Everest Base Camp with Island Peak Climbing

We will take a 30min flight to Lukla early in the morning, in which you will get the first glimpse of the mountains. Porters will be introduced at the airport. Then, after breakfast, we will trek towards Phakding through the Dudh Kosi Valley crossing few local style suspension bridges. You will admire the mountains and the green valley, colorful prayer flags and stacks of Mani stones on the way. After this 2-3 hour trek, you will have the rest of the day to explore the village in Phakding.

We will head towards Namche Bazzar. After a short leisurely hike across several suspension bridges, we will climb up to the Sagarmatha National Park entrance, where they will check permits. Then we will climb for 2-3 hours to Namche. There will be two viewing spots where you will get your first look at the Mount Everest.

‘Climb high, sleep low’ is the motto to avoid Acute Mountain Sickness. Most of the trekkers show the first sign of AMS in or near Namche. Therefore, the day will be spent hiking up and coming back for the night to acclimatize. You will first ascend to Syangboche airstrip and then to Khunde Village passing several Chortens. In a monastery lies the purported Yeti Scalp. Climbing up further to Everest View Hotel, you will enjoy a 360 degree view of the amazing peaks including Mount Everest. Then, we will go back to Namche Bazzar.

Let’s go for an up and down path to Tengboche with an excellent view of peaks like Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Nuptse and Kwangde.We will pass the village of Sanasa and then the trail will be dropping down towards Phunki Thanga and climbing up sharply to Tengboche.The climb will pass through the forest of rhododendron, pine, fir, magnolia and birch that starts to thin out as the famous Tengboche monastery comes to view. The area is a cluster of few lodges, a bakery and the monastery. This is the best place for panoramic view of the peaks named earlier.

An easy descent through rhododendron forest and across a bridge over Imja Khola to Pangboche. The route will continue to Pheriche, for a 3-4 hour trek in total. There is a rudimentary hospital run by Himalayan Rescue Association in Pheriche. It only opens in peak seasons (March-May and November-December). We will spend the night in Pheriche.

A 800m climb will take us to Nagarjun peak at 5000m altitude. You will enjoy some good views of the mountains including Mt. Makalu 5th highest mountain in the world. This hike usually helps with acclimatization. There are chances to see snow leopard on this 3-4 hour hike. Once you arrive there, you will admire the view from the top and descend down to Pherice.

The gradual climb to Lobuche will be pleasant as we will get closer and closer to the snow clad giants. After a 45-60min hike, we will reach Thukla. There, we will make a stop for food and continue up to a flat area where several memorials dedicated to the climbers who died on Everest are erected. Then, we will climb out of the valley and descend to the yak pastures at Lobuche.

We will pack light for a 2-2.5 hour trek to Gorakshep composed of both easy and hard parts. The path winds between boulders and will be rocky and slippery, but then you will be surrounded by huge mountains. You will see the highest glacier (Khumbu) along the way. After reaching Gorakshep, we will check into a lodge, eat something and head to EBC. Another 1-2 hour hike along Khumbu glacier will bring us to the base camp. The yellow tents of the climbers will become visible as we will reach EBC. Then, you might look around, take pictures, wright you name on boulders before heading back to Gorakshep.

You will notice when up in the Base Camp that the Everest is not completely visible. From Gorak Shep, we will walk down, up and up again to Kalapathar. We will climb up to Kalapather either sunrise or sunset time. It will take 1.5 to 2 hours. You will have the best view of Mount Everest, Nuptse and Changtse with a little of Lhotse from here. Then we will return to Gorakshep for food and descend to Dingboche.

From Dingboche to Chukkung, the trek will be about 2 hour long and easy. Chukkung is a beautiful valley nestled between mountains like Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Imja Tse etc. You will appreciate a really good and close view of these mountains and their glaciers. The river Imja Khola runs past the Chukkung village where we will be lodging.

After breakfast, we will trek towards south, turn east and enter the main valley. We will walk along the stream and pass Imja and Lhotse glacier moraine before reaching the valley where we will camp in tents. From the camp you will see the southwestern face of the Imja Tse (Island Peak).

We will walk toward the summit aroung 01:00 to 02:00am. It will take about 2 hours to reach the High camp, then we will climb the rock gully. We will follow a ridge-line to the summit glacier and climb up a steep snow slope to reach the summit. There, you will get an excellent view of the mountains. After spending some time htere, we will go back to high camp to base camp and all the way back to Chhukung.

Just in case of bad weather or any health problem, we will use this day on the base camp or further down on the trail. Whenever you may needed this buffer day, you will be able to use it.

From Chhukung, we will walk down towards Pangboche and take the same trail we took up to descend and then climb up again to reach Tengbochhe. After this 4-5 hour trek, we will spend the night in Tengboche.

We will walk for 6 to 7 hours, retracing our steps back to Namche Bazzar.

We will go for a 6 to 7 hour walk back to Lukla, where we will spend the night. This will be your last day in the mountains so it will be a good time to relax, enjoy and celebrate your success.

On this final day, we will take an early flight back to Kathmandu. Sitting on the right side of the plane, you will be able to take a last look at the mountains. We will say farewell once we arrive in Kathmandu. May you enjoy the rest of your stay in Nepal !