhotse, Kangtega,
Ama Dablam and Everest all loom above. The walk up the ridge behind the gompa is definitely worth the effort!

Carrying on from Thyangboche, you pass close to Pangboche whose gompa holds the famous ‘Yeti scalp’. From now on you are really in high
altitude country, where agriculture is only barely possible and the lives of the local Sherpa’s are spartan by any standards. You walk on to Dingboche, a picturesque village just under Ama Dablam. Much of the walking in this area is over comparatively gentle gradients, although you proceed at a leisurely pace because of the altitude. You’ve now reached an altitude of 4100m and it’s time for another acclimatisation day. Dingboche is a ‘summer village’, used by Sherpas with homes lower in the valley to look after their herds in the summer months, and it offers outstanding views.

Then comes Lobuche, often reached by walking past frozen rivers where stone houses sit in an icy wilderness of stunning beauty. There are views of the Khumbu Icefall, Pumori and many smaller peaks from ridge tops on the track. From here you make the tough walk to Everest Base Camp at approximately 5367m. During the spring, the main climbing season, you’re likely to see the encampments of expeditions from all over the world, whose common aim is to make successful ascents of the world’s highest mountain. However, in the autumn this area will be deserted, with the only indication of mountaineering activity being the occasional memorial to lives lost on the mountain. Retracing your steps you’ll descend to spend the night at Gorakshep (5160m).

The next day there’s the opportunity to make the steady climb to the lofty summit of Kala Patar (5545m), the rocky outcrop which towers above Everest Base Camp. Most people who are fit and have acclimatised without problems - generally at least half the group - make this ascent. The views from Kala Patar are breathtaking – far better than Base Camp itself; Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and numerous other peaks are visible. After descending from the peak you continue your descent to Pheriche (4240m), rejoining any members of the group who opted not to climb today. NB: Depending upon prevailing conditions the ascents to Everest Base Camp and Kala Patar may be swapped, i.e. you may climb Kala Patar first, before trekking to Base Camp from Gorakshep.

Finally, the next four days are spent retracing your steps to Lukla. The continuous descent and loss of altitude allow you to do this with surprising ease. Your last evening in this spectacular area is spent in this wonderful village and a party in one of the lodges is not unknown! (Bx11)

NB: See our ‘Walking and Trekking’ leaflet for more information about walking at altitude. Anyone suffering adversely from the effects of altitude will have an assisted descent with a Sherpa guide until they feel more comfortable and wait for the group to rejoin them.

In the early morning you take off from Lukla airstrip for a spectacular mountain flight back to Kathmandu. After being met at the domestic airport terminal and transferred to your hotel, the rest of the day is free to explore this wonderful city; shopping for souvenirs, trying out the various restaurants in Thamel or simply relaxing. Hotel - 2 nights (B)

Today we visit two of the other fascinating landmarks of Kathmandu; the Buddhist stupa sitting on top of the hill at Swoyambhunath and the "City of Living Art" at Patan Durbar Square. The remainder of the day is then left free for you to explore this fascinating city by foot, auto-rickshaw or bicycle. Much of old Kathmandu is centred around the Durbar square. A medieval feel still pervades and there are temples at every turn. The streets all around the central square are full of colour. Market traders spread their wares before them, from vegetables and spices to pans and farming equipment. If time allows, and if you want to visit a picturesque, medieval town, then a short trolley bus ride to Bhaktapur is a must. (B)

NB: This day in Kathmandu may be lost if inclement weather delays your departure from Lukla; however this is unusual.

The trip ends for Land Only clients. Those on group flights transfer to airport and fly home. (B)