Everest Anniversary Trek

After clearing customs in Kathmandu, you will be met by a JOURNEYS staff member and transferred to your hotel. Enjoy time to relax or explore the colorful surrounding neighborhood. Your guide will brief you on bargaining, choosing restaurants, and a few words of the Nepali language to help you get around.

Meals: None
Lodging: International Guesthouse (or similar)

Today, visit Pasupatinath and Boudhanath, two of Kathmandu's most famous temples. Then, wander the winding streets and alleys and experience the buzzing and bustling life of the city. From the plentiful tiger balm sellers to the humble rickshaws to the noisy markets, there is much to see in this urban heart of Nepal. Of course, the mountainous hillside in the distance offers a glimpse of what's to come tomorrow...

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: International Guesthouse (or similar)

Fly to Lukla, where you will immediately find yourself in awe of your mountainous surroundings. At an elevation of 9,000', Lukla offers the first taste of your remote Himalayan adventure. Acclimatize with a five-hour hike up the deep valley of the Dudh Khosi (translates to "milky river" and refers to a river formed from glaciers), and admire the many colorful prayer flags and metal prayer wheels that decorate the trail.  

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Chumoa Guesthouse

Embark on a four-hour hike, entering Sagarmatha National Park at Jorsale and climbing out of the quiet pine forest. In favorable weather conditions, you may have your first Everest spotting this morning. Your guide will help you differentiate between Everest and other tall peaks. Later in your hike, you'll reach a battle site where the Tibetans and the Nepalese fought hundreds of years ago. Finally, arrive in Namche Bazaar (11,300'), the main trading center for the Sherpa communities of the Khumbu region. Here you will be welcomed into the home of a Sherpa family that will be your home base in which to rest or from which to explore the hillside town.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Sherpa Guesthouse

Today is the prep day for the Haat Bazaar, a market featuring Tibetan, Chinese, and Nepalese articles for sale. Watch locals set up the market, then wander the town and try traditional Sherpa food, barter for Tibetan artifacts, visit the National Park visitor center, observe the daily rituals of Sherpa life, or venture further up the mountain on a hike to the famous "Everest View Hotel." 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Sherpa Guesthouse

After watching it come to life the day before, walk through the bustling and highly anticipated Haat Bazaar. This market provides wonderful photo opportunities, as well as cultural exchanges with locals. It also gives you time to pick up some souvenirs to take home if you wish.

Afterward, say goodbye (for now) to Namche and start on a five-hour hike to Tengboche Monastery. Throughout your trek, keep an eye out for impeyan pheasant (the national bird), eagles, musk deer, Himalayan tahr, goat antelope, and of course, don't forget to pay attention to the majestic peaks that surround you. Upon reaching the monastery, you will have a chance to see the interior and possibly meet with the head Lama. Stay the night at a nearby teahouse, or possibly at the monastery itself.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Tengboche Monastery or Guesthouse

Continue with another five-hour trek towards Everest. On the way, stop at the nunnery at Deboche, the sister community to Tengboche and the oldest and most remote religious community for Buddhist women in the Khumbu region. Then cross the Dudh Khosi ("milky river") again and stop for lunch at Pangboche (13,074'). Spend the afternoon trekking to Dingboche, a tiny community of 200 that nonetheless boasts an internet cafe! (We don't make any promises about the viability of the connection.)

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Dingboche Guesthouse

Use today as an acclimatization day before the final ascent to your highest point at Base Camp or Kalapathar. You have your choice of an optional full-day trip up the Chukhung Valley or a more leisurely day exploring at your own pace. If you take the hike, head up Chukhung Valley to the bottom of the Lhotse glaciers, then make your way up Chukhung Glacier toward Island Peak for a spectacular panorama. If you stay in town, you will nonetheless be surrounded by stunning scenery.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Dingboche Guesthouse

Depart Dingboche and cross above Pheriche to enter the upper Khumbu valley on today's hike. Pass through Thuklha, a small hamlet and mountain pass. Thuklha is located at an altitude of over 15000' and boasts a few small huts making it one of the highest settlements in the world, athough it's not really inhabited year round. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Lobuche Guesthouse

Rise early to begin your walk to Kalapathar (18,800'). Following the buried Khumbu Glacier for a way, cross a patch of jumbled scree and descend into a sandy hollow that shelters Gorak Shep (17,000'). From here, climb the challenging, steep, and tiring path to Kalapathar. Everest Base Camp can be reached by continuing along the Khumbu Glacier, although Everest itself is not visible from Base Camp and most travelers opt to climb Kalapathar instead. Regardless, we suggest you don't make it a goal to reach either destination, as your body is still acclimatizing from hiking approximately 10 hours that day. Your guide will advise you on what you should or shouldn't attempt. Keep in mind that interesting sights and activities abound the entire trekking route and are actually more numerous at lower elevations. Outstanding mountain views are available at all points above Namche. Return to camp at Lobuche.

Note: We are always prepared to accommodate individuals at lower elevations if they do not feel, for any reason, capable of ascending to the highest planned point on the itinerary.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Lobuche Guesthouse

Begin descending with a seven-hour hike today. You will return somewhat more quickly than you ascended. Camp for the night at Pangboche (13,000'). The monastery here is the oldest in the region, and you are free to visit and hike around this charming mountain town.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Pangboche Guesthouse

From Pangboche, take an alternate route for your three-hour return. Climb above a gorge along narrow yak trails to Phortse (13,000'). This route is fabulous for seeing musk deer, the HImalayan Tahr, and other wildlife. Stop for lunch near Phortse, then enjoy the nearby stream and forest this afternoon.  

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Phortse Guesthouse

Your six-hour hike today takes you through "Tolkienesque" terrain. Climb a stone stairway and descend through a cavernous chimney reaching the Sherpa communities of Kunde and Khumjung. We may visit the Hillary School and hospital here. Later, make your way to Namche Bazaar and spend the night again with your Sherpa host family.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Sherpa Guesthouse

Spend some time exploring Namche before departing for Lukla. This trek is fairly easy. The rest of your day is free to enjoy to Lukla. Stay at a hotel near the airstrip.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Lodging: Lukla Guesthouse

Catch a flight to Kathmandu, soaring over the ridges of the Solu. Your afternoon is free in Kathmandu.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: International Guesthouse (or similar)

If you are delayed in Khumbu by flight cancellation, this is a contingency day. Otherwise, it's an open day for shopping and seeing the things that just didn't fit in your schedule on arrival in Nepal. If you wish, you may extend your stay in Nepal to include white-water rafting or a peaceful stay on the rim of the Kathmandu Valley at Dhulikhel.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: International Guesthouse (or similar)

Transfer to the airport for your onward flight, or continue on with further adventures in Nepal.

Meals: Breakfast
Lodging: None