Detailed Itinerary for Everest Base Camp (EBC) Trek

Hello friends! I hope you’ll are doing great and as promised, here is my detailed itinerary for EBC. I’m sharing this in order for you to get an idea as to what to see, how many days you would need, places of interest, heights, etc. In fact, I had to change my original plan which I’d drafted before the journey. I’m sure it’ll be the same for you as you might have to either speed up or slow down depending on your physical and environmental conditions. Luckily I was able to fast-track mine which gave me an extra day at Lukla to roam around.

What you will find below is the revised itinerary which is more realistic. Mind you, it’s always advisable to keep a day or two extra in case you run into bad weather and get stranded at Lukla Airport which is somewhat frequent. Fortunately for me, there were no such delays when I travelled.

So without much ado, let’s start with the plan.

Note: You will have to customize your journey according to your requirements, budget and available timeline. Do read my journey which I’ll be writing in the future in which I’ll go into greater details of each of the days’ activities.

Day 01 – 05 Oct

Colombo - Kathmandu

Left Colombo, Sri Lanka at 5.50am flight and arrived in Mumbai by 8.30am for the transit.

Took the Kathmandu-bound flight at 11am and arrived at Kathmandu around 3pm.

Check in to the Hotel and evening is free to roam around.

Day 02 – 06 Oct

Breakfast

Kathmandu

Visit Boudhanath in the morning.

Go to the Trekking Shop to get the Trekking Gear (Sleeping Bag, Down Jacket, Trekking Pole and Duffel Bag)

Evening free to pack and get ready.

Day 03 – 07 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Kathmandu – Lukla

Lukla - Phakding

Flight to Lukla around 11.30am which lasts around 30 mins. We were delayed at Kathmandu Airport by 2hrs.

• Take the first flight available. Get a left side window seat right behind pilot if possible if not right at the back on the left side.

Arrived in Lukla around 12.30pm and had lunch at Khumjung Guest House. We’d spend our last two nights in this place.

Started our trek to Phakding around 1.30pm and reached our destination closer to 5pm.

Day 04 – 08 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Phakding - Namche

We trekked past Monjo and Jorsale and it was a very tough climb and took almost the entire day.

Day 05 – 09 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Namche - Khumjung

We visited Namche Monastery and then Tenzing Park before climbing uphill towards Everest View Hotel and then continuing towards Khumjung for lunch.

Roamed around Khumjung visiting the School and Monastery rest of the day.

Day 06 – 10 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Acclimatization Day at Khumjung.

Visit Khunde and Hiked up to Khunde Ri Sir Edmond Hillary Memorial View Point. On the way down went to the Khunde Monastery and hospital.

Day 07 – 11 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Khumjung – Tengboche

Tengboche - Pangboche

My initial plan was to spend the night at Tengboche but due to the lack of accommodation options we trekked all the way to Pangboche as I was in good shape. This saved us our first extra day. However this was a tough trek and took most of the day.

We paid a visit to the Tengboche Monastery but were too early for afternoon prayers.  So without waiting for them, we continued towards Pangboche as finding a tea house was more important.

Day 08 – 12 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Pangboche – Ama Dablam Base Camp (ADBC) - Pangboche

This was a tough day of climbing.

Day 09 – 13 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Pangboche – Dingboche

Fairly easy trek and we reached Dingboche well before lunch time.

Day 10 – 14 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Acclimatization @ Dingboche

We did a small hike up to Dingboche Ri and then visited the Dingboche Monastery which is not occupied.

Day 11 – 15 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Dingboche – Dughla aka Thukla

Dughla – Chola Lake - Dughla

This was more difficult than the previous two days but not very hard. We reached Dughla for lunch and then leaving our stuff at the Yak Guest House, went to Chola Lake. When you trek with no backpack, it’s a treat.

Chola Lake is the only Glacial Lake you can visit during this trek but most of the trekkers miss this as they don’t spend a night at Dudhla.

Day 12 – 16 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Dughla – Lobuche

Lobuche – Gorak Shep

Gorak Shep – Kala Paththar – Gorak Shep

This saved my second extra day as we didn’t stay at Lobuche as planned due to lack of accommodation. Instead we carried on all the way to Gorak Shep and found only a tent to spend the night. However when we returned from Kala Paththar, we got lucky to find a room as a couple who’d booked it had to turn back due to AMS. 

Due to the mist and fog, we didn’t get good views at Kala Paththar.

This was a very tough day of trekking.

Day 13 – 17 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Gorak Shep – EBC

Gorak Shep – Kala Paththar – Gorak Shep

Gorak Shep - Pheriche

Another tough and long day of trekking and I was probably one of the very few people who climbed Kala Paththar twice in two days.

Day 14 – 18 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Pheriche – Namche via Pangboche and Tengboche

Another long and tough one and I was glad for the extra days I’d saved climbing up. I could take the downhill trek more leisurely thanks to that.

Day 15 – 19 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Namche – Phakding via Monjo

Steep downhill trek but we made it without any issue. I’d caught a bad cold by now and was suffering from it, especially in the night. Two days (last night and the following night) I didn’t sleep well at night as a result.

Day 16 – 20 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Phakding - Lukla

Didn’t take us long and we made it well before lunch time. There was some kinda festival where children were dancing along the path and the tourists were expected to make small contributions.

As I was nursing a cold, I took the afternoon off and had a nap.

Day 17 – 21 Oct

Breakfast / Lunch / Dinner

Lukla - - Lukla

We visited the Lukla Airport and spent about an hour enjoying the hairy landings and take-offs of tiny aircraft. Then visited the Lukla Monastery and came for breakfast.

Afterwards we took another trek to a rural area where they run a farm and came back in time for lunch.

Day 18 – 22 Oct

Breakfast / Dinner

Lukla - Kathmandu

Day 19 – 23 Oct

Breakfast

Kathmandu – Colombo via Mumbai

What was Included in the Package:

• Airport Pick-ups and Drops by Private A/C Car/Jeep.
• Total 3 Nights Deluxe Accommodation in Kathmandu (With A/C, Hot Water & Linen) on Bed & Breakfast Basis as in the Itinerary above.
• Boudhanath Tour on 20 Oct Morning by A/C Car with Entry Tickets.
• All Standard Meals (Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner) + Morning Tea/Coffee during Trekking. Marked in Green 
• All necessary Paperwork and National Park Entry Permits.
• Domestic Airport Pick-up and Drop by A/C Car or Jeep / Flight Ticket (LUK-KTM-LUK) / Domestic Airport Tax.
• Total 15 Nights All Accommodations in Lodges/Tea Houses in Single Rooms during the Trek. (No Sharing)
• An Experienced, Helpful and Friendly Guide (Ngima pronounced Neema) + Porter.
• Salary, Food, Drinks, Accommodation, Transportation and Insurance for the Guide and Porter.
• Arrangement of Emergency Helicopter Service which will be paid by your Travel Insurance Company (World Nomads).
• Sagarmatha National Park Entrance Permit and Fees.
• Trekker's Information Management System (TIMS) Card Fees.
• First Aid Medical Kit.
• Duffle Bag, Down Jacket (100%), Sleeping Bag, Walking Pole and Trekking Map.
• Farewell Dinner in Typical Nepali Restaurant with Cultural Dance Show.
• All Nepali Government Taxes, VAT, Official Expenses & Service Charges.

Well folks, that was a one long trek and I’ve given you all the details on this trek exactly the way I undertook it. As I said earlier, there were some changes from my original itinerary which I changed on the go based on my fitness and how well I had acclimatized. That is something you too can do but always do keep an extra day or two in order to compensate for any unforeseen challenges, especially the delays at Lukla Airport.

Don’t hesitate to take it nice and slow and do any changes to your original plan and you may discuss those with the guide and come to an agreement on a more realistic pace for the journey. That’s why it’s imperative to have an experienced guide and a porter.

Thanks for reading and once again, I do hope this will come handy when you start making an itinerary for your EBC Trek.

Take care and travel safe!

Sri Abeywickrema – Trek with Sri

P.S. Do comment with your feedback and questions if you have any and I’ll try my level best to answer them.

Related Articles: Everest Base Camp Trek (EBC Trek) | Howto Plan Your EBC Trek

Await: The next article is going to be about “Useful Tips & Tricks for Your EBC Trek”. So stay tuned.

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