24 days off the map, best decision i made this year
Makalu base camp is a different beast entirely compared to everest or annapurna. barely saw another trekking group the whole way, sherson camp felt like we had the mountain to ourselves. free day there for the side hike was rough at 4600m but views back toward makalu itself, unreal. camping route through tashi gaon and kohma danda tested me way more than i expected honestly. 24 days sounds excessive until you’re out there and it just feels right.
Elias Wagner
Leipzig, Germany
Did 2 trek in half the time, wow
ok this trek is basically two treks stapled together and it’s great. poon hill sunrise, cool, ticked the box. then bamboo forest section randomly became my favorite part which i did not see coming. abc morning was foggy at first then just cleared out of nowhere, whole camp cheered. jhinu hot spring at the end, mandatory stop don’t skip it. legs destroyed, would do again immediately
Casey Nguyen
Auckland, New Zealand
ABC hits different when you earn it through poon hill first
Did the combined trek instead of picking one and no regrets. tadapani views on day 5 kind of stole the show early on , wasn’t expecting much from that stop but it delivered big. forest walk toward deurali on day 7 was longer than i mentally prepared for, legs were screaming by the end. base camp morning made up for everything though, clouds cleared right on cue. jhinu hot spring after is basically mandatory at that point, my whole group just sat in there for hours.
Ryder Collins
Perth, Australia
Stayed extra day to enjoy jhinu hot spring, worth it
Combining these two treks into one was the right call. poon hill morning was busy but still worth the early wake up, whole crowd going silent when the light hit the peaks. bamboo to himalaya stretch on day 7 felt like a completely different trek though, dense jungle, waterfalls, way fewer people around. abc itself on day 8 was surreal, sitting there surrounded by annapurna on basically every side. jhinu hot spring on the way down saved my legs, genuinely considered staying an extra night just for that
Tom Whitmore
York, England
Second Time at EBC, First Time by Helicopter
Did ebc the fast way this time round after doing the full walk out years ago and honestly no shame in it. namche to tengboche stretch still my favourite part of this whole region, forest and then that first proper everest view opening up. gorakshep is a rough little place to sleep, thin air and freezing, but base camp the next day makes up for it. heli ride out over the khumbu was unreal, saw the whole route we’d just walked laid out below us in about twenty minutes flat. would recommend to anyone short on time or just done with knee pain on the way down
Marcus Webb
Manchester, England
The Helicopter Return Made This Trek Feel Different
I was hesitant about doing the helicopter return at first, felt a bit like cheating if I’m honest, but by day 8 my body had other opinions. Everest Base Camp was everything I’d hoped, though I think Kala Patthar the next morning topped it for pure visual impact, the whole range lit up gold before the helicopter even arrived. Tengboche monastery early in the trip was a quieter highlight I didn’t expect to love as much as I did, the monks were doing morning prayers when we passed through and our guide let us just sit and take it in rather than rushing us along. Dingboche’s acclimatization hike up toward Nagarjun Hill was harder than the trekking days themselves in some ways, thin air really makes itself known past 4,800 meters. The flight back over the valleys we’d just walked through gave a strange new perspective on how far we’d actually come on foot. Worth every cent for anyone with limited time or dodgy knees.
Laura Bergstrom
Malmo, Sweden
Everest Base Camp Without the Two Week Walk Out
Kala patthar sunrise then straight into a heli back to kathmandu, wild way to end a trek. saved my knees a solid two days of descent too, worth the extra cost honestly. base camp the day before was busier than i expected but still hit different standing there. dingboche acclimatization day with the nagarjun hill hike was tougher than it looked on paper, actually no I’ll allow that one, it was rough.
Dylan Foster
Halifax, Canada
Gokyo Ri Over Kala Patthar, who agree with me?
Came for base camp, left obsessed with gokyo instead. the lakes on day 7 stopped me in my tracks, didn’t expect anything to beat the base camp hype but it did for me personally. cho la pass two days later humbled me fast though, iced over near the top and genuinely a little scary in parts. dzongla after felt like the middle of nowhere in the best way, tiny place, huge mountains everywhere you look. ebc itself, fine, glad i saw it, but if i had to pick one moment from this whole trip it’s gokyo ri at sunrise not kala patthar. controversial opinion probably but it’s mine.
Lucas Evans
Madrid, Spain
16 days away from my kids, worth every one
Left my wife with the kids for over two weeks for this one and felt guilty about it the whole flight over, ha. Namche acclimatization day helped settle my head into trek mode a bit. Gokyo lakes were the first moment I stopped thinking about home and just took it in properly, sat by the biggest lake for a while and video called the kids from there actually, they loved seeing the mountains. Cho La Pass was rough, not gonna undersell it, ice and scrambling and my legs were shaking near the top. Base camp itself was almost anticlimactic after that pass honestly, more about ticking the box than the actual view. Kala Patthar the next morning was the real payoff, best sunrise I’ve ever seen, teared up a little not gonna lie. Coming home to my family after felt different this time, gave me a lot to think about.
Grant Sutherland
Johannesburg, South Africa
Did EBC Once Before this One’s Even Better
I did the standard EBC trek back in 2019 so I went into this one thinking I knew roughly what to expect. I did not. Adding Gokyo and Cho La completely changes the trip. Gokyo Ri and the turquoise lakes below it are honestly more memorable to me now than base camp itself, which sounds strange to say but it’s true. Cho La Pass on day 9 was the hardest single day I’ve had trekking, loose rock and ice near the top, our guide roped up part of the group for safety which I hadn’t experienced on the regular EBC route. Kala Patthar sunrise the next morning made up for all of it though, same spot I stood in 2019 but this time it felt earned differently. If anyone’s debating standard EBC versus this version, spend the extra days, it’s worth it.
Adrian Kowalczyk
Wroclaw, Poland