Island Peak Climbing with Everest Base Camp Trek

The journey of a lifetime begins this morning as your guide from Hiking In Himalaya l arrives at your Kathmandu hotel and takes you to the domestic airport in Kathmandu. You board the plane for a 45 minute flight eastward along the backbone of the Eastern Himalayas. Here you gaze down on the fabulous mountain ranges with their snowcapped peaks below you. The flight lands at the airport at Lukla. This is the gateway to the Khumbu and Everest region. Once you have collected your backpack, it’s time to start a short trek to the village of Phakding. It is a short trek, taking around 3 hours as you walk by fast flowing streams and through thick jungles of pine and rhododendron. Phakding is a delightful little Sherpa village where you will have time to explore its setting. It’s a pretty little village. We will spend the night in a tea house, enjoying delicious, hot Nepali food.

Yesterday was unique as we ended up going downhill much of the way to Phakding. Today, we start climbing again. We are ascending to the beautiful village of Namche Bazar. It is theprinciple village of the district and considered the capital of the Sherpa people. Built into the side of a mountain, it looks like an amphitheater from the air with its colorful houses rising higher and higher on the hillside. We cross the Dudh Koshi River, so named because of its milky color. The river is glacier fed with very cold waters that rush downstream. We cross on a suspension bridge as we make our way through the jungles to Namche Bazar. We arrive after trekking for around five hours. We will spend two nights at a really nice tea house in the village.

The high elevations of the Khumbu region requires us to take a couple of days on this trip to allow our bodies to adjust to the thinner mountain air. AMS (Altitude Mountain Sickness) is a serious medical problem that should never be ignored. Because the oxygen level is much lower at this altitude, we must take a day to allow our bodies to adjust. The best way to prevent AMS is by taking days for acclimatization, which we always do at Hiking In himalaya . It won’t be a day to be idle. We will take a short hike to the top of the hill to Everest View Hotel. Here, we will be able to get our first really outstanding view of the world’s highest peak. In the afternoon, we can visit the Sherpa Museum to learn more about the culture. Namche Bazar is not typical of most of the mountain villages. You will find bakeries, restaurants, gift shops for handicrafts as well as an ATM machine. There is Wi-Fi throughout the village. Even though there are no vehicles here (no roads to Namche Bazar), it is a lively
little village. In the evening, enjoy dinner and a good night’s sleep as you prepare for the next phase of your journey.

We leave the wonderful village of Namche Bazar as we make our way up the trail. The jungles we experienced earlier are becoming thinner and thinner as we are reaching toward the tree line. There are so many outcroppings on the trail that you will stand in awe at the impressive alpine scenery that abounds everywhere. Tengboche is home of the Khumbu’s largest Buddhist monastery which is framed in a magnificent setting. The impressive peak of Mt. Ama Dablam truly frames the village in a most pastoral scene. Once we arrive at the village, we will check into our tea house and then go and explore the village and its monastery. Trekking time today is 6 hours.

The trek today continues to rise upwards. The villages are getting not only smaller but fewer and farther between. There are less farms and the crops here are limited to things like buckwheat and potatoes along with raising yaks. Pheriche does feature an emergency medical center which was established primarily for dealing with visitors to the area. It is staffed by volunteers usually during the peak climbing seasons. Trekking time is 4/5 hours. We will spend two nights at a local lodge.

We’ve reached a much higher elevation and the air is even thinner here. It is necessary to stop again for a day to allow our bodies to adjust to the higher elevation. We’ll do some exploring around Pheriche as well as to take some time to rest from our adventures.

The mountains are especially beautiful from this high elevation. It’s amazing to look upon all of the high peaks. There is little in the way of vegetation to hide these peaks at this height as about all we see are juniper bushes and low plants that cling to the rocky soil. From up here, we see a number of the lofty snowcapped Lobuche peaks. Accommodations used to be quite Spartan in Lobuche, but things have improved here in recent years. There are some nice tea houses and lodges that we will stay in. Trekking time
today is 5 hours.

Today we reach one of our landmark locations: Everest Base Camp (EBC). It is from here that almost every expedition to the summit of Mt. Everest begins. We leave Lobuche after breakfast, trekking up the trail and across the moraine to the village of Gorak Shep. Here we will spend a night. We drop our packs here and then walk to EBC to stand amongst all of the climbers as they either anticipate their climb or are returning in triumph. It takes us three hours to go to Gorak Shep, and then we will spend five hours walking to and from EBC. In the evening, feel the joy of celebrating as you have achieved a place where few every reach but so many dream of!

Today we climb to the top of Mt. Kalapathar to see the most panoramic view of the Everest region. It is not a difficult peak to climb, and we can do it in a few hours. Mt. Kalapathar is considered a trekking peak which means no special equipment is needed to climb it. There no doubt will be snow on the top, and certainly you will want waterproof boots and crampons to walk on the ice. Other than that, it’s just up the switchbacks to the top. Mt. Kalapathar is popular with Everest trekkers because from EBC, you can’t see Mt. Everest. But from the top of Kalapathar, you can see not only Mt. Everest, but all of the peaks in an awe-inspiring panorama. We’ll definitely stop and take pictures from up here as you get a wonderful 360° view. We descend down the mountain back to Gorak Shep to pick up our backpacks and trekdownhill to the village of Dingboche. It’s a tiny little village with some limited farming.Tourism has been its mainstay economically for the Sherpas who live up here. The village does boast the world’s highest Internet Café as well as the world’s highest billiard parlor.We will spend the night at a guest house here, overlooking the beautiful valley below which is surrounded by the wonderful high peaks of the Khumbu region. Trekking time today is around 8 hours plus three hours to climb Mt. Kalapathar.

We are walking south of Mt. Everest today to the beautiful little mountain village of Chukkung. Surrounded by glaciers and mountains, it sits overlooking the Chukkung Valley below, carved by the Imja Khola (river). This village traditionally was only a kharka where area residents brought their animals to graze in the summer months. As Island Peak grew in popularity, a small settlement began to spring up here, offering some lodging to trekkers. It will take us around 3 hours to trek to Chukkung. Once we check into our guest house, we will leave our packs here and do some time exploring this beautiful valley in the shadows of Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Nuptse.

Today we will trek to Island Peak Base Camp. It is a five hour walk to the site and we’ll spend the night camping here. Camping is really fun, as we’ll have a chef to cook our meals. The tents are comfortable and designed for high altitudes in the Himalayas. We will spend two nights at Island Peak Base Camp as we will spend tomorrow climbing Island Peak.

Today will be the big day when you begin climbing to the highest elevation on this trek. Today begin our climb of Island Peak (local name is Imja Tse). Our destination is high camp where we will again spend the night in a tent. This lofty peak is the perfect trekking mountain to climb. No special training or equipment is needed other than crampons for your waterproof boots as you ascend to its snow-covered summit.

The top of Island Peak is marked with Buddhist Prayer Flags that continually flap in the ever- present Himalayan breeze. It takes between 1 ½ to 2 hours to make the ascent to the top. And what a view you have from on top as you gaze at impressive mountains in a 360° direction. See Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Cho Oyo and many more from this lofty perch high above the valley below. We will achieve our objective today and then return to base camp for the night in celebration of our victory!We build in a free day on this trip because sometimes we deal with bad weather in the Himalayas. Other times, we may wish to explore some place with more detail. And after climbing Island Peak, we might just want to rest. So this is your day to enjoy and relax.

We build in a free day on this trip because sometimes we deal with bad weather in the Himalayas. Other times, we may wish to explore some place with more detail. And after climbing Island Peak, we might just want to rest. So this is your day to enjoy and relax.

Our return trip begins today, and we will make our way to the village of Pangboche. We’re dropping in elevation as we make our way down toward Lukla. We start to see more signs of life and vegetation along with more and more farms. Our trek will take us around 5 hours, and tonight we will stay at a local lodge.

Namche Bazar is a wonderful sight to behold from a distance. We know that when we arrive, we will find a good lodge for the night, plus some delicious bakery in town along with some other treats that we will enjoy. It will take us about 5 hours of walking to reach the village. After checking into our hotel, you might want to wander around town and consider buying some of the local handicrafts for souvenirs.

It’s our final day of trekking as we make our way back to the village of Lukla. We see more and more jungle as we continue to drop in elevation. It will take us around 5 hours to walk to Lukla where we will spend the night at a lodge.

You did it! You achieved your goals of climbing not just one mountain, but two stunning Himalayan peaks. You made it to Everest Base Camp. And now it’s time to celebrate. The flight takes just 45 minutes back to Kathmandu, but now you can sit back and gaze at the massive peaks below. The rest of the day is yours free to enjoy in Kathmandu before you leave for your next destination. Before you go, be sure to talk to your new friends at Cozy Guide Nepal about how you can see additional places in Nepal. Go white-water rafting, bungee jumping, paragliding or even take in a jungle safari to see Royal Bengal Tigers. Nepal is an amazing place, and your friends at Cozy Guide Nepal have the connections you need to discover all this nation has to offer.