Deluxe Everest Heli Adventure

Day 1 - Arrival Kathmandu

Namaste! Welcome to Kathmandu! We’ll be at Tribhuvan International Airport to greet you.
Once you’re through customs and have your bags – we can’t wait to meet you in face-to-face! You may be tired from a long day (or two!) of travelling, so we’ll take you directly to your hotel to freshen up. You can join us for some easy yoga to make you feel more grounded after your journey, if you’re interested. We’ll have an early dinner tonight since you may like to get to bed early. In case your flight arrives after dinner, we’ll pick you up from the airport and make sure you have something amazing to eat before you go to bed!  

Day 2 – Kathmandu Sightseeing and Welcome Dinner

We’ll start the day with an early walk to Swayambunath, the Monkey Temple. Bring your day pack, water and camera! Kathmandu's elevation is 4,593’, so for most of us, this will be an opportunity to get accustomed to a bit of elevation while walking and chatting. Be prepared for a climb. There are 365 stairs leading up to the temple from the main entrance. After a little exploring, we’ll return to our hotel, drop our packs and freshen up for lunch. Your first full day in Kathmandu can be a bit overwhelming, so after lunch, we’ll take a rest and then all are welcome to join me for some yoga or you can explore the surrounding area on your own. We’ll have our welcome dinner tonight, now that everyone has arrived and is better rested!  

Day 3 - Kathmandu Sightseeing and Trek Prep

This morning we’ll walk to Durbar Square, a really beautiful world heritage site, passing by markets and taking in the vibrant streets of Kathmandu on the way there. We’ll spend time exploring Durbar Square, nearby Freak Street, and have a chance to see the Kumari, a living goddess. We’ll have lunch here overlooking the square. After lunch, we’ll head back to the hotel for some yoga and a rest. We’ll discuss our packing list for the trek one more time and you can get anything that you may have forgotten here in Thamel. We’ll have an early dinner since we have an early flight to catch in the morning!  

Day 4 – Helicopter Flight to Lukla and Trek to Phakding

The big day is here! Buckle up for a breathtaking helicopter flight from Kathmandu to Lukla! Once we arrive, we’ll meet up with our porters and start the trek to Phakding. The hike from Lukla to Phakding isn’t very long – 4.66 miles and we actually decrease in elevation. Don’t be fooled though! We’re still at a relatively high altitude – Lukla sits at 9100 ft and Phakding is at 8563 ft – and there are quite a few ups and downs on the trail. We’ll have lunch once we arrive at the Namaste Lodge and spend the afternoon relaxing and stretching with some yoga in the afternoon. We will plan on an early dinner and bedtime so that we can get an early start the next day! 

Day 5 – Trek Phakding to Namche Bazaar

Good morning! We’ll have a very early breakfast before hitting the trail this morning. We like to start earlier in the day to give us the best chance of avoiding the rain that sometimes moves into the mountains in the afternoon. Today is a really fun, challenging day as we climb over 3000 vertical feet to Namche Bazaar, which is at 11,290’. We officially enter Sagarmatha National Park in Monjo, and soon after the real climbing begins. We’ll takea more relaxed pace today – slow and steady always wins this race! – so we have a chance to glimpse Everest for the first time. We will make it to Namche Bazaar in time for a late lunch (our total walking time is  just shy of 6 hours – we’ll snack on the way!) and then can spend the afternoon taking it easy. We encourage you to take your down time seriously here! It’s important to rest so that you feel strong for the rest of the trek.  Tomorrow is an acclimatization day!

Day 6 – Acclimatize in Namche Bazaar

We’ll meet for a leisurely breakfast prior to our acclimatization hike. Get ready for lots of beautiful views – definitely bring your camera for today’s hike! We’ll climb high and then head back down to our lodge for something to eat before taking the afternoon to explore the village of Namche. We can do some easy restorative yoga later in the day and then have dinner early so that we can get on the trail again first thing tomorrow morning. 

Day 7 – Trek to Tengboche

Today we walk from Namche Bazaar to the village of Tengboche. We climb about 1500 feet today, although there’s a really big downhill portion before we hit the really big uphill portion! Again, we’ll snack on the trail and get to Tengboche in time for lunch. This village is exceptionally beautiful and is home to Tengboche Monastery, the largest gompa in the Khumbu region. After lunch, we’ll have a chance to visit the monastery where we can observe the monks chanting. Layer up – it can be very chilly inside the monastery! 

Day 8 – Trek to Pheriche

We’ll wake up in time to see the sunrise in Tengboche – it’s an awfully pretty sight. On today’s walk we clear the tree line before we arrive in Pheriche. Pheriche sits just shy of 14,000 feet and is home to the Himalayan Rescue Association, a non-profit volunteer-based medical outpost formed to prevent casualties in the Nepal Himalaya. Today’s hike isn’t terribly long or difficult, but we’ll take it slow and steady since we’re starting to really get up there in altitude! After we have lunch, we’ll relax, do a meditation if you’d like and then have dinner. 

Day 9 – Acclimitize in Periche

Our second acclimatization day! We’ll meet for breakfast before going on a slow hike up the ridge above Pheriche. There are breathtaking views of Ama Dablam from here, so we’ll take our time looking around. In the afternoon, we’ll attend a talk on altitude sickness given by the doctors at the HRA post - it’s an incredibly interesting discussion, and it’s amazing to hear about the experiences that the doctors who volunteer there have had. Again, rest is the name of the game today, so we’ll do some slow yoga before dinner and an early to bed.

Day 10 – Upwards to Lobuce

Today we climb slowly to Lobuche. We will take a moment to visit Chukla Lare, the haunting, but beautiful, memorials to those who have died on Everest. We’ll arrive in Lobuche before lunch, and will have plenty of time later in the day to stretch with some yoga. It starts to get pretty cold up here, so we’ll layer up and drink lots of tea to keep ourselves warm and cozy this evening! 

Day 11 – The Big Day - Trek to Gorak Shep, Everest Base Camp and Sunset at Kala Pathar

We are going to Everest Base Camp today! We’ll arrive in Gorak Shep in time for an early lunch. At an altitude of 16,942’, this is the highest elevation at which we will sleep. After we eat some warm food, we’ll push on to Everest Base Camp, carefully walking over the Khumbu glacier. We’ll take our time once we get there so that we can celebrate the accomplishment of making it to EBC. We’ll return to Gorak Shep for some tea and a bit of rest. For those of you who are feeling extra adventurous, we’ll climb Kala Patthar to see the sunset light up Mt. Everest. When we return to Gorak Shep it will be dark, so please bring your headlamp! Dinner and sleep are both well-earned this evening!

Day 12 – Return to Kathmandu via Helicopter to Patan and Farewell Dinner

Today we catch an early morning chopper from Gorakshep to Kathmandu. We'll have one last chance to glimpse at Everest Base Camp and Kala Pattar while we retrace out trek through the beautiful mountains that we’ve called home for the last eight days. We will stay in Patan tonight so that you can see a different part of the Kathmandu Valley. We’ll spend the afternoon exploring Patan Durbar Square. Tonight we have our farewell dinner where we’ll celebrate all that we’ve accomplished and the friendships that have been built. 

Day 13 – Departure Kathmandu

Today we all go our separate ways…for now! Time to start planning our next great adventure!