Location · Everest Region
The highest settlement on the route at 5,164 m: four lodges on a frozen lakebed, used as the launch point for Base Camp and Kala Patthar.
Gorak Shep occupies the sandy bed of a glacial lake that dried out long ago. It is the highest place on the standard route where you can sleep indoors, and almost nobody sleeps well: at 5,164 m, resting heart rates run high and Cheyne-Stokes breathing is common.
Both objectives leave from here — Everest Base Camp is a three-hour round trip across the moraine, Kala Patthar a steep two-hour climb for the view of Everest itself.
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Trek
Fourteen days from Kathmandu to the moraine beneath the Khumbu Icefall and back, on the best-supported trekking route in the world. No technical skill required — but 5,364 metres asks a great deal of your acclimatisation.
Everest Region · Nepal14 daysModerate5,545 m
Trek
The full Khumbu circuit: Kongma La, Cho La and Renjo La, plus Base Camp, Kala Patthar and the Gokyo lakes. Twenty days, three 5,300 m-plus passes, and the most complete way to see the Everest region.
Everest Region · Nepal20 daysStrenuous5,545 m
Itinerary
The standard fourteen-day EBC plan with both acclimatisation days intact, a built-in weather buffer, and honest costs for each stage.
Nepal14 daysAdventure
Travel Guide
How Lukla flights actually work: the Manthali switch, why cancellations happen, what a helicopter costs, and how many buffer days you really need.
Everest Region · NepalPractical guide