Everest Base Camp is where mountaineers begin their summit of the Everest so upon reaching there you will be itching to climb a mountain yourself. Enter Island Peak. We will summit to the top of it which is more than 20,000 feet in altitude.
Island Peak, as the name suggests, emerges out of a sea of snow when viewed from a distance. But we will not just look at it. We will trek right up to it and then to its summit at 20,305 feet to see what the sea of snow looks like from the top. You will be prepared for the summit as we trek through the Everest region from one Sherpa village to another, gradually gaining altitude and experience. But any trip to the Himalayas is incomplete without a visit to the highest peak in the world. So to make things interesting, we will also walk to the base camp of Mount Everest.
A representative of Mountain Kick will receive you at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (4,600 feet). Rest overnight at your hotel musing over your Himalayan adventure ahead.
See Kathmandu first before embarking on your adventure. This ancient city is dotted with royal courtyards, monasteries and temples which offer a glimpse into local culture. Your journey starts the next day and we will brief you on your big trip.
You will reach Lukla, a small tourist town overlooking Everest, in just half-an-hour. Lukla lies officially inside the Everest Region and you will begin your Everest Panorama trek here. We will warm up with a three-hour trek downhill to Phakding village and rest for the day.
We will trek for about six hours to get to Namche Bazaar. You will be entering into the Sagarmatha National Park and walking through suspension bridges over vertigo-inducing gorges to get there. As the name suggests, Namche Bazaar is a thriving marketplace geared for tourists and it is so much fun to hang out here.
We rest here to get properly acclimatized to the altitude and temperature. You might want to go for a last minute shopping or perhaps chill out at a night club.
Trek for about five hours and you will reach Tengboche. The village is located at the confluence of the Imja River and the Dudh Koshi River and is home to the largest monastery in the region the Tengboche monastery.
We follow the Imja River towards Mount Everest. We will reach Dingboche in about six hours. The village lies on the bank of the Imja River and is known for stone walls that run throughout and beyond the village.
This is our second acclimatization stop. A great day to rest as your body and legs will definitely need it after so many days of high-altitude expedition. You might like to see those stone walls or meet with around 300 people who live here.
We will hike through snow and pass Thukla village and reach Lobuche at the foot of Khumbu glacier in not more than five hours. Mount Everest will just be a day away.
A short three-hour trek will take you to Gorakshep, a village sitting on top of a frozen lake bed. After lunch, we will walk for two to three hours more to reach the Everest Base Camp. You will get to stand on the foot of the tallest peak in the world. But, however much you might want, you cannot camp here with your trekking permit so we will have to return to Gorakshep before night.
We will hike up to Kala Patthar, which lies on the southern ridge of Mount Pumori (23,494 feet). It’s a two-hour climb. Here you will get the best panoramic view of the Everest along with the Khumbu Glacier and other Himalayan peaks. We will descend to Pheriche, a small village full of yaks, and rest for the day.
We keep following the Imja River towards the Chukhung Valley. Six hours of tough trekking will get us here from Pheriche. Chukhung is surrounded by Mount Lhotse and Mount Nuptse from the north, by Mount Cho Polu and Mount Baruntse from the east and by Mount Ama Dablam from the south. This means you will be right in the middle of the Himalayas cornered by mountains and glaciers.
It takes four hours of hiking to reach the base camp of Island Peak or the Imja Tse. The mountain appears as an island in the sea of ice and hence the moniker. We will camp here in a tent for the night and will summit the mountain the next day.
Island Peak is the most climbed mountain in the Himalayan range. It has a difficulty grade of Alpine PD+ so that means it requires some climbing skills but is possible with the help of a guide. There is a tricky crevasse near the summit but don’t worry we will get you over it. We will start the summit before sunrise and get back to the base and return to Chukhung before sunset.
This day is for rest as you must be tired after actually summiting a Himalayan peak.
We start to get back now. We will walk for six hours to get to Tengboche, the place where we were at 10 days earlier.
An easy downhill trek for five hours through forests, suspension bridges and alongside mountain ridges will get you to Namche Bazaar, back to the society after your ordeal with wilderness. It’s not too early to celebrate, so you might want to head out and share your adventure over a couple of drinks.
We will climb up the place where it all started, Lukla. Your Everest Panorama trek ends here. You will not have to walk anymore.
In about no time, you will be back to Kathmandu. The bustling city will be a sharp contrast to the calm of the Himalayas.
Spend the day it as you like it. You might want to visit some more heritage sites or wander around happening parts of the city like Thamel. We will have a farewell dinner planned for your last night in Nepal.
You will be headed home and recollections of your Himalayan expedition will keep you occupied on your long flight back.
In Kathmandu, you will stay in a three-star hotel while you will be staying at standard guesthouses during your travel. There will be electricity, internet, laundry and hot showers in all of the places you stay. You will have to share your room with a fellow traveller in our typical package. Single supplement will be served on request and will cost an additional USD 550.Also note that single rooms is easily available in Kathmandu and the trekking regions at lower elevation but it might be difficult to find them at higher elevations.
General
We give you the power to choose the departure date that suits your group best. A private trip is a perfect solution if you can’t find a published departure date that you and your companions agree on. You can set up a private departure for most of the trips we offer.
We never force our customers to follow our set itinerary.You can customize your itinerary exactly the way you want. Please share with us your ideas.
As one of the core guiding principles for Mountain Kick, we always give back to the mountain community in any way we can as a means of gratitude. The people who live in the Himalayas and share their homes with us deserve to have all their little problems fixed which seem very basic for outsiders but are commonplace in rural Nepal. The people lack proper access to healthcare, sanitation and education but a little effort from travellers goes on a long way to solve these issues. Mountain Kick has made it its corporate social responsibility to help improve the living standards of the local community. We make donations to their cause, organize social campaigns and programs and also have a few trips designed to mix a little volunteer work in your holiday.
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