It's longer than the regular Everest Base Camp trek, but what you gain in memories and experience in those few extra days, many people will wait a life time for.
From 360° panoramas of snow capped glistening monolithic mountains, to ancient Buddhist monasteries, to vast creaking glaciers and the opportunity to see all sorts of unique and captivating wildlife - this Himalayan trek offers uncountable sights and experiences that you'll never find anywhere else. Learn about the traditional ways of life and culture of the Sherpa mountain people and support the local economy through our rigorously ethical practices.
After what may well be the most beautiful flight of your life, flying within touching distance of enormous mountains and making a hard-to-believe landing at Lukla mountain airport, we get stuck into the trek, setting off to the famous Khumbu Valley. The lush greenery of the terraced farmland and villages around Lukla soon fade away as we weave along the Dudh Koshi river, crossing hair raising high wire suspension bridges and climbing on until we reach the thriving Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar - where there is plenty to do and see as we acclimatise.
Soon we find ourselves face to face with the true geological royalty of the Himalayan ranges. We trek for some days in the shadow of the glorious Mt. Ama Dablam, watching the sun rise and set on the picturesque peak and hanging glacier of the "mother and her necklace". We move onwards cautiously but steadily - our expert guides monitoring the progress of each of us as we acclimatise to the thinner air, lower oxygen level and all new surroundings. We ensure we have enough trekking guides in the team that if you have to slow down to acclimatise, someone will always be with you.
Our local staff are paid a decent living wage, get provided with all the right gear and are always well looked after. We pride ourselves on our ethics.
We break away from the main trail to Everest Base Camp after Namche Bazaar, away from the busier sections and out into the wilderness of the Gokyo Valley. After we pass the first of the stunning Gokyo Lakes we reach Gokyo village where we prepare for an early morning summit of Gokyo Ri. Here we hope to look across the valley and see Mount Everest at sunrise.
From our summit we descend and make a thrilling crossing of the Ngozumpa Glacier ready for our climb of the Cho La pass. The trail to the pass is steep and very challenging, but the views from the ice-laden summit are totally worth it. After crossing the vast open glacial snow fields we descend into the Everest valley for the rest of our trek.
As we get close to Mt Everest and to Everest Base Camp, we find ourselves up close and personal with the Khumbu glacier and a number of 8000m+ peaks that can leave you speechless. After passing the imposing face of Nuptse we make our way to Gorak Shep, where we'll spend the night at a whopping 5170m. Weather permitting, we'll see the sun set on the side of Mount Everest after perhaps our biggest challenge - reachng the summit of Kala Patthar (5545m), before we descend under the glow of the Milky Way.
The next day will be the day it all comes together, as we make an early start from Gorak Shep, to follow the footsteps of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay and take ourselves all the way to Everest Base Camp (5365m).
Max altitude: 5545m / 18,192ft
Trek length: 17 days
Difficulty:
Sleeping: Hotels / Teahouses
