Detailed itinerary for Island Peak Climb with EBC Trek
Day 1 :
Kathmandu – Lukla and trek to Phakding for 3 hours.
We start the day early to catch the flight to Lukla. Small plane to Lukla take off, before 10 am from domestic terminal of Kathmandu Airport. After flying 25 minutes across the Himalaya, we will land at Lukla; the gateway of Island peak climbing with EBC. Once we land at the Lukla airport, we will take breakfast at local restaurant and start our trekking for 2 hours till Phakding.
Day 2 :
Phakding – Namche bazaar, tonight at guesthouse in Namchhe; approx. 9 hours
Phakding is a small village on the side of Dudh koshi river, here we will have breakfast and start our trekking to Namche Bazar. Namche is a fanciest busy town in the Everest Himalaya. In front of Kongde Himal:- Namche is mesmerizing village. This is the place to buy souvenir or anything you need for the trek. This village has numerous pubs, ATM, Banks and many stores.
Day 3 :
Trek from Namche bazaar to Tengboche village; approx. 6 hours
Today's trekking is towards the approaching sight of Everest and Amadablam Himal. More we walk towards the mountain colder it gets, Tengboche is colder than Namche. Tengboche has a monastery, where we will be able to attend the regular ceremony; if we got in time. Most of the people spend two nights at Namche for acclimatizing but for this package we do not waste one day for acclimatization, instead we walk up to Khumjung village and walk towards Tengboche, as Walking higher up to Khumjung or Everest View hotel will ease for our acclimatization.
Day 4 :
Tengboche – Dingboche (4360m); approx. 5 hours
After breakfast at Tengboche, we start hiking through rhododendron forest. After crossing Imja river we will get to the last real village of Khumbu region called Pangboche village. If you hike from upper Pangboche, chance of visiting another monastery is high and also the view of the mountains will look nicer from this trail, we use the upper route. After crossing Pangboche village, we get to the lunch place Somare, which is above 3 thousand meters and no tree line starts from here. Dingboche is a small village, used to be a summer grazing field for Yaks, by then. But now, village has many tea houses and restaurants. Bakeries of Dingboche will serve you fresh items and snooker houses are something to experience in this busy village.
Day 5 :
Acclimatization, Rest, Exploring day at Dingboche (4360m)
For acclimatization hike we will climb up to Nangkarsang peak all the way up to 5081 meters. View of the mountains from approx. 4800 meters will look amazing. Glacial lake seen near Cho la pass, Cholatse peak, Taboche peak and Lobuche peak leaning towards Mt Pumori looks stunning.
Acclimatization means hiking higher and sleeping lower, this is what we will do today. Some people also go to Chukung village for the acclimatization hike but this is not recommended as you will spend more energy in the hike to Chukung, and we are going there anyway.
Day 6 :
Trekking from Dingboche to Lobuche village; approx 6 hours
Walking about 2 hours we will get to Thukla, take rest at this point before ascending to Thukla pass. Attraction of today is Thukla pass with 100s of Memorials of people died in Everest expedition. You can see memorials of Scott Fisher, Rob hall and Babu chhiri Sherpa remarkably. After the memorial place Lobuche is 2 hours and the scenery from the top of Thukla pass is mesmerizing with valley towards Pheriche and numerous mountains towards EBC. Do not miss sunset at Mt. Nuptse from your tea house at Lobuche, it is unreal.
Day 7 :
Trek from Lobuche to Everest base camp and trek back to the Gorak shep for night stay.
Todays is the main and long day for the trekking, it takes 3 hours to get to Gorakshep where we will have lunch. After lunch it takes another 3 hours to get to Everest Base camp. Attraction for today is; EBC & we can see Everest after 3 days of her disappearance (Everest will be seen from the half way to Gorakshep).
Day 8 :
Hike uphill Kalapatthar for magnificent view of EVEREST and overnight at Dingboche
Kalapatthar translates to black stone in English. It is the top of black stone at 5545 meter altitude with magnificent view of the mountains and valley. Kalapatthar is the point from where we will see all; Everest base camp, Khumbu glacier and Everest at once. It takes 2 hours to get to the top of Kalapatthar and 1 hour to get down, to Gorakshep for breakfast. After breakfast we will walk 5 hours to Dingboche for another adventure for island peak climbing.
Day 9 :
Dingboche – Island peak base camp
Gradual walk towards Chhukung village along the river side is chill walk. River on your right is originated from island peak. At the base of Island peak there is a glacial lake which looks great on the way up from base to the top. It will take approx. 7 hours to get to the base camp.
Day 10 :
Climb up from Base camp to summit and back to Chhukung village
Very few people stay at the high camp as it is hard to put tent at the high camp; thus most of the climbers climb to the top of island from Base camp itself. It is approx. 7 hours to the top and 5 hours to Chhukung village. Once you get to the top, view of Mt. Makalu 8412 meters is magnificent. Once you get to the top of Island peak (imja Tse peak) you get really close to Mt Lotse, so Mt Lotse will block the view of Mount Everest. After hitting the top of island peak, we will climb down to Chukung village, for the night stay. Mix the night with joy of conquering yourself with mountain.
Day 11 :
Trek back to Namche bazaar
It will take approx. 7 hours to get to Namche. We will pass by Tengboche, Phunki Tanga, and Kyangjuma and take lower trail for Kyangjuma to Namche. This trail is wide enough to cycle; it is constructed by effort of Kanchha Sherpa. He started from 1980 and is still doing it; with donation from the trekkers.
Day 12 :
Trek back from Namche bazaar to Lukla
Same trail all the way to Lukla reminds you of the 1st days of trekking. High suspension bridge, Monjo chek point, pine trees and few ups and downs will be fare-welling us. Today is the last day of trekking to Island peak and Everest Base camp, celebrate your achievement with your team. It will take approx. 9 hours to get back to Lukla from Namche.
Day 13 :
Fly Lukla to Kathmandu.
Taking off from Tenjing Hillary airport is not scary as landing. So be ready for few turbulence shake, and the mesmerizing view of the mountains. Once you get to Kathmandu we will drop you to hotel and it is time to farewell with promise to see you again.
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