Everest Base Camp: What the Trek Is Really Like

Tens of thousands of people walk to Everest Base Camp every year. Most arrive with a picture in their heads that owes more to films than to the trail. Knowing in advance what the trek is, and what it is not, makes the difference between disappointment and one of the best fortnights of your life.

The route in outline

After a short flight to the mountain airstrip at Lukla, you walk north up the valley of the Dudh Koshi to Namche Bazaar, then on through Tengboche, Dingboche and Lobuche to the last settlement, Gorak Shep, and from there to base camp at 5,364 metres. The return follows the same path. Twelve to fourteen days is standard, including two acclimatisation days.

Surprise one: you barely see Everest from base camp

Base camp sits on the Khumbu Glacier, hemmed in by the west shoulder of Everest and the ridge of Nuptse. The summit is hidden. What you find is a rubble-covered glacier, a jumble of prayer flags and a famous rock to be photographed beside, with the Khumbu Icefall tumbling down behind.

In spring, during the climbing season, the glacier holds a tent city of expeditions. In autumn it is empty.

The classic view of Everest's summit comes from Kala Patthar, a rocky hill of about 5,550 metres above Gorak Shep. The climb takes two hours, usually before dawn or in late afternoon, and it is the real climax of the trek.

Surprise two: the best days are in the middle

Many trekkers say afterwards that their favourite sections were lower down.

• Namche Bazaar, a horseshoe of houses on a steep hillside at 3,440 metres, with bakeries, a Saturday market and day walks to viewpoints and the villages of Khumjung and Khunde.

• Tengboche, a monastery on a forested ridge with Ama Dablam, Lhotse and the tip of Everest behind it.

• The walk to Dingboche, through the last trees and into wide, open valleys beneath Ama Dablam.

Give these places attention on the way up, when you are fresher.

Surprise three: altitude dictates everything

The schedule is set by acclimatisation, not distance. Walking days are often short, three to five hours, followed by long afternoons in lodges. Rest days at Namche and Dingboche involve climbing a few hundred metres and coming back down.

Above 4,000 metres most people sleep poorly, lose appetite and feel breathless on the slightest rise. Headaches are common. The dry, cold air causes a persistent hack known as the Khumbu cough. None of this is unusual, but worsening symptoms mean stopping or descending. People are evacuated every day in season, many of them fit and young. Go slowly, drink a lot and be honest with your guide about how you feel.

Surprise four: it is busy

In October and November, and again in April and May, the trail carries a steady stream of trekkers, porters and yak trains. Suspension bridges become bottlenecks. Lodges fill. Helicopters pass overhead through the morning. If solitude is what you want, consider the Gokyo valley, or come in December or late February.

When yaks approach, step to the uphill side of the trail and let them pass.

Surprise five: comfort declines with height

Namche has hot showers, espresso and wifi. By Lobuche and Gorak Shep, rooms are unheated plywood cubicles, water is frozen in the morning, and prices for food, charging and bottled water have climbed steeply because everything is carried up. Bring a warm sleeping bag, a power bank and more cash than you expect to need.

What is as good as promised

• The scale. Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Nuptse, Pumori and Everest are bigger in person than any image conveys.

• Sherpa culture: mani walls, prayer wheels, monasteries and hospitable lodge families.

• The sense of a shared journey with people from all over the world.

• The moment on Kala Patthar when the sun reaches the summit pyramid.

Practical essentials

• Flights to Lukla depend on weather and, in peak months, usually leave from an airstrip several hours' drive from Kathmandu. Allow spare days at the end.

• Permits are a national park entry and a local municipality fee, both obtainable on the way in.

• A licensed guide is the norm and adds safety at altitude.

• Insurance must cover helicopter evacuation to at least 5,500 metres.

• Fitness: train for long days of hill walking. Stamina matters more than speed.

The right frame of mind

Think of it as a walk through the Sherpa homeland to the foot of the world's highest mountain, not as a dash to a signboard on a glacier. Base camp is the turning point. The trek is everything on either side of it.