Navigating Nepal: The two weeks to Everest Base Camp

Cover Image: A hiker on a G Adventures trip takes in a view of Mt. Everest. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

The Himalayas felt unreachable at the start of the year.

But in a flurry of pitches and last-minute bookings, we were signed up for a G Adventures trek to Everest Base Camp.

At the peak of Nepal’s hiking season in May, seven international hikers — spanning four nationalities, two decades of age and a half-dozen professions — joined a phenomenal Nepali crew for the trek.

Video by Stephen Higgins.

In two weeks, our hiking team turned into a family and made it to base camp without incident — well, without major incident.

This is a snippet of our trip:

DAY 1 | KATHMANDU

Views of Kathmandu. Photos by Anton L. Delgado and Stephen Higgins.

Eclectic is the only way to describe our group.

Members included a 19-year-old gap year student from London and a nearly 40-year-old police detective from Australia — a duo who soon became roommates and inseparable travel buddies.

There was also a pair of American cousins who already had exciting stories to share by our first meeting. One had lost her bag in transit, arriving in Nepal for 14 days in the Himalayas without any clothes. The other, an emergency room physician assistant, had responded to a mid-air medical emergency.

Combined with two photographers and the most memorable skin care professional in Sydney, we were the definition of a motley crew.

Our first dinner together was a six-course Nepali meal. This was when we first heard the phrase “Dal Bhat Power, 24 Hour,” a local mountain-climber's mantra for the traditional meal of lentils and steamed rice. By the end of the trip — and an infinite helping of lentils later — the words would be forever pressed into our minds.

For our first, for the time being, last night in Kathmandu, those of us who had gear checked it, charged it and packed it for the long trail ahead. And so we began.

DAY 2 | KATHMANDU – MANTHALI

In a whirlwind of morning shopping, Shankar, our chief experience officer (CEO) from G Adventures, outfitted our luggage-less hiker with everything she needed.

With her packed, we were off for our eight-hour drive to Manthali.

The winding mountain roads were both scenic and nauseating. Passengers popped Dramamine pills like M&M’s.

A neighborhood game of cricket in Manthali. Photos by Stephen Higgins.

We arrived in Manthali, a staging point to Everest trail, at sunset. Just in time to catch a make-shift, neighborhood game of cardboard cricket before dinner.

After another healthy portion of Dal Bhat, we called it an early night. The morning flight to Lukla — a town known as the gateway to the Everest region — was on the top of everyone’s mind before bed.

DAY 3 | MANTHALI – LUKLA – PHAKDING

Alarms rang at 3:45 a.m. for the pitch-black drive to Ramechhap Airport. Our group was first to the gate, meaning we made the first flight to Lukla. Half of us didn’t know it at the time, but Lukla also happens to be one of the world’s most dangerous airports.

The Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

Ignorance is bliss, especially for the white-knuckle flight and landing. Raj, our assistant CEO with G Adventures, held a few anxious hands as we throttled into town.

Now officially in the Khumbu Region, we hit the trail after breakfast. Finally entering Sagarmatha National Park with an introductory four-hour hike to Phakding.

The first hike in Sagarmatha National Park. Photos by Anton L. Delgado.

To celebrate the dual successes of our landing and first hike, a few rounds of extremely competitive card games kept us giggling into the evening.

DAY 4 | PHAKDING – NAMCHE BAZAR

We covered some ground with a 12-kilometer (~7.5 mile) push to Namche Bazar and our first gentle ascent up 790 meters (~2,592 feet).

Our path met stunning suspension bridges hanging over deep gorges. These were more fun to admire from a distance than cross, especially when sharing the swinging bridges with beasts of burden.

Thamserku Mountain and the trail to Namche Bazar. Photos by Anton L. Delgado and Stephen Higgins.

The clouds parted as we rounded the final curve to Namche. This gave us a view of our first Himalayan peak. Standing at 6,608 meters (~21,680 feet), Thamserku dwarfs North America’s tallest peak, Alaska’s 20,310-foot-tall Mt. Denali.

A flip-flopped stroll around town led us to the cheeky discovery of YakBucks Coffee and Yak Donuts. Not to mention high-end outdoor clothing stores, karaoke bars, Irish Pubs, barber shops and even a sushi joint.

We ended up at the highest basketball court in Nepal, where we sadly found we were no better playing at 3,440 meters (~11,286 feet) than we were at sea level.

Hoops at the highest basketball court in Nepal. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

DAY 5 | NAMCHE BAZAR

For our acclimatization day in Namche, we hiked up Syangboche at 3,780 meters (~12,400 feet).

Our upwards plod gave us a panoramic view of the impressively large mountainside settlement ringed by snow-capped Himalayan peaks.

View of Namche from Syangboche. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

The local non-profit Sagarmatha Next sits at Syangboche’s summit. The organization promotes sustainable tourism, with a focus on plastic waste in the Khumbu Region.

Inspired, many of us committed to taking part in the organization’s “Carry Me Back” initiative that asks hikers to help haul one-kilogram bags of trash back out of the national park.

It was a promise we kept.

G Adventures guests join Sagarmatha Next’s Carry Me Back initiative. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

Our G Adventures CEO Shankar introduced us to the rest of the Sherpa diet upon returning to Namche. With our Dal Bhat, we chugged steaming hot ginger lemon honey teas, paired with garlic soup. The broth is said to combat altitude sickness with a complex recipe of garlic with hot water, spiced by more garlic.

DAY 6 | NAMCHE BAZAR – TENGBOCHE

For an unlucky few in the group, the first feeling of the day was a gentle stomach gurgle. This was an early indication of the humbling experiences to come.

The 10-kilometer (~6 miles) trek from Namche to Tengboche included a 420-meter (~1,378 feet) climb, which also gave us our first view of Mt. Everest.

A G Adventures group’s first view of Mt. Everest. Photos by Anton L. Delgado and Stephen Higgins.

Despite the Digestive biscuits nibbled at lunch, morale dipped as the trek continued.

Thankfully, we had our G Adventures guides, Raj and Shankar. They bolstered us with infectious energy that kept us putting one foot after another.

A humbling day on the trail. Photo by Shankar Bhattrai.

The last of us limped into the warm embrace of Tengboche Monastery, the largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the Khumbu Region, close to sunset. We listened to the monks as they chanted their evening mantras, signalling the welcome end to a long day.

DAY 7 | TENGBOCHE – DINGBOCHE

The stomach bugs the day before were not the last. With most of the group gripping their tummies, our ever-more ragged team took on a section of the trail described as a “Nepali flat.”

Shankar and Raj said this meant it was flat for Nepal standards, with “a little bit up, down and all around.” Our smiles were fixed as we began the 12 kilometers (~7.5 miles) to Dingboche.

A G Adventures group on the trail to Everest Base Camp. Photo by Stephen Higgins.

Misery loves company. As each of us hiked through our highs and lows, the line-up constantly shuffled.

Through out-of-breath but intimate conversations — intermixed with curses and complaints — strangers became friends in the unique way that only shared suffering on the trail can forge.

Clouds crept in as we bore down on Dingboche, tuckered out but in higher spirits with the hike at an end. We were warmed that night by ginger lemon honey tea and gasoline-soaked yak turds.

G Adventures hikers on the trail to Everest Base Camp. Photo by Stephen Higgins.

DAY 8 | DINGBOCHE

The day’s 7 a.m. wake-up call was met with a chorus of moans and groans. We all felt the past five days, 50 kilometers (~31 miles) and 1,750-meter (~5,741 feet) climb in altitude.

Our acclimatization hike up Hagarzang Hill was deceptively hard, with our ascent socked in by clouds. Huddled 300 meters (~984 feet) up, we finally got a view.

View of Hagarzang Hill. Photos by Greg Sikora and Anton L. Delgado.

After a series of selfies, the sunny walk down was hardly noticeable.

DAY 9 | DINGBOCHE – LOBUCHE

In somewhat better health and spirits, we set out for Lobuche, about 11-kilometers (~6.8 miles) away.

The 510-meter (~1,673 feet) ascent took us past the Everest Memorial, which honors the hundreds of mountaineers who have lost their lives attempting the climb, and serves as a reminder of the importance of safety while trekking.

A hiker on the trail to Everest Base Camp. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

With clear skies overhead, it was a helicopter highway to Lobuche. The steady hum of rotors served as a soundtrack as we traversed rolling hills and grassy plains.

The pleasant weather of the afternoon was soon forgotten as snow began to fall during pre-dinner card games.

Pre-dinner card games at a tea house in Lobuche. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

With no gasoline-soaked yak turds on hand, we gripped our ginger lemon honey teas as one of the coldest nights of the trek began.

DAY 10 | LOBUCHE – EVEREST BASE CAMP – GORAKSHEP

The excitement of reaching base camp thawed us out of our bunks at 5 a.m.

The three-hour trek from Lobuche to Gorakshep was fast-paced, as we all fixated on base camp. After lunch, we packed every piece of warm wear we had and set out.

A G Adventures group reaches Everest Base Camp. Photos by Nabraj Simkhada and Stephen Higgins.

The final approach to base camp was otherworldly, with glacial ponds, snowy paths and dagger-like icicles making it almost moonlike.

At 5,364 meters (~17,600 feet), this was the highest elevation any of us had ever been. The thrill of actually having made it to base camp seemed to shield us from the steady hail that peppered us on arrival.

At the well-known Everest Base Camp rock, we reflected on the long road — which went far beyond the trail itself — it took us all to get here.

For our Australian policeman, this trip had been a five-year plan delayed by COVID-19 and later pleasantly pushed back by the birth of his first child. He carried his daughter’s stuffed animal and letters of encouragement from his family every step of the way.

For our American cousins, their trip to Nepal was the first they had seen each other in close to a decade. Now bonded by Everest, we all hope this is the first of many shared future adventures between the two.

For our photographers, one had spent the start of the year bed-bound, recovering from surgery. Completing a trek like this seemed beyond his reach — until today. For the other, a professional adventure photographer who spends most of the year in the mountains, seeing Everest was a lifelong dream, now a reality.

View of Everest Base Camp. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

We all sighed a breath of relief back in Gorakshep.

With almost every member of our team struggling at some point with altitude sickness or food poisoning, we had all harbored doubts about making it to base camp.

A round of Barahsinghe Beers celebrated that we had.

DAY 11 | GORAKSHEP – KALA PATTHAR – PHERICHE

The 3:15 a.m. call time, combined with a 380-meter (~1,246 feet) climb in negative 12° Celsius (~10° Fahrenheit) in the pitch black for a sliver of a chance to see Mt. Everest, kept half of us in bed.

Views from Kala Patthar. Photos by Anton L. Delgado.

Four made it out the door for the crawl up Kala Patthar, a renowned hike with a panoramic view of Mt. Everest. Our headlamp beams disco-ed up the trail as we violently shook our hand warmers.

A weather window at daybreak revealed our first stunning view of Mt. Everest, which we only had minutes to appreciate. Clouds soon blanketed us and morale dipped as dozens of other hikers turned back.

We openly discussed joining them, but our G Adventures team thankfully encouraged us on. We huffed and puffed to the summit.

View of Mt. Everest. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

The weather soon cleared, leaving us a view of a lifetime. Deliriously ecstatic, we found ourselves in a photographer’s paradise on the hike down.

After a rushed breakfast, our full team pushed out of Gorakshep. Thankfully, the warmer weather held as we took our first steps home and tired legs wobbled to Pheriche.

DAY 12 | PHERICHE – NAMCHE BAZAR

With base camp behind us, we bolted back to Namche.

The 21-kilometer (~13 mile) rush to Namche dropped us 760 meters (~2,493 feet), giving immediate relief to those with altitude sickness.

Looking over our shoulders, we glimpsed our last view of Mt. Everest.

Final view of Mt. Everest. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

In hindsight, warmed and showered, we all hope to see Mt. Everest again in our lifetimes. Then and there, however, we were thrilled to be marching in the opposite direction.

Back in Namche, we cut loose.

Still relatively disheveled, our hiking family hit the town in force. After a few Barahsinghe Beers, our evening was immortalized on a local watering hole’s Google page.

The Google page of Liquid Bar in Namche.

Liquid Bar for life.

DAY 13 | NAMCHE BAZAR – LUKLA

We faced a second 20-kilometer (~12 mile) day to Lukla. We experienced the miserable beginning of monsoon season in the Himalayas.

We were drenched before most of us could don our rain gear.

Long lines of hikers, just starting out on their treks, passed us in our misshapen ponchos as we took shots of local rice wine to stay warm. Slipping and sliding on suspicious-smelling mud, we were warmed by the thought that this was our last day — and the knowledge we weren’t headed in the same direction as those other hikers. Maybe the Nepali moonshine helped as well.

Shankar and Raj with G Adventures on a trip to Everest Base Camp. Photos by Anton L. Delgado and Stephen Higgins.

In Lukla, we said farewell to our G Adventures trekking support crew: Raj, our assistant CEO, and our three steadfast porters, Bhabiraj, Kamal and Dambar. Without them, we knew none of us would have come near Mt. Everest.

DAY 14 | LUKLA – KATHMANDU

Once again, we were among the first to the airport. But dozens soon followed. In the overcrowded departures area, our team waited for a flight to an unknown destination.

View of the Himalayas. Photo by Anton L. Delgado.

International air traffic consistently reroutes domestic flights from Lukla to Kathmandu, which would lead us back to Manthali and onto another eight-hour road trip back to the capital.

With wagers made, we boarded. The spectacular midair views weren’t our only stroke of luck. Our G Adventures CEO Shankar had worked his magic one last time — gifting us with the landing we prayed for and an extra day to explore Kathmandu.

Disembarking at Tribhuvan International Airport, the losers of certain bets followed through, kissing the ground in relief.

Hikers with G Adventures land in Kathmandu. Photos by Stephen Higgins.

We spent our last dinner gobbling down brownie sizzlers and reveling in newfound friendships. We toasted to Nepal, cheers-ed to Shankar and drank to future adventures — wherever they may be and whoever they may be with.

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Presented in partnership with G Adventures