As you land in Lukla, you are barely 3000 meters above the sea level (2,860 meters to be exact!). To give you the perspective, Everest Base Camp stands at 5,364 meters, and Kalapatthar at 5545 meters. Island Peak, a popular climbing activity, will take you above 6,189 meters. 

As you trek, spectate mega mountains - as you move beyond breathtaking passes, significantly climbing to the top of Khumbu Valley, all the way to the north. And the highlights include pristine Gokyo lakes, high altitude Cho-La Pass, the most beautiful Ama Dablam, along with Mount Everest and her siblings. 

Everest Region lies to the north of the eastern region of Nepal, in the Sagarmatha Zone. The popular Edmund-Hillary Airport, is the only route via flight to reach the region, whereas it is also possible to reach the region by foot via Ramechhap. However, the 40 minute flight to Lukla saves the unnecessary trip required to enter the region.

Being the gateway to the region, Lukla airport is one of the busiest airports in Nepal, even though it only caters to domestic airplane and chopper flights. The airport is quite small and is popular for its elevated runway that stretches to the end of the cliff ! 

Once you are in the region, your route will depend on the trip you are taking. Everest Region homes several trekking and expedition options, so you are likely to come across travelers bound accordingly along the way. 

Trek with the mighty Sherpas of the Everest Region

Everest Region is the home to Sherpas, touted as the superhumans of Everest - and without whom, climbing the mountains is going to be severely difficult if not impossible. Your guide will probably be a Sherpa. If you are onto climb the Meera Peak or such, or are ultimately headed to expedition, then you are going to learn a lot about the Sherpas and their dominance in conquering the mountain region. Their time-tested skills are suited perfectly for maneuvering the rocky and irregular terrain of the Everest Region. Trekking with them almost feels spiritual, as you are learning from the best.

The Sherpas are the native descendants of Tibetan heritage and are followers of Buddhism. The monasteries, chortens, prayer flags and stone walls richly demonstrate their religion and culture that turns the otherwise barren mountains alive with the human spirits. Moving from tea-house to tea-house, Sherpinis (female Sherpas) will amaze us with not only their native food but also European and American cuisines that trekkers prefer. Kids running up and down the hills, yaks, donkeys, our helpful guides and porters and almost everyone you meet will remind you of the rich and welcoming Sherpa culture. 

Timeless Monasteries, Villages and places to see in the Everest Region

The Everest Region, being a home to Tibetan / Sherpa tradition, houses several monasteries, and lesser known chortens and stupas. Observing / visiting these will give a perspective of how deeply the culture is embedded in the life of the natives. 

The tradition of worshipping Mother Chomolungma(Everest) before each summit, by both the Sherpas and the climbers, have never been left out since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay started the expedition. 

You will find a monastery in each village you pass or stop for overnight. Tengboche, Dingboche and Lobuche are three of the villages, named after the monasteries they house. The people use these as a source of their religion, education and connection to the spiritual self. Lamas are trained inside these institutes to carry on the tradition. During various festivals, the monasteries look even more colorful than they do on normal days. 

Besides them, small chortens and stupas are present in various parts of the mountain way where people are settled. Prayer wheels surround the stupas, so do the prayer flags rhyming with the wind and bells. 

Traveling to the Everest Region Trek, the options

Everest Base Camp Trek takes you to an altitude of 5545 meters. In this regard, it can be said that this region is definitely the most hardcore place to trek, or travel. However, this is only the start as there are several other routes you can take that offer various faces of the Everest Region. 

Gokyo Lake Trek is a great example of this trip as it forks away towards several turquoise looking mountain lakes that remind oneself if they were in heaven or earth. Cho-La Pass Trekking, three pass trekking (also known as high pass trekking), Island Peak Climbing as well as Renjo-La Pass trekking are other options available. 

Read more about High Pass Trekking in Nepal

However, since you are in the Everest Region, we recommend that you do visit the Base Camp and Kalapatthar at least once in the lifetime.

All travel options on Everest are possible with a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla airport. From there, we either follow the Everest Base Camp Route, or the alternative route that takes us to Gokyo Lakes and other popular spots.

Trekking Difficulties and Taking Care of the Logistics in the Everest Region

Everest region trekking is no piece of cake. As with all the mountain treks, high altitude sickness as well as physical/psychological challenges come with experiencing Everest. However, it is also important to note that amenities like modern food choices, comfortable tea-houses, traveler-welcoming environments as well as safety measures make Everest trekking a lot easier than it used to be a few decades ago. 

Read a trekker's experience to the Everest Base Camp

In Lukla and Namche Bazaar, you will find significantly more facilities, as they are suited to cater trekkers’ needs. You can even shop for any trekking equipment or wears that you might have missed buying back at home, or in the city.

As we move up, the amenities decrease as it is expected to. Villages are often 4-5 hours walking distance, which means that it is not required to walk a lot, even though committed trekkers might want to explore more upon their will. There’s always more to explore, as crossing one hill only brings us to the foot of another. 

To counter high altitude sickness, acclimatization is necessary. We spend two nights each at such places, often two or three times during the trip, to adapt our body to the increasing altitude.

Learn more about High Altitude Sickness.

Best Time of the Year to do the Everest Region Trek

The best time to visit the Everest Region (probably most of the mountainous region of Nepal) is tricky. To better grasp this, you need to understand the overall Nepali climate. There are two off seasons where trekking is near to none. The heavy rainfall season (June/July) as well as extreme winter (mid-Nov, Dec, Jan) are best avoided. After the extremes are ruled out, we have two different seasons that are beautiful in their own way.

Spring season is the best time to expect flowering plants and blossoming nature. April and May are two best months for the springtime. On the other hand, the months around October is best suited for a completely dry trekking experience. Spring and fall both bring about warmer days and no rain.

During spring, you might need to take special care around mosquitoes and leeches which is a bargain for the beautiful flowering spectacle. On the contrary, falls are virtually bug free. Skies are clear in both seasons. So it is up to the time and preference of the trekkers.

A bubbly one might appreciate trekking in the Everest Region around spring more whereas a loner might appreciate the barrenness of the October over the former. Everest Region Trek is spectacular in both seasons. Apart from these two seasons, some trekkers also prefer the snowy November-January Everest Region Trek. However, we recommend taking note of the weather and avoiding both extreme winter and rainy weeks.

Here is a thorough explanation of four seasons in Nepal in context of how they affect trekking.

As you scroll below, you will find various trekking and travel options in Everest Region. Just remember to book with us for a special discount.