Follow along in pictures as I show you what it’s like on the Everest Base Camp Trek in Nepal.
Kathmandu to Lukla
To get to Lukla, the starting point for the Everest Base Camp trek, you either fly or trek. There are no roads.
Here’s the waiting area in the airport for the flight to Lukla. Our flight was delayed for 4 hours due to weather.
Lukla Airport Runway
The Lukla airport is one of the most dangerous/amazing airports in the world. As you can see it’s not very long and at one is a sheer drop off. The other end stops just before you reach the side of the mountain. This is why if weather is bad, they delay flights. It’s worth being extra careful.
Prayer Flags
At the beginning of the Everest Base Camp trek it’s lush and green. Flowers and prayer flags dot the trail.
The trail also has lots of prayer stones, prayer monuments, prayer wheels, and prayer flags that are hung horizontally, as well as vertically. It’s respectful and custom to walk to the left.
Again, notice how lush and green it is. We went at the end of September after the monsoon season. The weather was beautiful.
Suspension Bridges
There are 6 suspension bridges that must be crossed as you make your way to Everest Base Camp.
There are 2 suspension bridges here, but only the top one is used today. The bottom one and the trail leading to it had become unsafe, so they built a second one. These bridges are used by the porters, the tourists, and the yaks and horses carrying supplies.
Along the trail are places to stop and rest and set down your packs. Our packs are nothing compared to what the porters carry.
Important to note: Sherpas are an ethnic group of people. Porters are people who are paid to carry supplies along the trail. Not all porters are Sherpas. Not at Sherpas are porters.
Porters are superhuman in my eyes.
The Ultimate Stair Master
The trail to Namche Bazaar was mostly steps carved out of the mountain with rocks. If you’re training for this trip, make sure you walk LOTS of stairs. UP and DOWN. Your knees will thank you.
Trekking poles make going up and down these steps a lot easier.
Namche Bazaar nestled into the side of a mountain in a c-shape.
Tea Houses along the Trail
Some people stay in tents, but there are several tea houses along the trail that are warm and cozy and serve meals. The get a little more rustic the further up you go, but still nicer than a tent.
Tea House Rooms
This is one of the rooms I stayed in along the Everest Base Camp trek. This was in Namche Bazaar. Nice comfy bed, a comforter, and pillow. I brought my sleeping back and slept like a rock every night.
Nepali Flat
This is what is referred to as “Nepali Flat,” meaning this is as flat as the trail ever got. It’s different than “Gringo Flat” for sure.
Once you get above Namche Bazaar you regularly get views of Mount Everest and you get closer every day.
Another view of Everest seen past one of the many stupas found along the trail. If you’ve seen the film, “Everest” this scene will look familiar.
The number of peaks seen during this trek is mind blowing. You are trekking in the middle of the Himalayas and these are impressive peaks.
At this point you’re well above the tree line and the scenery becomes very different. So instead of greenery, you see bushes, boulders and peaks.
True yaks have horns that point back and have long hair that hangs down by their legs. It becomes second nature to quickly move uphill to let them pass as soon as you hear the bells that hang around their necks.
At one point you will be trekking along the Khumbu glacier seen below. The glacier is constantly moving and you can hear it groaning and creaking.
Everest Base Camp is a large stretch of space along the Khumbu Glacier. Once piece of it is marked with prayer flags and a sign to let you know you made it to the right place. This will look different depending on if you go during “trekking season” September through November or during “summit season” April through May. It’ll be a small town of tents during summit season.
We made it to Everest Base Camp after 9 days and 46 miles of trekking.
It takes 7 to 9 days to get to Everest Base Camp, but only about 3 days to trek back to Lukla. It’s a challenging hike, mostly due to the altitude, but so worth it.
View this exact trip on Ace the Himalaya‘s website to get additional details to find out how YOU can experience this trek.
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