Island Peak Climbing 21 days

Welcome to Himalayan country Nepal. You will be met by us at Kathmandu airport on arrival to Nepal and transferred to the hotel of your choice. Remainder of the day is at free. This evening you may wish to visit the lovely Thamel area.

Kathmandu sightseeing tour visit Pashupatinath temple, Boudhanath stupa, Kathmandu durbar square and Swoyambhunath stupa known as monkey temple. All these places are listed in world heritage sites. A pre-trek briefing will be conducted in the afternoon; also you will be introduced to your guide.

In the morning get short flight of 40 minutes to Lukla. Watch the rugged foothills to the highest mountains while flying to Lukla. Once we are at Lukla, start trek to Phakding. Today is an easy trekking; it takes 3/4 hours. It’s gradual downhill and uphill walking passing village, Mani stones, yaks and porter on the trail. We stay there in a teahouse.

Trek to Namche passes through the village of Benker, Monjo and Jorsale and then along the river. We will cross two bridges before beginning the steep ascent to Namche, which can take up to three hours to complete. Be aware that there are no tea houses or lodges on this path, so ensure that you have ample water to get you to the top. In addition, you are now heading into a high altitude area, so take it easy. Even the fittest people may get altitude sickness. Phakding to Namche takes 6/7 hours walk, almost all uphill. At about half-way up the hill, a gap in the trees allows us to see Everest for the first time. If the weather is clear the top of the South-West Face will be just visible behind the long Lhotse-Nuptse ridge.

Namche is the most prosperous and the largest town in the Khumbu. Every Saturday market is held at Namche bazzar. The wares on display include grains and vegetables, tennis shoes and trinkets as well as hand woven aprons and Tibetan boots. The Sherpas play host to trader from the foothills, as well as Tibetans from over the border. Thamserku (6648m), Kwangde Ri (6187m) and Khumbila (5707m) surround the natural bowl that Namche sits in day hiking trip to Khunde / Khumjung and Syangboche and descend back to Namche for acclimatization. Dinner and overnight camp at Namche Bazaar.

After a short but steep climb out of Namche Bazaar, then walk on a fairly level trail to the villages of Kyangjuma and Sanasa. After a short while, the trail descends to the level of the Dudh Koshi River, and you will pass a few hamlets and cross several bridges. Then at the hamlet of Phunki Thanga, the trail ascends steeply. There are no tea houses or lodges on this stretch, so take some refreshment in Phunki Thanga and stock up on water for 2/3 hours climb to Tengboche. Please take it easy while trekking up. The air is thinner than you are aware! You want to avoid mountain sickness.

After an early breakfast, we tour the largest and most important monastery in the region, Thangboche. The trekking trail passes through the villages of Deboche and Pangboche (3860m). All these villages offer food and lodgings. Pangboche is probably the most pleasant as it is surrounded by trees. So, if you decide to take the journey slowly, this is the best place to rest and relax and over a short hill to the small village of Periche.

We spend a day, acclimatization by climbing a spectacular point of rock above Dingboche. You will need to take a day to acclimatize to the high altitude. Take short, slow walks around the village, marvel at the peaks and dig out the book you bought, but whatever you do, do not push it at this point. If you begin to feel unwell, inform your guide or lodge owner and return as quickly as possible to a lower altitude. The experts say hike high sleep low. So some Nepal experts recommend that if you are feeling well, to hike each day to a higher elevation than you will sleep.

After a short walk we’ll climb the moraine of the mighty Khumbu Glacier. Spend the night in this small village packed with tourists. There are several lodges at this village but not much to do here besides eat and sleep. Often trekkers entering Lobuche will find the lodges full and may have to share a room with a stranger or sleep in the common room. Even if you have a room, you may be asked by the lodge owner to share it with someone.

We will start early for our trek to Base camp. This is a fairly easy hike and should take about 3 hours. You can take a short side-trip and visit the Everest Pyramid, a weather station built by Italians. In Gorak Shep there is a small, usually frozen lake. This village now has three lodges: Himalaya Lodge, Snowland Lodge and the Kala Pattar lodge. Gorak Shep will be your base to visit the Everest Base Camp (5380m) and to climb the hill behind the lodges called Kala Patthar (5643m) with great views of Mt. Everest and surrounding mountains.

Gorak shep to Kalapather trekking, it is about 2 hrs walk early in the morning to see sunrise over mount Everest and continue trek to Dingboche over night stay.

Branch off from our standard Everest base camp trek. We will take a leisurely walk up to Chukkung Village at 4700 metres.

Today we will go up to Island Peak base camp at 5100 meters.

Rest in Island Peak base camp and train to ascend and descend fixed ropes.

We will wake up in the middle of the night and slowly and carefully head for the top at 6189 metres. Walk down to base camp.

Today we will make a relaxed walk down to Pangboche via Chukkung and Dingboche.

We will walk back to Namche Bazaar.

Return to Lukla where we spend the night

Fly from Lukla to Kathmandu. Transfer to hotel, evening cultural show and dinner.

Do take a taxi out to Bhaktapur if you wish to visit an impressive temple city.

Transfer to airport. Good bye everyone, it was nice meeting you.