Everest Three Passes Trek - Ethic Himalaya

At the airport; you will be met by a representative of our company and transferred to the Hotel, where you will meet us. A pre-trek briefing will be held at approx. 6:00pm to 7:00pm in the evening and is a great opportunity to get acquainted with your fellow group members before heading out to dinner. Welcome dinner at the authentic and typical Nepalese cuisine with cultural dance.  

• SWOYAMBHUNATH, also known as the monkey temple, is climbed by a long set of steps and has great views of Kathmandu.
• BOUDHANATH STUPA has many traditional Gompas hung with strings of multi-coloured prayer flags; it attracts many Sherpas and Tibetans for the circumambulations of the stupa (koras).
• PASHUPATINATH is a Hindu temple with burning Ghats on the banks of the Bagmati River.
• KATHMANDU DURBAR SQUARE, which is one of the old capitals of the Kathmandu valley, has a blend of Hindu and Buddhist temples

Your day begins early in the morning as you head for Kathmandu airport to catch to Lukla flight. Assuming the flight departs without delay, you will have fine weather with stunning views of Himalayan peaks. The trails leave Lukla through a Kaani or gateway. Soon you are walking down gently descend, past rolling farmlands that extend over what seems to be a promontory overlooking the canyon of the Dudh Koshi River. The snow peak at the head of the valley is Kumbila (5716m), the mountain sacred to the sherpas. On the way to Phakding, you will notice a boulder printed with Tibetan religious mantras (mostly; Om mani Padme hum). About 3 hour's walk, you will be in Phakding. Overnight in Phakding.  

We continue north following the Dudh Koshi river and on to Jorsale where we enter the Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park. From here it is a short walk to the confluence of two rivers, the lmja Drangpa (Imja Khola) and the Nangpo Tsangpo (Bhote Koshi) followed by a steep climb (for about 2hrs.) to Namche Bazaar, the main town in the Khumbu region. Namche is a prosperous Sherpa town and an important trading center with a weekly Saturday market. Distance: 10.5km/6.5miles approximately 5 hours walk.

This is your day for acclimatization and rest. Acclimatizing here is particularly important for the onward trek, when you begin gaining altitude quickly.

This day is meant for acclimatization and hence we do not embark on any serious trekking. Instead we go to a slightly lower altitude of Thame, the birthplace of Tenzing Norgay, the first man to summit Mt. Everest. We conduct some sightseeing of the monastery there and generally rest.

We take our breakfast and head to Lungden. The terrain from Thame to Marlung is alpine zone and there is very less vegetation. We enjoy the peace and relative solitude of this little trekked valley. After about an hour, we walk parallel to the village of Yellajung on the other side of the Bhote Koshi. We pass by the Tarngga village enjoying superb views of Kongde Ri as we look down the trail. A further 45 minutes or so on a gradually rising trail brings us to Marlung. After Marlung, we walk for about an hour and then climb a small rasing hill. Upon crossing the water stream we trek 2 to 3 hours to reach Lungden

The big day starts real early and it is a long day, as we have to walk about 5 hours to reach the pass, going slow because of the high altitude. After a brief stopover to enjoy the stunning beauty of the Everest Range and take photographs, we start on a remarkably difficult downhill journey for about 3 hours to reach the village of Gokyo walk along the stunning and beautiful Dudh Kunda (Milk Lake).

After two to three hours "huff and puff" you reach the summit not to be disappointed for your effort at all, as the views from here are well worth the effort you put in Mt. Everest (8,848m), showing more of its northern flank than from Kalapathar, with Mt. Makalu (8,481m) further to the east and Mt. Cho-Oyu (8,201m) towards the north make a mesmerizing view to watch. Return back to Gokyo Ri after spending a wonderful break at the summit.

Today, we are on the trail to Thaknak. Thaknak is also sometimes pronounced as Dragnag. We climb out of Gokyo village to a ridge. Then, we take the route through the Ngozumpa Glacier to the mountain on the other side. Continuing further and traversing along the edge of that mountain, we descend down to Thaknak, which will be 3 hours walk. On the trek, we enjoy the magnificent views of Cho-Oyu, Gokyo Ri and other high Himalayas.

Today, we trek to the Cho La Pass. Cho La pass is also another show up of this trip. Today is going to be one of the toughest days. The pass is not itself difficult but it is steep and involves a glacier traverse on the eastern side. We need to be careful as the trail is vertical and the rocks glazed by ice add trouble to the trekkers making the trail slippery. Our trail climbs through a ravine and a rocky trail. So, we climb up continuously up from Phedi. We trek through the side of a frozen lake while we come to the top of the pass decorated with prayer flags. We need to pass through some crevasses before we reach Dzongla, another beautiful place with a complete view of Mt. Cholatse, Mt. Ama Dablam, Lobuche peak and the Pheriche village far below.

After a breakfast at Dzongla, we head to Gorakshep. It is easy downhill for a while and few up and down till Lobuche. Onwards, the trail is though rocky trail with a great view of Mt. Everest, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Pumori and many more. The interesting part of this today is you are walking by the moraine of Khumbu icefall till Gorakshep, which will be 4 hours walk.

We start early in the morning to catch the dramatic views from Kalapathar witnessing the first light of day shining on Mt. Everest. Familiar the most famous peaks such as Lingtren, Khumbutse, Changtse to the east and Mt. Everest between the west shoulder crest and Nuptse. After 2 hours of ascent, we will be Kalapathar. From this juncture, we scramble to climb the rocky outcrop near to the summit marked by cairns and prayer flags. As we reach the top, we sit on the Kalapathar where our eyes rook taking in the unbelievable Himalayan Panorama, wandering from one mighty massif to another. Overnight at Gorakshep

After a light lunch we will set off to walk to Everest Base Camp which is approximately 4 to 5 hour return trek back to Gorakshep. After crossing the sandy flat at Gorakshep the trail climbs onto the lateral moraine of the Khumbu glacier and ascends the side of the glacier for two hours before finally descending onto rocky glacial moraine. The trail then winds up and down and through fascinating ice sera’s to Everest Base Camp where there are fantastic close up views of the Khumbu ice fall. After a short stop we will retrace our trail back to Gorakshep. On being back to Gorakshep and continue to walk to Lobuche of 2 hours walking.

After breakfast at the lodge, your day will start walking through Khumbu glacier towards east. After crossing the glacier and river the trail leads up to the pass which is the highest pass Kongma La Pass of this trip. There will be no tea shop and water resource so that you will have to carry few bottles of water to drink. After hard climb to the top, the trail drops steep down to the Chhukung valley where your day ends. Stay overnight at the lodge.

Chhukung is also the starting point for the Island Peak Climbing. Now we are getting closer to the Himalayan civilization of the Khumbu Region. The Imja Khola joins the Dudh Koshi River a little above the Pangboche Village. There is a famous monastery at Pangboche believed to have been the oldest in the Khumbu region. From Pangboche, we descend down the alpine desert and back into greenery of pine forests. The path leads to a steep uphill climb into Tengboche. We pay our visit to the famous Tengboche Monastery.

From Tenboche, we make a steep descend and the trail leads us back along the Dudh Koshi River. We keep a lookout for wild life such as mountain goats, snow leopards, colorful pheasants while passing through the forest by the trail. After passing a Chorten, we reach the army camp at of Namche Bazar; where we want to take a long last look back to Lhotse, the tip of Everest and Tengboche. The final steep climb traverses the hill side taking us to Namche Bazaar. We take a nice hot shower and have very relaxed sleep in our room in Namche Bazar

The trail descends steeply downward so we need to walk slowly and under control as our shaky legs continuously battle the rocky terrain. After crossing the suspension bridges over the fast flowing Dudh Koshi River and its tributaries the trail becomes more level and natural. Upon arrival in Lukla, we stretch those sore legs and recall the experiences of the last couple of weeks. We experience the culmination of a fantastic trek on a happy note with everyone back safe and sound with smile on faces.

Early morning flight back to Kathmandu. We can take a rest and relax throughout the day at our hotel.