Oryx80
Active member
If you like trekking, adventure, heavy breathing, have 3 weeks of vacations and some thousands to spend this thread might interest you....
First off let just say its cheaper than most think, the biggest cost is for air transports, you have to flight to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, which is a long fucking way. Most people use Qatar airways, which stop at Doha, China southern which stop at Guangzhou or Turkish airlines which stop at Istanbul. I highly suggest Turkish since most layover are over 8h and Istanbul is a city worth visiting, you can get a visa for 50$ rapidly on internet. Plus, the service was A1, foods on the planes good and they even pay the hotel if you have an overnight layover like we had. I dont care much about that most of the time but when you spend over 30h in airplanes/connexions, both way, its a nice thing. We talk between 1500$-2000$. I wont add much but we had a really good time in our stay in Turkey!
Secondo, you can do this trip year around, but most people go pre monsoon (March to May), or post monsoon (october and november). Winter is way too cold and the summers are cloudy and rainy (so you dont see shit). April is the most popular month because of the flowering and the fact that the base camp is really active since its the start of the climbing season, but IMO, its waaayyy too crowded, so I highly suggest you go in march like we did.
Before going any further you have to decide if you want to solo it, or doing it with an agency. Agency will make thing easier, they will book your second flight to Lukla, give you have a guide, and porters. You will most likely be match with a group of other people if you do so. You can find many agency in Quebec and a shit tons of em in Kathmandu. I'm not quite sure about the price but I guess you can add 1k to the final bill. Me and my friend did it without agency and we're glad we did, but make sure you are properly fit for the task if you do so. The biggest difference is that no one will carry your stuff for you, so it mean you have 30 to 50 more pounds of gears on your back to carry, for close to 150 km in high altitude (up to 18500+ fts). If you go with a group you dont have to be that fit to make it, we have seen very average people of all age do it, not to say its easy like sipping a drink on the beach, far from it, but its manageable. In our case we have lots of trekking experiences and big egos to fill up, so we did it whitout any help. The biggest risk up there is AMS (acute mountain sickess), which is a real bitch. You should do your homework beforehand. Choppers were rescuing sick peoples daily on our way.
Kathmandou to Lukla
Airport is shit, take my word for it. The city itself is really nice but I suggest you take 2 to 3 days off on your way back to properly visit the place and relax from your trek, not before it. At this point you have you should have your flight to Lukla already booked for the day after via a local agency (about 500$ for the roundtrip). You will find a lot of em in Thamel, the more touristic district of the town (which you should DEFINITIVELY go, hotel is about 15 to 40$, nightlife is real good, restaurants and markets, lots of shemale in the street grabbing your dick if your into that). As for Lukla, the weather is really unpredictable so their is no fixed flight times, but on good weather days, up to 10 flights daily. Dont try to book your flight online, talk to someone from an agency and make sure you have the earliest flight of the day (for weather reasons). The flight is rated as one of the most dangerous on earth since Lukla airport is a fucking inclined, seriously short, on a sketchy mountain flank, strip with a cliff at the end of it, sitting at 2800m in the clouds. Its a short flight of about 30 min, but an experience on its own.
The last good burger you will enjoy for a while, in Lukla
Here is a copy pasta of a common itinary (similar to what we did)
Day 01: Transfer to airport for Kathmandu / Lukla flight. Arrive Lukla and start trek to Phakding. (From Kathmandu 45 minute to fly for Lukla (2840m), trek to Phakding (2610m) approx 4 hrs walk.
Day 02: Trek Phakding / Namche Bazaar (3440 m.) approx 5 hrs walk.
Day 03: Rest at Namche Bazaar or walk before breakfast to army camp to enjoy view of Mt. Everest from distance. Back to Namche for breakfast. Afternoon, it is good to go Syangboche (3720 m) or walk down to Khumjung Village (3780 m) for lunch. After having nice lunch back to Namche for rest. This best way to enjoy with your rest day.
Day 04: Trek Namche Bazaar / Tyangboche (3860 m.) approx. 4 hrs walk
Day 05: Trek Tyangboche / Dingboche (4410 m.) approx. 5 hrs walk
Day 06: Rest at Dingboche or short hike about 5 hours round-trip to Chhkuhung (4730 m). From Chhkuhung you can have a nice view of Lhotse and other important peaks.
Day 07: Trek Dingboche / Lobuche (4910 m.) approx. 5 hrs walk
Day 08: Trek Lobuche / Everest Base Camp (5364 m) / Gorakshep (5140 m.) approx 8 hrs walk.
Day 09: Trek Gorakshep / Kalapather (5545 m.) / Pheriche (4240m) approx 7 hrs walk.
Day 10: Trek Pheriche / Phortse (3810 m) approx 5 hrs walk.
Day 11: Trek Phortse / Namche (3440 m) approx 5 hrs walk.
Day 12: Trek Namche / Phakding (2610 m) approx 5 hrs walk
Day 13: Trek Phakding / Lukla (2840 m). approx 4 hrs walk.
Day 14: Fly back to Kathmandu. Arrive Kathmandu and transfer to Hotel
What you will find in most villages are tea houses (place to sleep and eat). Expect to pay between 200rs and up to 1000rs for a night (3$ to 15$), about the same for a meal. Namche is the biggest village so you can find some more costly and luxurious place to sleep. The higher you go, the more you will pay for food and water and the less commodity you will have. (let say for a 1L bottle of water, 40rs in lukla up to 400rs at the base camp... so big difference). Solar panel electricity so expect to pay of cell phone recharge, no filtered water. You can have internet via Everest link (200mbs for about 10$ can). Small solar panel, filtering kit and local SIMS pre paid cards are your best friends. Tea houses will provides blankets, but a sleeping bag is a necessity. A blanket wont cut when its -20c at night in your room lol. Well I wont go too far into the details since their is just so much to say about preparations and shit, ill just throw the pictures... ask if questions
Namche
First off let just say its cheaper than most think, the biggest cost is for air transports, you have to flight to Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, which is a long fucking way. Most people use Qatar airways, which stop at Doha, China southern which stop at Guangzhou or Turkish airlines which stop at Istanbul. I highly suggest Turkish since most layover are over 8h and Istanbul is a city worth visiting, you can get a visa for 50$ rapidly on internet. Plus, the service was A1, foods on the planes good and they even pay the hotel if you have an overnight layover like we had. I dont care much about that most of the time but when you spend over 30h in airplanes/connexions, both way, its a nice thing. We talk between 1500$-2000$. I wont add much but we had a really good time in our stay in Turkey!
Secondo, you can do this trip year around, but most people go pre monsoon (March to May), or post monsoon (october and november). Winter is way too cold and the summers are cloudy and rainy (so you dont see shit). April is the most popular month because of the flowering and the fact that the base camp is really active since its the start of the climbing season, but IMO, its waaayyy too crowded, so I highly suggest you go in march like we did.
Before going any further you have to decide if you want to solo it, or doing it with an agency. Agency will make thing easier, they will book your second flight to Lukla, give you have a guide, and porters. You will most likely be match with a group of other people if you do so. You can find many agency in Quebec and a shit tons of em in Kathmandu. I'm not quite sure about the price but I guess you can add 1k to the final bill. Me and my friend did it without agency and we're glad we did, but make sure you are properly fit for the task if you do so. The biggest difference is that no one will carry your stuff for you, so it mean you have 30 to 50 more pounds of gears on your back to carry, for close to 150 km in high altitude (up to 18500+ fts). If you go with a group you dont have to be that fit to make it, we have seen very average people of all age do it, not to say its easy like sipping a drink on the beach, far from it, but its manageable. In our case we have lots of trekking experiences and big egos to fill up, so we did it whitout any help. The biggest risk up there is AMS (acute mountain sickess), which is a real bitch. You should do your homework beforehand. Choppers were rescuing sick peoples daily on our way.
Kathmandou to Lukla
Airport is shit, take my word for it. The city itself is really nice but I suggest you take 2 to 3 days off on your way back to properly visit the place and relax from your trek, not before it. At this point you have you should have your flight to Lukla already booked for the day after via a local agency (about 500$ for the roundtrip). You will find a lot of em in Thamel, the more touristic district of the town (which you should DEFINITIVELY go, hotel is about 15 to 40$, nightlife is real good, restaurants and markets, lots of shemale in the street grabbing your dick if your into that). As for Lukla, the weather is really unpredictable so their is no fixed flight times, but on good weather days, up to 10 flights daily. Dont try to book your flight online, talk to someone from an agency and make sure you have the earliest flight of the day (for weather reasons). The flight is rated as one of the most dangerous on earth since Lukla airport is a fucking inclined, seriously short, on a sketchy mountain flank, strip with a cliff at the end of it, sitting at 2800m in the clouds. Its a short flight of about 30 min, but an experience on its own.
The last good burger you will enjoy for a while, in Lukla
Here is a copy pasta of a common itinary (similar to what we did)
Day 01: Transfer to airport for Kathmandu / Lukla flight. Arrive Lukla and start trek to Phakding. (From Kathmandu 45 minute to fly for Lukla (2840m), trek to Phakding (2610m) approx 4 hrs walk.
Day 02: Trek Phakding / Namche Bazaar (3440 m.) approx 5 hrs walk.
Day 03: Rest at Namche Bazaar or walk before breakfast to army camp to enjoy view of Mt. Everest from distance. Back to Namche for breakfast. Afternoon, it is good to go Syangboche (3720 m) or walk down to Khumjung Village (3780 m) for lunch. After having nice lunch back to Namche for rest. This best way to enjoy with your rest day.
Day 04: Trek Namche Bazaar / Tyangboche (3860 m.) approx. 4 hrs walk
Day 05: Trek Tyangboche / Dingboche (4410 m.) approx. 5 hrs walk
Day 06: Rest at Dingboche or short hike about 5 hours round-trip to Chhkuhung (4730 m). From Chhkuhung you can have a nice view of Lhotse and other important peaks.
Day 07: Trek Dingboche / Lobuche (4910 m.) approx. 5 hrs walk
Day 08: Trek Lobuche / Everest Base Camp (5364 m) / Gorakshep (5140 m.) approx 8 hrs walk.
Day 09: Trek Gorakshep / Kalapather (5545 m.) / Pheriche (4240m) approx 7 hrs walk.
Day 10: Trek Pheriche / Phortse (3810 m) approx 5 hrs walk.
Day 11: Trek Phortse / Namche (3440 m) approx 5 hrs walk.
Day 12: Trek Namche / Phakding (2610 m) approx 5 hrs walk
Day 13: Trek Phakding / Lukla (2840 m). approx 4 hrs walk.
Day 14: Fly back to Kathmandu. Arrive Kathmandu and transfer to Hotel
What you will find in most villages are tea houses (place to sleep and eat). Expect to pay between 200rs and up to 1000rs for a night (3$ to 15$), about the same for a meal. Namche is the biggest village so you can find some more costly and luxurious place to sleep. The higher you go, the more you will pay for food and water and the less commodity you will have. (let say for a 1L bottle of water, 40rs in lukla up to 400rs at the base camp... so big difference). Solar panel electricity so expect to pay of cell phone recharge, no filtered water. You can have internet via Everest link (200mbs for about 10$ can). Small solar panel, filtering kit and local SIMS pre paid cards are your best friends. Tea houses will provides blankets, but a sleeping bag is a necessity. A blanket wont cut when its -20c at night in your room lol. Well I wont go too far into the details since their is just so much to say about preparations and shit, ill just throw the pictures... ask if questions
Namche
