Everest In Style

Arrive Kathmandu and transfer to the hotel. Drive approx. 25 minutes depending on the traffic. After the check-in formalities at the hotel lobby, there will be a short briefing of the following day’s program by your Tour Leader. After the briefing, you have a choice to go for group dinner to a Nepalese restaurant and experience the culture through our food and dance.

We wake up early and begin the day with the early morning flight to Lukla (2800m). Upon the arrival at Lukla, we start our journey passing by lovely Sherpa settlements, along gentle undulating trails and enjoying the marvelous scenery of the Dudh Kosi valley, we arrive at the village of Phakding (8700’/2652m). After a break for lunch, we continue on for approximately three more hours to Monjo. The sounds of plodding porters with transistor radios stuck to their ears, the cacophonic mix of myriad languages, strange sounding birds, the sight of porters, loads aside, resting outside tea houses, weather-beaten, windblown trekkers winding their way back to Lukla, prayer flag a-flutter, the brightly painted tea houses and of course the dramatic scenery are memories to treasure of this first day on the trail.
A warm welcome awaits your arrival at Monjo’s Summit Lodge along with a hot cup of tea and home-made cookies. Overnight: Everest Summit Lodge Monjo.

A scant five minutes from the lodge you enter the Everest National Park, where entry formalities will have to be completed. Today will be one of the tougher days of the trek but we take it slowly, enjoying the scenery as we hike along the river, crossing and re-crossing it on suspension bridges till the climb begins to Namche Bazar. A long steep climb but with several stops to catch our breath, and a slow plod, we make our way steadily upwards. The trail to Namche Bazar is well marked, comfortably broad trails and walking in the cooler part of the morning, it is easier to breathe and get used to the increasing altitude. After an easy-paced three hour walk, we arrive at the heart of Khumbu – Namche Bazar, (3450m). A well-deserved break for lunch and enough time to look around this amazing amphitheater, then we take the trail to Tashinga, following the classical approach route to Everest. Keeping to the almost level, winding trail for about 2 1/2 hours, we make a slight detour off the main trail to arrive at the lodge within the next 15 minutes. Overnight: Everest Summit Lodge Tashinga.

Across the valley from the lodge, one can see the trail sloping diagonally up towards the famous monastery of Tengboche. The day begins with a descent to the small hamlet of Phunki Tenga, beside the Dudh Kosi. From here we cross a suspension bridge before beginning a steep ascent for about an hour. This part of the trek is quite heavily forested by rhododendron and pine, so it is well shaded and cool. Once out of the forest, the trail becomes gentle and gradual for another 1.5 hours, all the way up to the monastery. The setting of Thyangboche is magical and it is incredible to think that the temple was burned down a few years ago and re-built largely through the efforts of the Sir Edmund Hillary Trust. After lunch and explores of the monastery and its surroundings, return to Tashinga for the night.

Leaving Tashinga. Retrace the trail to Namche Bazar for about an hour to detour off the main trail, taking the trail leading to Khumjung village (3770 mts). The path leads gently up the shallow valley and into Khumjung, the education center of Khumbu. Time permitting, visit the Khumjung monastery and Kunde hospital. Taking the high trail above Namche Bazar, bypass Syangboche airport and head North West. The valley ahead is extremely rugged but beautiful and as one wanders along the forest track, you might chance upon monal pheasants or small herds of thar. At the small village of Tesho, turn off the main trail and make your way slowly up a closed valley. The last half hour climb to Mende, is short, steep and guaranteed to take your breath away. This is where the past few days of hiking into shape will be appreciated ! Once at the lodge, however, the awesome views and commanding location will make the extra effort of getting there well worth while !! Overnight: Everest Summit Lodge Mende.

Half an hour down from the Mende Lodge, the trail connects with the old Tibetan trading trail. The path is well formed, wide and mostly easy walking all the way to the village of Thame. Thame is very original in many aspects and perhaps one of the prettiest villages in the Khumbu. It has a scattering of houses, stone-fenced fields and a backdrop of massive snow and icy summits. Visit the Thame monastery, one of the oldest in the region. Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s house, where he lived with his first wife, is situated near the top end of the village. Thame is, in fact, home to two of Nepal’s most famous mountaineers: Ang Rita Sherpa who summitted Everest eleven times and Apa Sherpa, who outdid his fellow climber by making it 18 times to the top of Everest ! Retrace to Mende.

Before beginning the descent down to Monjo visit the Laudo monastery 15 minutes above Mende. The main temple is only 40 years old and was used until recently as a meditation school for western Buddhists students. It has a remarkable meditation room built underneath a huge rock, where people go on retreat for 3 years /3 months/3days. The friendliest caretaker in the whole of Khumbu will be more than happy to serve butter tea and explain a little about the monastery. Retrace along the same route to Phurte and from here take the lower trail to Namche. After three hours of easy walking we arrive at Namche Bazar for lunch. The rest of the trail is an easy descent to Monjo. Overnight at Monjo Lodge.

The return trek to Lukla follows a slightly different route so as to avoid walking through Phakding again. Keeping to a trail high above, on the other side of the Dudh Kosi, we visit the old Gumila monastery before descending down to the main trail. After a short lunch break at Thada Kosi, at the base of the Kusum Kangru Himal we continue for a further two hours or so before we reach Lukla. Overnight at Lukla Lodge.

Transfer to Hotel. Fly back to Manthali airport on one of the first flights of the day (approximately 7am to 7.30am) to allow for the five to six-hour bus transfer back to Kathmandu arriving in the city for mid to late afternoon.

Today is free for sightseeing in Kathmandu (it is also a spare day to allow for any delays in the flights to/from Lukla). You may wish to visit the monkey temple at Swayambunath, one of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world at Bodnath, or the most important Hindu temple in the valley at Pashupatinath. We offer a full range of sightseeing tours, which can be booked and paid for locally.

The tour comes to an end after breakfast, so it’s time to start your return journey home