Everest Base Camp Trek in Nepal

We arranged to take a guided trek to Everest Base Camp with Nepal Hiking Team in early October. The schedule included 11 days of trekking in the Himalayas plus three nights in Kathmandu and an extra day available in case of bad weather or other issues. Below is an overview of the highlights of our experience.

Trek Stats

• Distance walked: 80 miles
• Starting elevation: 9,200 feet at Lukla
• Peak elevation: 17,594 feet at Everest Base Camp
• Days spent trekking: 11

Pre-trek Preparation / Gear

Since we had been traveling in SE Asia for a while before starting the trek we did not have a chance to do much physical training before the trek. We brought some things from home but bought most of our trekking gear when we arrived in Kathmandu. We purchased daypacks, fleece pants, gloves, trekking poles, a fleece pullover, rain pants, trekking socks, rain ponchos, hats, and balaclavas. Below is a list of some essential items we brought with us:

• Steripen – Our steripen allowed us to purify tap water throughout the trek, except for the one night we spent at the highest elevation where there was no running water at all so we had to buy three bottles of water there. The steripen allowed us to avoid buying so many plastic bottles of water during the trek and countless more during the rest of our trip.
• Refillable water bottle – obviously needed to compliment the steripen.
• Sleeping bag – our trekking company provided us with awesome warm sleeping bags for the trek which was a lifesaver.
• Pocket soaps – I think I only saw a sink that had soap for hand washing provided once during the entire trek. These little pocket soaps were awesome to keep on hand for hand washing. 
• Travel towel – at the teahouses where we stayed towels were not provided so a quick dry travel towel was essential.
• Comfortable shoes and socks – no explanation needed. 
• Warm Comfy Outfit – it was nice to have something warm and clean to wear in the cold teahouses at night. My evening outfit was fleece pants, a fleece pullover, and fresh socks with sandals. I would have loved to have had some warm comfy slippers to wear as well. 
• Trekking poles – Rob talked me into getting some poles in Kathmandu and I am so glad he did. I could not imagine doing the trek without them.   
• Sun hat – the sun is strong, especially at the higher elevations. Sun protection is a must. Rob brought a nice hat from home and I bought a cheap one in Kathmandu.

Our Guide

We trekked with just the two of us plus a guide from Nepal Hiking Team, the trekking company that arranged everything for our trek, including our lodging, guide, porter, permits, and transportation. Our guide was a soft spoken and kind Nepalese young man named Surya. He led us on the trails and ordered our meals at all the teahouses along the way. He also knew the names and heights of all the mountains on the trek. He checked our oxygen levels as we ascended to make sure we were not getting altitude sickness. A local porter was hired by Nepal Hiking Team to carry our large duffel bags with our sleeping bags and other items we did not carry in our daypacks for the entire trek. We could not have done the trek without our guide and our porter.  

Our Route

We left Kathmandu at about 4:00 am in a shuttle van to make the 5-hour drive to Ramechhap airport on the first day of our trek. We then flew from the Ramechhap airport, which is just a tiny airstrip and a small building and not much else, to the Lukla airport where our trek began. Our small airplane had seating for only 20 passengers or so. The flight and landing were both smooth.

We hiked from Lukla to Everest Base Camp stopping at various towns and teahouses along the way to spend the night. On the way up we went slowly and took acclimatization days when needed to avoid altitude sickness. It took 8 days of trekking up to reach Everest Base Camp and 3 days of trekking to get back down to Lukla. 

Weather

It rained the first day of our trek. After that day, we never saw rain again. It was cloudy a few days and one morning we saw snow flurries at high elevation, but most of the time it was sunny and clear during the day. Mornings and nights were always cold but it would usually warm up quite a bit during the day. We were surprised by how often we were warm enough to wear just a t-shirt while trekking. At the highest elevations it was below freezing at night and still pretty cold during the day but not unpleasant. We were very fortunate to experience the beautiful weather we did. We started on October 3rd, which is the beginning of the busy season. 

The Teahouses

While trekking we stayed at lodges known as teahouses along the way. They always had a restaurant as I suspect they make most of their money from food and beverage sales. The teahouse accommodations are quite basic and not much is provided, so you have to bring your own toilet paper, soap, towel, shampoo, etc. In the teahouses at the lower elevations we had our own bathroom with a shower attached to our room. As we went up in elevation and the conditions outside became harsher, the teahouses became more basic and rustic. There would be communal toilets and sinks outside the room and sometimes a hot shower that you could pay extra to use was available. We paid for a hot shower three times. Once we reached a certain elevation the air became too cold to safely take a shower as the combination of cold air and wet skin/hair could cause you to become sick.

There were no working electrical outlets in most of the rooms so no way to use a hair dryer even if you had one. You could pay a fee to charge your electronic devices most places. None of the teahouses had any heat except for a woodstove in the dining room. That meant the guest rooms, halls, and bathrooms were freezing, especially at night.

In Gorakshep, the highest teahouse at 17,027 feet elevation where we stayed for just one night, it was so cold in our room that the water in my water bottle froze overnight. The Gorakshep teahouse seemed to have no running water and the conditions were pretty rough. The electricity was only turned on for a few hours from about 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. The primitive conditions at the teahouses at the highest elevations and not being able to shower for multiple days in a row was probably the hardest thing about the trek for me. 

The Food

We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at different teahouses throughout the trek and the food was surprisingly good. The meals were basic but usually tasty and nutritious. We ordered whatever we wanted off the menu and there were usually a good many veggie options. The dishes we ate most frequently were Dal Bhat and Sherpa Stew. Dal Bhat is a dish of rice, vegetable curry, lentils, and some greens if you are lucky. They always offer a free second helping when you order Dal Bhat so it is a filling option. Sherpa Stew is a hearty vegetable and noodle soup that I would often eat with some chapati for lunch or dinner. For breakfast we usually had some sort of potatoes cooked with vegetables and ginger lemon tea. It was actually a pretty healthy diet that was mostly whole food plant based, which we loved. We had plenty to eat and rarely needed any of the snacks we brought. All our meals were included in our trekking tour so we did not have to buy much of anything on the trek.      

Trekking

Trekking on the trails was the absolute best part of this whole experience. The beauty of the Himalayas is simply amazing and everywhere we looked there was gorgeous scenery. While on the trail we would pass by porters, yaks, donkeys, horses, and other trekkers.

At lower elevations there were many prayer wheels to spin while chanting “om mani pudme hum.”

We crossed around 10 Bailey Bridges during the trek. On the way up to Everest Base Camp we would go slowly and have shorter trekking times each day to avoid getting altitude sickness. When we would do long steep climbs I actually enjoyed them as we always took a slow, steady pace. I often found myself in a pleasant zen state just focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. On the way up we visited some cool points of interest, including the Everest View Hotel, a Sherpa Museum, the Tengbouche Monastery, and several national parks. 

To get to Base Camp there is a good bit of climbing over big rocks, which was challenging. Since the Khumbu Glacier shifts naturally every year, the trail to Base Camp in Nepal has to be rerouted accordingly each season so it is not always well defined. Going back down the steep elevation changes was much more difficult for me than going up, which surprised me. I struggled with the long steep descents with so many loose rocks on the trail. We also trekked much longer days coming back down from Everest Base Camp since we did not have to worry about altitude sickness while descending. The 8-hour trekking days toward the end were tough.

A couple people we met trekking were taken back down by helicopter due to illness or being too tired to finish. Helicopters buzzed over head pretty regularly throughout the trek. There is no other way to get down except on foot since there are no vehicles above the town of Lukla.

We have never done any serious trekking before so this was a totally new experience for us. It was hard at times but we felt so alive and grateful for the experience while we were out on the trails. We took a break from internet and cell service for the entire trek and it was refreshing to unplug and just appreciate where we were and what we were doing each day. The beauty of the Himalayas is breathtaking and we took so many photos. The Everest Base Camp trek felt like a true adventure more than anything we have done before and we will never forget our time trekking in Nepal.