Nepal's Everest Base Camp: The World's Most Famous Trek
The trek to Everest Base Camp is not the most beautiful walk in the Himalayas — that distinction belongs to the Annapurna Circuit — but it is the most famous, and the combination of the mountain scenery, the Sherpa culture, and the sheer scale of the world's highest peak makes it one of the great journeys.
The Everest Base Camp trek is a 130-kilometre round trip from Lukla airport to the base camp at 5,364 metres, taking 12 to 14 days. The route passes through the Khumbu Valley — the homeland of the Sherpa people — past the monasteries of Tengboche and Pangboche, through the villages of Namche Bazaar and Dingboche, and up the Khumbu Glacier to the base camp itself, where the expedition tents of the climbers attempting the summit are visible in the distance.
Namche Bazaar, at 3,440 metres, is the main trading centre of the Khumbu and the acclimatisation stop for most trekkers. The town is built in a horseshoe-shaped valley and contains a remarkable concentration of bakeries, coffee shops, gear shops, and internet cafés for a place at this altitude. The Saturday market, where Tibetan traders sell goods brought over the Nangpa La pass, is one of the finest in the Himalayas.
The Tengboche Monastery, at 3,867 metres, is the most important Buddhist monastery in the Khumbu — a complex of temples, prayer halls, and monks' quarters set on a ridge with views of Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam. The morning and evening puja (prayer ceremony) is one of the finest cultural experiences on the trek, and the monastery's position — surrounded by rhododendron forest, with the peaks rising behind it — is one of the most beautiful in Nepal.
The altitude is the defining challenge of the Everest Base Camp trek. Above 3,000 metres, the body needs time to acclimatise to the reduced oxygen, and the standard itinerary includes rest days at Namche Bazaar and Dingboche to allow this process. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) — headache, nausea, fatigue — is common above 3,500 metres, and the golden rule is never to ascend more than 500 metres per day above 3,000 metres.
The Kala Patthar viewpoint, at 5,545 metres, is the highest point on the standard Everest Base Camp trek and the finest viewpoint for Everest itself — the base camp is hidden in the Khumbu Icefall, but from Kala Patthar the summit pyramid of Everest is visible above the South Col, along with the entire Khumbu massif. The climb from Gorak Shep to Kala Patthar takes about two hours and is best done at dawn, when the light on the peaks is extraordinary.
The Sherpa people of the Khumbu are one of the most remarkable communities in the world — a people who have lived at altitude for centuries and developed physiological adaptations that allow them to function at oxygen levels that would incapacitate most people. The Sherpa culture — Buddhist, community-oriented, and deeply connected to the mountains — is one of the finest aspects of the Everest Base Camp trek, and the teahouses that line the route are run by Sherpa families who have been hosting trekkers for generations.
The best time to trek to Everest Base Camp is in spring (March to May) or autumn (September to November). The spring season offers the finest weather and the spectacle of the rhododendron forests in bloom; the autumn season offers clear skies and the best mountain views. The monsoon (June to August) brings heavy rain and leeches to the lower elevations, and the winter months (December to February) are cold and the higher passes can be blocked by snow.
