Everest Base Camp Trek: The 8-Day Highlights

Lukla is a small town in the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu rural municipality of the Solukhumbu District in the Koshi Province of northeastern Nepal. Situated at 2,860 metres (9,383 ft) above sea level, it is a popular place for visitors to the Himalayas near Mount Everest to arrive. Although Lukla means "place with many goats and sheep", few of them are found in the area now.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Phakding is a small village in the Khumbu region of Nepal. It lies in the Dudh Kosi river valley just north of Lukla and south of Monjo, at an altitude of 2,610 m. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979. Phakding has a population of 550 locals, mostly Sherpa and Tamang. All of these people belong to Tibetan Buddhism and pray in a small Gompa at the centre of the village. Phakding lies on ward no 3 of Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality.

Photo: DARIO SEVERI · CC BY-SA 3.0

Sagarmāthā National Park is a national park in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that was established in 1976 and encompasses an area of 1,148 km2 (443 sq mi) in the Solukhumbu District. It ranges in elevation from 2,845 to 8,848 m and includes Mount Everest. In the north, it borders Qomolangma National Nature Preserve, and Makalu Barun National Park in the east; in the south, it extends to Dudh Kosi river. It is part of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Namche Bazaar is a town in the Ward number 5 of Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Koshi Province in northeastern Nepal. It is located within the Khumbu area at 3,440 metres (11,286 ft) at its low point, populating the sides of a hill. Most Sherpa in the tourism business hail from the Namche area. Namche is also the main trading center and hub for the Lanjey region.

Photo: stevehicks · CC BY 2.0

Ama Dablam is a mountain in the Eastern Himalayas range of Koshi Province, Nepal. The main peak is 6,812 metres (22,349 ft), the lower western peak is 6,170 metres (20,243 ft). The name Ama Dablam literally means 'mother's charm box' in the Sherpa language; the long ridges on each side like the arms of a mother (ama) protecting her child, and the hanging glacier thought of as the dablam, the traditional double-pendant containing pictures of the gods, worn by Sherpa women. For several days, Ama Dablam dominates the eastern sky for anyone trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp. Because of its soaring ridges and steep faces, Ama Dablam is sometimes referred as the "Matterhorn of the Himalayas". The mountain is featured on the one rupee Nepalese banknote.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Tengboche is a village in Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality in the Khumbu subregion of Koshi Province in Nepal, located at 3,867 metres (12,687 ft). Within the village is an important Buddhist monastery, Tengboche Monastery, which is the largest gompa in the Khumbu region. The structure was built in 1923. In 1934, it was destroyed by an earthquake but subsequently rebuilt. It was destroyed again by a fire in 1989, and again rebuilt with the help of volunteers and the provision of foreign aid. Tengboche has a panoramic view of the Himalayan mountains, including the well-known peaks of Tawache, Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, and Thamserku. Tenzing Norgay, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary, was born in the area in the village of Thani and was once sent to Tengboche Monastery to be a monk.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Pangboche or Panboche is a village in Khumjung Village Development Committee of Solukhumbu District in Province No. 1 of Nepal at an altitude of 13,074 feet (3,985 m). It is located high in the Himalayas in the Imja Khole valley, about 3 kilometres northeast of Tengboche and is a base camp for climbing the nearby Ama Dablam and trekking. It contains a monastery, famed for its purported yeti scalp and hand, the latter of which was stolen. The village is inhabited mainly by Sherpas, and Sungdare Sherpa, a native of the village, held the record for summiting Everest five times in the Sherpa climbing history and in the world history of mountaineering in 1989. The Pangboche school was built by Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust in 1963. North of the village is the Dughla lake and pass.

Photo: Moralist · CC BY-SA 3.0

Dingboche is a Sherpa village at an elevation of 4,410 m (14,470 ft) in the Khumbu region of northeastern Nepal. Its population was estimated at 200 in 2011.

Photo: Nirojsedhai · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Khumbu Glacier is located in the Khumbu region of northeastern Nepal between Mount Everest and the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge. With elevations of 4,900 m (16,100 ft) at its terminus to 7,600 m (24,900 ft) at its source, it is the world's highest glacier. The Khumbu Glacier is followed for the final part of the trail to one of the Everest Base Camps. The start of the glacier is in the Western Cwm near Everest. The glacier has a large icefall, the Khumbu Icefall, at the west end of the lower Western Cwm. This icefall is the first major obstacle—and among the more dangerous—on the standard south col route to the Everest summit. It is also the largest glacier in Nepal.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Lobuche is a Nepalese mountain which lies close to the Khumbu Glacier and the settlement of Lobuche. There are two main peaks, Lobuche East and Lobuche West. A permit to climb the mountain is required from the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), which classifies Lobuche East (6,119m) as a "trekking peak" and Lobuche West (6,145m) as an "expedition peak". The permit is issued by Nepal Mountaineering Association and costs USD $350 during spring, USD $175 during autumn, and USD $175 during winter/summer. The easier, trekking peak, the East peak is climbed far more frequently than the West peak; however, most of those climbers only do so to reach a false summit that is still a few hours from the true summit of Lobuche East. Between the two peaks is a long, deeply notched ridge, with a steep drop and its considerable distance making an approach of the West peak from the East practically impossible.

Photo: Theprotrekker · CC BY-SA 4.0

Gorak Shep, also spelled Gorakshep, is a settlement nestled on the periphery of a frozen lakebed blanketed with sand in Nepal, sharing its name with the locale. Situated at an elevation of 5,164 meters near Mount Everest, it remains uninhabited for most of the year, reopening only for the Mount Everest trekking season.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

The Khumbu Icefall is located at the head of the Khumbu Glacier and the foot of the Western Cwm. It lies at an elevation of 5,486 metres (17,999 ft) on the Nepalese slopes of Mount Everest, not far above Base Camp and southwest of the summit. The icefall is regarded as one of the most dangerous sections of the South Col route to Everest's summit.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

There are two base camps on Mount Everest, on opposite sides of the mountain: South Base Camp is in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 metres (17,598 ft), while North Base Camp is in Tibet at 5,150 metres (16,900 ft).

Photo: Peellden · CC BY-SA 3.0

Kala Patthar is a notable landmark located on the south ridge of Pumori in the Nepali Himalayas above Gorakshep. Although not a proper mountain, with a prominence of only 10 m (33 ft), the ascent of Kala Patthar is very popular with trekkers in the region of Mount Everest since it provides the most accessible closeup view of Everest. Due to the structure of the Everest Massif, its high summit is blocked by Nuptse from much of the surrounding region.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Pheriche is a village in the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal. Situated at an altitude of about 4,371 m (14,340 ft), above the Tsola River, Pheriche is a popular stop for trekkers and climbers. There is a rudimentary hospital in Pheriche managed by the Himalayan Rescue Association. The Pheriche hospital is open only during the two trekking/climbing seasons. Although the hospital was built with Japanese support in 1975, it is staffed by Nepalis and volunteer physicians who are mostly from the US, Europe, Canada and Australia.

Photo: Babin Dulal · CC BY-SA 4.0

Tengboche is a village in Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality in the Khumbu subregion of Koshi Province in Nepal, located at 3,867 metres (12,687 ft). Within the village is an important Buddhist monastery, Tengboche Monastery, which is the largest gompa in the Khumbu region. The structure was built in 1923. In 1934, it was destroyed by an earthquake but subsequently rebuilt. It was destroyed again by a fire in 1989, and again rebuilt with the help of volunteers and the provision of foreign aid. Tengboche has a panoramic view of the Himalayan mountains, including the well-known peaks of Tawache, Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, and Thamserku. Tenzing Norgay, the first man to reach the summit of Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary, was born in the area in the village of Thani and was once sent to Tengboche Monastery to be a monk.

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

Namche Bazaar is a town in the Ward number 5 of Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Koshi Province in northeastern Nepal. It is located within the Khumbu area at 3,440 metres (11,286 ft) at its low point, populating the sides of a hill. Most Sherpa in the tourism business hail from the Namche area. Namche is also the main trading center and hub for the Lanjey region.

Photo: stevehicks · CC BY 2.0