Everest Base Camp Trek without Lukla Flight – 17 Days

Wake up, refresh yourself, and have your breakfast. We will start the private tourist vehicle drive to Kharikhola early in the morning. It will take us 12 to 14 hours depending on the traffic and the road condition.

The road until Salleri is paved in concrete. This section of the drive lasts for about 8 to 9 hours. From Salleri to Kharikhola, the private tourist vehicle goes through a dirt road. The ride is bumpy.

It lasts for about 3 to 4 hours. This particular section from Salleri to Jubing gets affected by the monsoon, so vehicles can use this part only in dry seasons. On our long drive through the Himalayan foothills, we will be greeted with splendid views.

From Jubing, it is a seven-hour walk to Paiyun. We will go down to the Dudh Koshi River. The trail is mostly ups and downs. We will see mountain peaks such as Numbur, Pikey, etc along the way.

We will descend down to Surkhe village, which is an hour or so behind Lukla. From Surkhe, we will take a winding trail and arrive at Choplung.

This is a point where the path from Lukla meets the main Everest Base Camp trail. After a few hours of gradual walking, we will reach our destination village of Phakding.

We continue trekking along the banks of the Dudh Kosi, crossing this majestic river many times on exciting suspension bridges laden with prayer flags.

After entering the Sagamartha National Park, the trail climbs steeply with breathtaking views. Namche Bazaar, known as the Gateway to Everest, is home to many quality restaurants, hotels, lodges, shops, money exchange, Internet cafes and a bakery.

Namche is the largest village along the entire Everest trail.

The trek continues along the rushing glacial waters of the Dudh Kosi with magnificent views of the mountains. We’ll have trekked to an altitude of 3,860 m upon reaching Tengboche.

Inside the Tengboche Monastery are incredibly ornate wall hangings, a 20-foot sculpture of Buddha, and the musical instruments and robes of the Lamas.

The group will be taken to observe a prayer ceremony either in the evening or in the morning depending on how the trekking goes this day.

From Tengboche, the trail drops to Debuche, crosses another exciting suspension bridge on the Imja Khola, and climbs to Pangboche amongst thousands of mani stones.

Our uphill trek continues, taking us to the quaint traditional Sherpa village of Dingboche with its exquisite views of Lhotse, Island Peak, and Ama Dablam. We take our time, so we avoid getting affected by the altitude.

This day is planned as acclimatization day. We don’t make progress towards Everest Base Camp. Instead we will take a hike to Nangkartshang peak just above Dingboche.

The peak is an excellent view point. Especially of the gorgeous Ama Dablam. If weather is clear, we will get to see Ama Dablam from its summit to its feet. You can spend the afternoon strolling around the village or resting.

Today, the trail continues along the lateral moraine of the Khumbu Glacier and passes by stone memorials for climbers who have perished on nearby summits.

We continue to climb as we are heading to the village of Lobuche which is located at the foot of giant Lobuche peak. Some breathing problems may arise today due to the altitude.

This is a big and difficult day walk along the Khumbu Glacier and up to Everest Base Camp at 5,364 m, the closest you can get to Mt. Everest without mountaineering equipment.

During spring, there will likely be expedition teams about to attempt the summit. The view of the Khumbu Icefall from Base Camp is spectacular. We return back to Gorak Shep for the night.

This will be one of the most difficult yet rewarding days of the trek. Most of the morning is spent climbing Mt. Kala Patthar, a small peak at 5,555 m.

The ascent is demanding but the climber gets the most magnificent mountain panorama: Everest, the highest point on the planet at 8,848.86 m, towers directly ahead and on all sides loom the giants such as Nuptse, Pumori, Chagatse, Lhotse and countless others.

We make a quick descent to Gorak Shep and have hot breakfast, and then trek down to Pheriche.

Leaving the mountains behind us, our descent takes us through Pangboche and Tengboche before continuing to the town of Namche Bazaar. We arrive back to Namche in the afternoon.

At first we will walk down the last part which we climbed so hard on the day when we reached Namche Bazaar on the way up. Then it is an easy walk to Phakding where we will have our lunch.

From this point, the trail slowly climbs towards Lukla. It is the gateway to Everest for those who choose to take flights.

We will start today’s walk by descending down to Surkhe. After Surkhe, the trail goes quite steep up to Cheubas. We will walk slightly upwards for some time and then we will take a mostly downhill trail to our destination village of Jubing.

We will hop onto a private tourist vehicle for our long drive to Kathmandu. We will take the dirt road until Salleri. It is bumpy in many places, so be prepared for it.

From Salleri to Kathmandu, the road is paved with concrete. Once you Kathmandu, take a long rest in your comfy hotel room.

In the evening, we host a farewell dinner in a fine restaurant.

The trip concludes – our airport representative will drop you to Kathmandu’s Tribhuwan International Airport for your flight departure from Nepal.