Planning For Everest Base Camp

Hi,

There are a group of 5 of us who are looking at organising a trip to do the trek to Everest base camp.We are active people who like a challenge and a thrill.

We are looking for advice from those who have done this trip before and what HOT TIPS you could give us. These could include:

1) best way to fly from the Gold Coast Qld

2) where to fly to and where to trek to ?

3) recommendations when there

4) to use a company or do it yourself ???

5) rough cost for trip ??

6) where to get more information from

7) best time of year to go and for how long to go for ??

Your replies would be greatly appreciated.

Weege

Planning For Everest Base Camp

1) Don%26#39;t know !

2) Depends on how much time you have. To fly to Lukhla then trek to EBC then back to Lukhla will take 12 - 14 days. Add a couple of days by going from Namche Bazar up to Gokyo then crossing to Lobuche via the pass of the Cho La - makes a more challenging and thrilling trek ! In either case the walking days are not over-long as you have to allow for acclimatisation - it%26#39;s far too easy to go too high too soon !

If you have the time then perhaps it%26#39;s worth going by road to Jiri rather than flying to Lukhla. This will add 8 - 9 days to your trek, but the walk from Jiri to Lukhla is varied, and provides a wonderful %26#39;cultural acclimatisation%26#39; to being in Nepal.

3) EBC itself is simply a piece of moraine-covered glacier, with a close-up view of the Khumbu ice-fall. Kala Pattar, the 5500 metre hill above EBC, is a far better view-point.

4) I%26#39;m a firm believer in using a company - preferably a Nepali-owned company. Not only does employing a few porters make your trek more enjoyable as you aren%26#39;t back-packing, a good Nepali guide will give you a far better insight into the country, and you%26#39;ll be putting money into the economy. It also means that should anything go wrong your company is likely to have the resources to help sort out the problem.

5) I did the short version - fly to Lukhla - trek to Kala Pattar, and back last November with a party of 5. Including transfers from and to Kathmandu airport, hotel in KTM, flights to and from Lukhla, trekking team of 5 Nepali (%26#39;guide%26#39;, sherpa, and 3 porters), tea-house accommodation and all food, insurance for the Nepali team, our agent charged us US$1150 each for the 18 days we were in Nepal. We could have done the trip as a camping trek (and if you were to go via Gokyo and cross the Cho La you%26#39;d almost certainly have to camp) rather than using tea-houses: this apparently would have cost us approx US$250 each extra.

6) TA, any one of the several guide-books available, for example Kev Reynolds %26#39;Everest Region - a Trekking Guide%26#39; published in UK by Cicerone Press. A good agent. I have a list of recommendations from TA users for agents they have used: I%26#39;ll happily email to you if you wish.

7) The main trekking seasons are pre-monsoon (April - May)or post-monsoon (late September -December). I%26#39;ve normally found that about a month allows for a bit of sight-seeing in KTMN (and a chance to get over jet-lag), a 2 - 3 week trek, a vhance to raft one of the rivers for a couple of days and / or to go down to CHitwan to look for the (very elusive) tiger etc.

Planning For Everest Base Camp

4) why don麓t you just hire a guide (and perhaps a few porters) and make a deal with him/her about a daily price which covers their salary, insurance, equipment, food and lodging? (so not a ';package';, where your lodging and food is included, it麓s easy to just pay that along the way)

That way you can decide as a group when to go where, and you can easily stay a day or two longer somewhere if you like a certain area. That way you are not stuck to an itinerary, you have the freedom of travelling independent, but still the benefits of a guide.

That麓s what I did, and it worked perfect for me.

(for info on the guide I used, please send me a message)

I would defenitely advise to include the Gokyo area (gokyo Ri and the lakes) and Chola Pass. It麓s beautiful there and so different than the Everest area. No need for camping, there are teahouses that connect Chola pass.

Don麓t forget a good insurance, which covers the altitude and possible heli-rescue