Overview of our Trek to Everest Base Camp
Overview
Day 1 – September 30th – Lukla à Pakding
Day 2 – October 1st – Pakding à Namche Bazaar
Day 3 – October 2nd – Acclimitization day, Namche Bazaar
Day 4 – October 3rd – Namche Bazaar à Debouche
Day 5 – October 4th – Debouche à Dingbouche
Day 6 – October 5th – Acclimitization Day, Dingbouche
Day 7 – October 6th – Dingbouche à Lebouche
Day 8 – October 7th – Lebouche à Gorak Shep à Everest Base Camp à Gorak Shep
Day 9 – October 8th – Gorak Shep à Kala Patthar à Gorak Shep à Periche
Day 10 – October 9th – Periche à Namche Bazaar
Day 11 – October 10th – Namche Bazaar à Lukla
Day 1 – September 30th
Kathmandu – Lukla (2860m) – Pakding (2650m)
- 8:00am: Scheduled flight from Kathmandu to Lukla
- 2:00pm: Flight delayed 6 hours, so we left the airport at 2:00pm instead of 8:00am
- 2:45pm: After a short 45-minute flight we arrive in Lukla
- 2:45pm: Find a guide, interview him, and plan out the journey
- 3:15pm: Begin our trek from Lukla to Pakding
- 6:30pm: Arrive at Pakding
- 6:30pm: Eat dinner in lodge, plan the next day’s hike
- 8:30pm: Bedtime
Day 2 – October 1st
Pakding – Namche Bazaar (3440m)
- 7:00am: Wake-up
- 7:30am: Breakfast
- 8:00am: Leave
- Morning: Fairly flat path overall with some small hills, crossed back-and-forth on bridges over a large river, cloudy so cannot see mountains
- 10:00am: Arrive at Sagarmatha National Park entrance
- 11:30am: Lunch of fried noodles and fried rice at a small lodge on the riverside
- Afternoon: More strenuous climbing than before – criss-crossing back and forth for several hours up the mountainside while slowly gaining altitude
- 2:00pm: Arrive Namche Bazaar
- Late Afternoon and Evening: Check into lodge, unpack, explore Namche, eat dinner, use internet, go to bakery, go to sleep
Day 3 – October 2nd
Acclimatization day in Namche Bazaar (3800m)
- 5:00am: Wake up in hopes of seeing the sunrise, foggy and cloudy so could not see sunrise, went back to sleep
- 6:30am: Wake-up again, eat breakfast, get ready to do our acclimitization hike
- 7:30am: Leave for hike
- Morning: Difficult steep hike up to a lookout, clouds starting to clear so we caught the first glimpse of the mountains that surround Namche, 1.5 hours of hiking brings us to the top of the hill and a lookout, panoramic view of the mountains, our first glimpse of Everest, take pictures, descend back to Namche to sleep
- Afternoon: Relax, write in journals, write blog entries
- Evening: Dinner, internet, shower (solar panels allow for hot water)
Day 4 – October 3rd
Namche Bazaar – Deboche (3770m)
- 6:30am: Wake-up
- 7:00: Breakfast
- 7:30: Leave
- Morning: Fairly easy hike, great views, could see Everest clearly, passed the Tenzing memorial (Tenzing was the first Sherpa to summit Everest with Edmund Hillary)
- 11:30am: Lunch by the river, fried noodles and pasta
- Afternoon: More strenuous part of the hike, uphill through a forested area, clouds start to roll in obscuring views
- 3:00pm: Arrive in Tengboche, go to monastry to see the monks chant (very famous)
- 3:30pm: Descend 100m down to help acclimitization, sleep in Deboche in Amadablam Garden Resort
- Afternoon and Evening: Unpack, relax, eat dinner (potatoes and soup), talk to our guide, go to bed (no electricity)
Day 5 – October 4th
Deboche – Dingboche (4530m)
- 7:00am: Wake-up
- 7:30am: Breakfast
- 8:15am: Leave
- Morning: Fairly easy hike, good views of Amadablam, can still see Everest but not as well as before, fairly sunny
- 11:30am: Lunch at 4000m – fried rice and soup
- Afternoon: Also fairly easy hike, follow the river still (about 100m above river), path goes through fields and small villages (i.e. a couple huts make up a “village”)
- 3:00pm: Arrive in Dingbouche
- Late Afternoon and Evening: Read, write in journals, dinner, talk to guide about rest of hike and our plan for reaching Base Camp, bed (again no electricity)
Day 6 – October 5th
Acclimitization day in Dingbouche (5100m)
- 7:00am: Wake-up
- 7:30am: Breakfast (try Tibetan bread for the first time!)
- 8:00am: Leave for acclimitization hike
- Morning: Acclimitization hike up a steep hill. Probably the hardest climb. Very steep and low oxygen. Straight up a steep hill, near top it got rocky and we had to climb over big boulders, a lot of people did not have the endurance to make it to the lookout at the top and only made it partway up. We reached the lookout around 10:00am – perfect time since no clouds and no other people there. We spent 30 minutes taking pictures and videos. Best views of the Himalayas yet. 5100m altitude!
- 11:30am: Return to Dingboche and spend the day there
- Rest of Day: Eat, journals, read, buy more chocolate, go to bed (no electricity again)
Day 7 – October 6th
Dingboche – Lobuche (4910m)
- 7:00am: Wake-up
- 7:30am: Breakfast (Tibetan bread and eggs)
- 8:00am: Leave
- Morning: Fairly easy hike for first 2 hours, through the foothills of the mountains, good views, reach Tukla pass, hike became more difficult – 30 minute hike up a steep hill, once passed Tukla hike got more flat and easier again, final 2 hours were fairly easy, following a small creek, can no longer see Everest
- 2:00pm: Arrive in Lobuche
- Afternoon: Eat lunch (noodle soup and fried rice), talk to other tourists (some other Canadians and some Irish people)
- Late Afternoon: Do a small acclimatization hike up nearby hill. On top of hill there were good views of the Khumbu Glacier, Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar (our first view of them was here)
- Evening: Dinner, hang out in common area, early to sleep (8:00pm)
Day 8 – October 7th
Lobuche – Gorak Shep (5164m) – Everest Base Camp (5360m)
- 5:00am: Wake up
- 5:30am: Breakfast
- 6:00am: Leave
- Morning: Foggy, cold, 3-hour climb that was mostly flat with some hills, hiked alongside the Khumbu Glacier
- 9:30am: Arrive at our lodge in Gorak Shep (the last village before Everest Base Camp (EBC)), eat a super early lunch, check-in at 10:00am
- 10:30am: Depart for EBC
- Late Morning/Early Afternoon: 2.5 hour hike to EBC from Gorak Shep, some ups and downs, small path up the left-side of the Khumbu Glacier, arrive old EBC (just prayer flags and small stupas), take photos, continue onward to present-day base camp, takes 30-min to reach the newer EBC, 5360m (2 camps there, empty and desolate overall), take photos, eat snacks, depart for Gorak Shep
- Afternoon/Evening: Arrive back in Gorak Shep, hang out in common area, eat dinner, sleep
Day 9 – October 8th
Gorak Shep – Kala Patthar (5545m) – Periche (4240m)
- 5:00am: Wake-up
- 5:30am: Leave (breakfast upon return)
- Early Morning: Climb to the summit of Kala Patthar (5545m), begin ascent before sunrise – very cold, hard climb due to cold and low O2 levels, reach summit around 8:00am, take photos (good views), descend
- 10:30am – 5:00pm: Breakfast, check-out, start descent. Gorak Shep – Lebouche – Tukla (lunch) – Periche
- 5:00pm: Arrive in Periche (near Dingboche), check-in, read, eat dinner, bed
Day 10 – October 9th
Periche – Namche
- 7:00am: Wake-up
- 7:30am: Breakfast
- 8:15am: Leave
- Morning: Descend quickly, easy climb, pass through Deboche, Tengboche, and then continue down the steep hill to a small lodge for lunch
- Afternoon: Climb back up the over side of the river, one hour of steep uphill climbing, then reach flat area and the rest of the climb was easier, around 2:00pm started to get foggy and rainy
- 3:30pm: Arrive back in Namche Bazaar and stay in same lodge in the same room!
- Late Afternoon/Evening: Relax, dinner, bed
Day 11 – October 10th
Namche Bazaar – Lukla
- 7:30am: Wake-up
- 8:00am: Breakfast
- 8:30am: Leave
- Morning: Descend quickly down the steep hill to the bridge over the river, easy walk along the river-side
- Lunch: In Pakding at the same lodge we slept at the first night
- Afternoon: Descend the final stretch from Pakding to Lukla, ups and downs, medium difficulty, started to rain for the final hour of our descent
- 3:30pm: Arrive in Lukla
- Late Afternoon/Evening: Realize we lost our plane tickets, try to contact agency that sold us ticket with no luck, learn that all flights from Lukla to Kathmandu have been cancelled due to poor weather conditions, return to lodge, eat, sleep
Day 12 – October 11th
Lukla
- 8:00am: Wake-up
- Morning: Try to sort out our plane tickets with no luck, read, relax and eat
- Afternoon: Head to Starbucks J for coffee, cake and free internet
- 4:00pm: The Agni Airline “office” in Lukla is only open for one hour each day, so we head there and try to get a new plane ticket issued, no luck again, all flights still cancelled and people are getting angry because they cannot leave Lukla
- 5:00pm: dinner, shower (our friend had a shower in his room that we could use for free J), and spend the night with friends in Lukla (Brad from Rhode Island, and a French-Canadian/Afghan couple from San Fransisco)
Day 13 – October 12th
Lukla
- 8:00am: wake-up
- Morning: final attempt at getting a new flight ticket, no luck still, head to office in airport to talk to Agni Airline manager, flights had finally started to arrive and take off after 4 days of being cancelled, we saw a plane crash into the brick wall at the end of the airport when it landed! (everyone was okay though), no luck getting a ticket, so we had to buy a new one L
- 2:30pm: Left on a flight – Lukla to Kathmandu
- Late afternoon/evening: return to Tibet Peace Guest House, checked into same room, unpacked, went out for dinner
Thus, we finally got off the mountain and our trek was officially complete J
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