Buddhist 3 High Passes Trek

Your guide will meet you at your hotel in the morning to begin your city tour of Kathmandu. You will visit the Boudhanath temple, the largest Buddhist stupa in Nepal, Pashupatinath, a Hindu pilgrimage site, and possibly view cremation ceremonies along the banks of the Bagmati River. Continue drive to Patan Durbar Square to see ancient Nepalese architecture and end your tour after lunch. Then, you will visit the Patan museum. Overnight in Kathmandu

A very early morning wake up and transfer to the domestic airport to board our flight to Lukla. We take off to our destination on a 35 min scenic mountain flight to Lukla. After a cup of tea at local Lodge in Lukla we are treading on the legendary “Everest Highway” which heads downwards through the alpine valley following the “Dudh Kosi” or milk river (named after its milky colour from glacial silt). We reach Phakding after 3hrs walk and end our first day here.

To day we walk mostly uphill through the alpine valleys. We will cross Dudh Kosi River a few times before we reach Namche Bazaar, the Sherpa capital of the Khumbu region. On a clear day you can get views of Everest, Lhotse, Thamserku, Kusum Kangru, Kwangde and Taweche on the way to Namche.

Acclimatization is important before proceeding to higher altitudes. This is the first acclimatization day in Namche bazaar that everyone should make into their trekking itinerary. You can explore around and relax.

The trail to Thame heads out from the Namche Gompa and leads up to Thamo. It is pretty steep climbing to Thame from Thamo, so it would be better to spend the night in Thame. Thame is a small village and has some nice views of surrounding peaks. It also has an interesting Gompa which is possible to visit.

Walk through Nakpa Valley which falls on the old trade route of Tibet. During the trek you can visit to Darkyachhulung peak, Marlung sacred site of Warfield, and Lake Cho Relmo.

The trail to Gokyo is a gradual ascent up the valley via Renjo La Pass and after crossing the pass we walk down through patches of birch and rhododendron forest and small yak-grazing pastures until we reach Gokyo. The Renjo La Pass route is off the beaten track. From the pass, we can have a glimpse of the Gokyo lake on one side, the Rermo Pokhari lakes on the other side, and a myriad of snowy peaks in the background provides an incredible environment.

Gokyo is situated by the side of Ngozumpa glacier, the biggest glacier of Nepal. Today you can make a side trip to Gokyo valley and climb Gokyo Peak. It is a steep climb to the moraine, switch backing alongside the stream to the first small lake and the trail then becomes almost level as it follows the valley past a second lake, known as Longponga and finally up a boulder-strewn path to Gokyo where you will have overnight stay.

Today we wake up early in the morning to see the sunrise and panoramic view of Everest, Lhotse and Makalu from Gokyo Ri. Some say it is even better to view the sunrise and mountains than that from Kala Patthar. After breakfast, we set out the journey towards Thagnag. It takes a couple of hours to reach where you will have overnight stay at lodge.

We wake up early in the morning and start our climb and cross Chola pass. This is the route to Everest Region where you can have a beautiful view of Amadablam, Cho-latse, Barnutse, Makalu Lhotse. After crossing the Chola Pass you will descend towards approximate 1000 feet and again make some ascents and descents until you reach to Dzongla where you will have overnight stay at lodge.

The trail from Dzongla undulates gently above a small glacial lake and passes along the beautiful summit of Cholatse and Taboche and the small Chola glacier. You will walk towards Ama Dablam but then, following the contour of the hill, you veer off towards the North and eventually descend into the valley and reach Gorakshep. Same day we make excursion to Kalapatther and then come back to Gorakshep for overnight stay at lodge. Here we set up the highest camp on this trek. We explore Kalapatther for having magnificent views of the major eastern Himalayan peaks including Mt. Everest. It often gets quite cold at night, -20C is not unusual even in October

Today is our special day that we will set foot at the coveted Everest Base Camp. We will spend some hours at Everest Base Camp, have lunch and head out to Lobuche. The path is quite rocky and it moves along the bank of Lobuche Glacier. While trekking, you can enjoy the spectacular views of Cholatse, Tawache, Ama Dablam, Pokalde, Thamserku, Kantega and many other peaks.

Today we cross Kongma la (pass; 5535m) and continue trek to Chhukung. While trekking we will enjoy spectacular view of the surrounding mountains, especially Lhotse’s massive south wall.

We will trek a few hours up along the Imja Kola to Chhukhung, a seasonal herding village nestled under Ama Dablam, Lhotse, the Nuptse wall, Peak 38 and Island peak, After lunch (or before with a snack) we have the option to climb Chhukhung Ri, a climbing peak with two summits, the higher at about 5530m. From the summit, the views of Makalu in particular are awesome. Another option is to wander up the rolling valley, very central Tibetan in style, (after negotiating the ridges of the glacial moraine just above us) towards Island Peak Base Camp, a three hour journey up and then descend to Dingboche,

The trek continues through summer pastures along the trail. The trail descends the left flank of the Dudh Kosi valley to Tengboche, where we will visit the Tengboche Monastery, spiritual center of the Khumbu region. The descent is short and we will enjoy views of Mt. Amadablam and on clear days we can see Mt. Everest and its surrounding peaks.

Today we start our long 5 hour descent to Monjo. We will have our lunch in Namche bazaar and then continue our trek descending until we reach the village of Monjo (2,950m) for overnight.

The next morning we head for Lukla. In the end we spend more time descending this day. During this day we see many new groups on the trail heading out to Namche. At a teahouse at Lukla we will toast over a beer the incredible trip we just finished and spent some time reflecting over our experiences.

We pack up early and head for the airstrip to catch a flight back to Kathmandu Upon arrival in Kathmandu the rest of your day is free to do your own things. You could do some last minute shopping and packing, or send a few post cards home or even go down for a stroll to Thamel.