Everest Base Camp Trek - 15 Days

When you arrive at TIA, you will find our representative holding a pamphlet with your name. As a welcome gesture, our representative will present you with a garland and then take you to your hotel in a private vehicle.  However, for this service, you must share your flight details with us. We provide this service to ensure you do not feel alone in a foreign country or face navigation difficulties.

Trek Briefing

We conduct online trek briefing, using online tools (mostly WhatsApp) to provide you with essential information about your trek before you travel to Nepal. During this session, we'll check your luggage to ensure you have all the necessary clothing, gear, and equipment.

Trek start

You will arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu by three pm, at least one day before the trek departure day. Arriving early provides you with enough time for last-minute preparations. It will also provide us time for a short in-person meeting. On the trek departure date, you will take a bus from Kathmandu and reach Phaplu along the BP Highway.

 

Accommodation

This package covers fourteen nights at the trek regions at the best tea houses/hotels/lodges. At Phakding (2N) and Namche (3N), you will stay in rooms with attached bathrooms for five nights. You will stay in standard rooms for nine days at Phaplu, Paiya, Deboche, Dingboche (2N), Lobuche, Gorak Shep, Pheriche, and Lukla.

Tea houses on the trek are fairly basic but perfectly comfortable and lovely, with spacious lounge dining rooms, usually decorated with colorful traditional rugs and wood. The bedrooms are on a twin-sharing basis- beds with mattresses, blankets, and pillows. Most of these tea houses provide hot shower facilities for an extra expense.

You will need at least one night of accommodation at Kathmandu before starting the trek and one after the hike ends. However, this package doesn’t cover these costs. Kathmandu has all kinds of hotels to suit your tastes and pocket. 

You can enjoy hot showers and Wi-Fi at lodges/tea houses, but you may have to pay a small fee.

 

Meals

Your trek takes you to high elevations around Everest, so your body requires enough carbohydrates, proteins, and other nutrients. We will provide you with plenty of convenient, hygienic, and nutrient-rich food, but you will not have all the options you get in big cities. The staple food for Nepalis is Dal (lentils), Bhat (rice), and Tarkari (Curry) and we advise you to at least try it. Similarly, Momos (dumplings) and Chow mein (a type of noodles) are quite famous cuisine in Nepal.

We will provide you full-board (main course) meals in the trek region, including 15 breakfasts, 14 lunches, and 14 dinners.

We only select the best hotels/lodges/restaurants to ensure that the food is fresh, tasty, hygienic, and nutritious. These eateries provide local, Asian, or popular Western food. However, as you get to higher elevations, your food choices get fewer, and food also gets more expensive.

During the trek, we recommend you take plenty of liquids- hot lemon, green tea, lemon tea, ginger tea, garlic soup(must), and fresh vegetables - at high altitudes. Though you will get plenty of non-veg choices, we do not recommend them because the meat may not be hygienic. 

We also highly encourage you to avoid dairy, alcohol, caffeinated items, and hot chocolates, as experts suggest avoiding these items during high-elevation treks.

All personal bills (alcoholic drinks, hot, tea/coffee, and cold drinks) in tea houses/lodges or cafes except standard meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner with seasonal fruits) are excluded from the package.

Luggage

We assign porters to carry your luggage, but per trekker luggage weight limit is 9 kg. One porter will carry two trekkers' luggage, thus a maximum load of 18 kg. We advise you to partner with a fellow trekker and pack two trekkers' luggage in a duffle bag of over 60 liters capacity.

We also expect you to bring a regular backpack to keep your valuables and essential items safe. You can leave your excess luggage at your hotel or the Discovery World Trekking store for free. We advise you to bring only the essentials to the trek.

 

Typical day

Each trekking day will reward you with a unique experience, providing time to enjoy the scenery, take photos, explore the local village, and try their cuisine. Our porters will carry most of your luggage, but we expect you to bring a small backpack for your valuables and essential items. 

The day starts with an early morning cup of tea/coffee. Then, after breakfast, it is time for you to begin the trek. The trek starts anywhere between 7 to 8 am, depending on the trail length and conditions. We will serve you lunch around midday, often en route to the destination. You will rest for about an hour after lunch and then continue forward.

The afternoon trek will generally be shorter, lasting for two or three hours. After reaching the destination for the day, you can snack on your extra dietary snacks and explore the nearby places until it gets dark. 

Dinner will be ready by 6 to 7 pm. After dinner, your guide will brief you about the plans for the next day. Then, you can engage in friendly conversations with fellow travelers, play games like cards, monopoly, or chess, watch mountaineering videos if possible, read books, or learn light and fun Nepali words from our crew before heading to bed.

Electricity and water

All lodges on the way to Everest Base Camp have electricity and you can use it to charge your electronic devices by paying a small fee. Similarly, you can easily buy bottled drinking water from en-route shops, but some trek regions will not allow plastic bottles. So, we recommend you carry a water bottle and buy boiled water from lodges/ tea houses. We also advise you to use water purification pills. If you do not have them, we can provide them for you. 

We suggest you not drink water from taps, wells, and rivers in trek regions as the water may not be potable.

Communication

During Everest Base Camp Trekking via road, you can access internet at most lodges you will be staying in by paying a small service fee. You can remain in contact with your friends and family from there. You can buy a local sim in Kathmandu, but the signals may not be strong enough at high elevations. Discovery World Trekking remains in contact with all its trek teams at least once a day via the trek guide to ensure that the trek is progressing as planned and everyone is comfortable.

Tipping

Most importantly, tipping is at the traveler's discretion and should reflect the service quality, trek length, and cost. Nepali culture accepts tipping and views it as a validation of the quality of service provided. We recommend you tip collectively, as a group, at the end of the trek. Tips do not form part of wages for guides or porters.

Trek End

Except for rare weather-related exceptions, on the fifteenth day, we will arrange an early morning flight from Lukla to Kathmandu, followed by transportation to your hotel. You can spend the rest of the day as you please. In the evening, we'll host a delightful farewell dinner in Kathmandu, creating a memorable conclusion to your trekking experience.

 

Feedback

After completing the trek, Discovery World Trekking will organize a farewell dinner in Kathmandu. After dinner, we will present you with a trek accomplishment certificate (hard copy), and it is also a great time for you to give us feedback so that we can better organize treks in the future.

Useful Info

We recommend adding a few extra days to your itinerary as a safety margin, so you will not miss your flight back home. Lukla Airport is very busy, and there are chances of flights from Lukla to Kathmandu getting delayed or postponed. We might have to re-schedule flights. So, it is wise to add 2 extra days as a cushion. In case of flight cancelations, we might be able to arrange a helicopter, but it might cost USD 500 to 1,000 per person. If the trek goes smoothly, we can arrange fun activities for you during the extra days.

 

Trip extension

After completing your Everest Base Camp trek, if you have a few more days to spend in Nepal, we can organize more exciting activities for you, such as sightseeing in and around Kathmandu Valley, Chitwan jungle safari, rafting, canoeing, or even another trek.

Departure

When you depart for your country from Tribhuvan International Airport, we will transfer you to the airport in a private vehicle. We hope you will be back in Nepal for some more treks.

 

The weather has the potential and influences EBC treks heavily. Though you can get weather forecasts, they are not very reliable. However, the EBC treks are easier and allow clear views during the spring (Feb-June) and autumn (Sept-November) seasons. Generally, during these seasons, the sky is crystal clear from dusk to dawn, allowing you to enjoy spectacular views.

Spring (Feb to June) is one of the best seasons to trek to EBC. As the monsoon slowly recedes, perfect trekking weather opens, and most trekkers head to EBC during this time. At the high trek elevations, the temperature reaches up to 20 degrees in the daytime and falls to 5 degrees at night. If you want to catch incredible views, this season is perfect.

During the rainy season (June - September), due to rain, there are chances that the road to Thame Danda may not allow free traffic flow, making it very difficult to reach the trek region. Similarly, flights from Lukla to Kathmandu may get canceled often. However, trekkers also trek to EBC during rainy seasons. 

During autumn (Sep-Nov), the weather gets cooler, the rainfall stops, and another trek season begins. The trek environment gets festive as Dashain and Tihar fall during this season. However, it starts snowing at high altitudes in the last week of November.

The winter season in Nepal starts in December and lasts till February. During this time, the weather gets frigid, and it snows in trek regions. Heavy snow is a concern for most trekkers. However, if you are determined to trek to EBC during winter, we can organize the trek. If you are allergic to colds, you should not trek to EBC in winter.

Visa

All foreigners, except Indians, need a visa to enter Nepal. However, citizens from most countries get an on-arrival visa at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu or other immigration checkpoints along Nepal-India and Nepal-Tibet borders.

For a visa application, you need a passport with at least six months of validity, a passport-size photo, and visa fees. The current visa fee for a 30-day stay is USD 50. You can pay this amount in cash. 

Children under the age of 10 get free visas. Nepal government can change visa rules without prior notice, so check the https://www.immigration.gov.np/  website for the latest information.

Citizens of China and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) get free visas.

Nationals from certain countries are not entitled to get an on-arrival visa. So if you are from Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Cameroon, Somalia, Liberia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan, you must contact your nearest embassy to get a visa.

 

Travel Insurance 

Trekking to Everest Base Camp via road requires proper planning, as this high mountainous trek is not for a causal visit and comes with inherent risks, such as high altitude sickness, landslides, bad weather, etc. Hence travel insurance is compulsory for this trek. Your insurance must cover high-altitude helicopter rescue up to 5,500m, in addition to the treatment cost. You must provide your insurance policy to us before starting the trek.

If you need, we can recommend insurance companies as per our previous clients’ experiences, but we do not sell insurance policies in any form. We expect you to send your insurance policy within a week of booking the trek. In emergencies, we will use your insurance policy and other informational documents to arrange a quick rescue and transfer you to health facilities. 

Currency Exchange

1 USD = ~NPR. 130
You can exchange major currencies in Kathmandu in banks, cooperatives, or legal money exchanges in Kathmandu and all over Thamel. Despite the security advantage of a traveler’s cheque, we recommend cash exchange to avoid lengthy processes and high bank commissions. You can easily exchange cash from legal money exchanges, which display their ongoing exchange rates.  

You can also withdraw money in Nepali Rupees from one of many ATMs in Kathmandu. Most of these ATMs are open 24/7. However, your limit is Rs.35,000 for a Rs 500 fee. Trek regions only honor Nepali currency, so make sure you exchange your money in Kathmandu. 

 

Extra personal expenses

This package includes most costs during the trip. However, it does not cover all the costs, so you need to bring spending money to cover several expenses. You will need money for meals and accommodation in Kathmandu, travel insurance purchases, visa fees, hot (tea/coffee), cold and alcoholic drinks, extra dietary foods, souvenirs, tips, hot showers, etc. We estimate you might need USD 10 to 20 per trekking day for various expenses.

Trek difficulty 

Everest Base Camp is a challenging but equally rewarding trek. However, the fitter you are, the more you will enjoy the trip. Therefore, we advise you to build stamina a few weeks before the trek. You can jog, run, swim, or even go for a long hike with a small backpack. 

New trekkers, who are normally fit, can complete this trek. If you have trekked in the past, it can be useful, but not required. You just need to be prepared to hike at a decent pace for 4-6 hours on a path that can involve tackling steep slopes.

If you have serious pre-existing medical conditions, such as blood, lung, or heart diseases, please consult your physician before booking the trek.

Trek safety 

We guarantee client safety, and we take client safety seriously. First, our itinerary is designed to keep you safe. We have set apart acclimatization days as required. Our crew members carry oximeters to measure your blood oxygen saturation levels.

Further, we carry standard equipment/gear for the trek. Our trek leaders are first-aid trained.

Altitude Sickness, also known as Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), is common at high altitudes. Though it can't be entirely prevented, you can significantly lower the risk. Here are some ways.

• Ascend gradually at your own pace.
• Acclimatize properly
• Stay well-hydrated.
• Eat light and nutritious meals.
• Avoid alcohol and tobacco.

Pay attention to your body. If you experience symptoms like headache, nausea, or dizziness, inform your guide immediately.

If someone in the trek group falls ill, the team leader will assess the situation and decide whether to descend or continue the trek. We will also trek together for group safety.

 

DWT team

During the trek, our local, trained, and government-licensed guides/Sherpas will accompany you to make your journey joyful and memorable. We will assign porters to carry your luggage, but your luggage weight limit is 9 kg.

Our crew members come from the high remote Himalayas, so they have tremendous endurance at high attitudes. Each member of our employees is precious to us. We pay them well and pay for their food, lodging, and insurance while trekking. They also receive medical care when ill or injured. We try hard to keep our employees happy, as we believe, only a happy person can keep others happy. For us, like our clients, our employees are also members of our global family. 

Our trek guides are 

• Intensive wilderness first aid trained
• Government-authorized trek guides
• Fluent in speaking English and other languages such as Japanese and Spanish
• Conservation and biodiversity trained
• Experienced in rock climbing

 

Trek booking

Discovery World Trekking is a government-registered, licensed, and bonded trek and tour operator in Nepal, in service for over a decade. We are also members of the Trekking Agency Association of Nepal (TAAN) and the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). Therefore, you can book Discovery World Trekking trips with confidence. 

We require 10 percent of payment in advance as booking confirmation. You can pay using a bank transfer, Western Union, or online through our site. Please send your necessary documents like passport copy, passport size photos, travel insurance policy, and arrival and departure flight details within a week of trek booking. Flights to and from Lukla are limited, and the Lukla Airport is very busy, so we need to book flights in advance.

You can pay the remaining trip cost in cash, by bank transfer, Wise, or using credit cards after you arrive in Kathmandu. We will also email you available modes of payment.

 

Last-minute booking

It is always better to book treks in advance so that we can have enough time to prepare. However, we offer a last-minute trek booking provision for those who do not book early. In case of last-minute booking, you must complete 100% of the trek cost payment at least 24 hours before the trip departure date. We are always ready to operate treks at any time. However, in case of last-minute booking, you cannot hold us responsible for delays due to circumstances beyond our control, such as bad weather, landslides, or accommodation unavailability.  

For more information, contact us at 977- 9840055491 (Paul) or email [email protected] for a last-minute booking.

Group private treks

We organize private treks. You will be eligible for a discount based on your group size. We do not add anyone to your trek. We can handle all group sizes and add an assistant guide for a group with 12 members or more.

 

Ecotourism

We understand the importance of ecology and try our best not to disturb ecology in trek regions. We aim to leave only the footprints behind. Further, we partner with the Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP) to ensure our treks are environment-friendly. 

 

Notes

This Everest Base Camp Trek includes fixed departure dates from Kathmandu, but if it is inconvenient for you, let us know, and we can organize your trek at your convenience. There is a rare chance that we might need to alter the itinerary because of circumstances beyond our control, such as unstable weather, landslides, unavailability of lodges, unforeseen governmental decrees, etc.

Although it is improbable that changes in the original itinerary occurs, you cannot hold us responsible for delays or situations that might arise due to delays.

If there is a need for an itinerary adjustment or a need to redirect to other trails and areas, the lead guide will ultimately decide on the best rerouting. They will consult with the group members while keeping in mind the interests of all trek group members.

We look forward to guiding you to Everest Base Camp through some of the most dazzling landscapes on earth.