Things I Wish I Knew Before Trekking to Everest Base Camp
- Margaux
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
Trekking to Everest Base Camp is no easy feat, but it is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. The landscapes are unlike anything you’ve seen before, and the people you meet along the way are so kind. This blog post will go through some of the things I wish I knew before trekking to Everest Base Camp, including my best advice and top tips.
For a full breakdown of the Everest Base Camp trek, including a day-by-day itinerary, packing list, budget, and more, see my post here.
Contents
Food on the Everest Base Camp Trek
Food during the Everest Base Camp trek is basic and not very varied, but good enough. Salt will be your friend! For breakfast, the options are quite limited, with a lot of egg dishes, sometimes some porridge, and my personal favourite, Tibetan (or Sherpa) bread, essentially fried bread with honey and/or jam. The quantity isn’t generally sufficient at breakfast, so bring some cereal bars for a top-up.
For lunch and dinner, you’ll find a good deal of fried rice, fried noodles, soups, momos, and of course, dal bhat. Dal Bhat is probably your best option, as you get dal soup, rice, and veg curry on your plate, and because of the dish’s cultural significance, you get free and unlimited refills of all of it until you say stop. This makes it the best value on the menu. At the start of the trek, I was having it once a day, and by the end, I was getting so hungry that it was a twice-daily order. You’ll see and hear the quote “dal bhat power, 24 hour” all through the trek, and there is a lot of truth to it!
For more on food on Everest Base Camp, check out my post here.
Preparing for Bathrooms on the Everest Base Camp Trek
The bathrooms on the Everest Base Camp trek get more and more basic the further you go up the mountain.
Showers are almost always shared (above Namche Bazaar), and the water is heated by the sun in giant black storage tanks on the roofs of the tea houses. The water does get very hot, especially on a sunny day! But this means there is limited hot water, and you might have to wait a bit for the tank to refill and re-heat. If you decide to pay for a shower, I recommend showering as soon as you arrive at your accommodation in the afternoon, before the masses arrive, and before the sun sets.
You will always find at least one Western-style (as opposed to squat) toilet at each tea house. Whether they flush is another question! In my experience, running water in toilets stopped at Dingboche, and you have to pour water from a giant tank into the toilet to flush it. As you can imagine, when you have over 100 people sharing these toilets, with food poisoning and altitude sickness thrown into the mix, it can get messy. I luckily only experienced a couple of really bad toilets, but it could have been much worse! Bring your own toilet paper too, it is never provided, even in the nicest tea houses.
With the loss of running water comes the loss of taps to wash your hands, brush your teeth, etc. Bottled water, wet wipes, and hand sanitizer will be your friends. Most places will have a sink, but it might be tap-less. It’s all part of the adventure!
For more on toilets, showers, and accommodation along the Everest Base Camp trek, see my blog post here.
How do you prevent altitude sickness on the Everest Base Camp Trek
This was one of my biggest concerns before doing Everest Base Camp. I was lucky enough to not feel any of the effects of altitude during the whole 11 days of walking, but it can impact anyone, regardless of fitness level, age, gender, etc. There are a few things you can do to combat altitude sickness:
Drink lots of water. I was drinking up to 5 litres of water every day on the trek, and that was absolutely necessary to keep hydrated. Your body loses many more fluids in the dry air, while exercising, and at high altitude, so you need to replenish them.
Take the acclimatisation days seriously. These days are built in for a reason and help your body adjust slowly to altitude. Make sure you do all the acclimatisation hikes, no matter how long they may take you.
Take it slowly. Racing up the mountain can be dangerous. Don’t walk too fast; let your body adjust slowly to the altitude, even if you aren’t feeling it at all.
Natural remedies. Nepalese climbers and Sherpa swear by a few natural remedies to help with the effects of altitude. Garlic soup and ginger tea are some of these remedies, and you’ll always see them on the menu. I did drink a lot of ginger tea, but can’t tell you if it made a difference or not!
Medication. A lot of people take Diamox or a similar altitude sickness medication to help with the effects of altitude. It essentially increases the number of red blood cells in your blood, allowing your body to absorb more oxygen. I personally did not take any medication, but some people I was walking with, did. I have heard advice saying not to take the medication unless you need to, because if you’re already taking it and get sick, there’s nothing else you can do. In some cases, the medication can kick in in 20 minutes, making a huge and immediate difference to your health. This is not medical advice, but several guides said the same thing. Listen to your guide and take their advice - they see this every day.
If you have a headache, any standard painkillers should be taken before getting dramatic and going straight for the Diamox. Sometimes they are all it takes - you’re probably dehydrated too.
Tipping Guides and Porters on Everest Base Camp
Guides are paid a rate of US$35/day, and porters are paid US$15/day. It is customary to tip your guide between 15,000 NPR - 20,000 NPR+ (US$110 - US$150+), and your porter a little less, between 13,000 NPR - 18,000 NPR+ (US$97 - US$135+). Some people tip more, but I would not tip any less. It largely depends on how satisfied you were with your guide and porter, but remember they and their families rely on these tips and need the money much more than you.
For a full cost breakdown of the Everest Base Camp trek, see my post here.
Do you need to Train for Everest Base Camp?
Everest Base Camp is not a trek for the light-hearted, and the challenging days are very difficult. Many people refer to the Everest Base Camp trek as a ‘glorified hike’, but I disagree. I have a good level of fitness, and still struggled on many days. I think that being very physically fit is absolutely necessary to make this trek enjoyable, and to help with altitude. I recommend doing an increased amount of cardio training in the months leading up to the trek, and adding in weights to strengthen your muscles for the uphill stretches. Building up the muscles around your knees also goes a long way in preparing them for the long days of almost exclusively downhill trekking. You get plenty of time to rest in the afternoons, which is necessary recovery time.
For more on training for Everest Base Camp, see my post here.
Preparing for the Flight to Lukla
As a nervous flyer who is terrified of turbulence, I was very scared for this little flight into Lukla. I had heard the stories of crashes and dangerous take-offs and landings from the world’s most dangerous airport, and needless to say I was freaking out. But my guide reassured me as we were waiting in the Ramechhap Airport. He said: “these pilots fly this route more times a day than they pee”. And that stuck with me.
It’s a very small plane (approx. 14 seats), so the takeoff from Ramechhap is quick. You will feel all the little bumps in the air, but I actually felt quite safe. Try to enjoy the views of the mountains and the snow-capped Himalayas beyond the foothills, and get excited that you’re heading towards them!
Top tip: sit on the left side of the plane on the way to Lukla to have the best chance of seeing Everest - but be early in the queue to board because everyone has the same idea! Likewise, sit on the right side on your flight back.
At only 15-20 minutes, the flight is so short that you barely register you are in the air before you spot the runway at Lukla in the distance. This was the scariest part for me, but again, you’re down before you even know it. The pilots know what they’re doing! The runway is on an incline to slow you down, you’ll turn off it, and then you disembark and get trekking! It’s a crazy experience but one I’ll remember forever.
The takeoff from Lukla is not as scary as the landing, but it’s a much stranger feeling. I relate it to what it seems to be like going off a ski jump! You go down the sloped runway, and then lift off just as the runway ends and drops off into the valley. Again, terrifying to think about, but you are in the air before the runway stops, you aren’t literally going off a cliff, even though it may seem like it! And then you’re admiring your last views of the snow-capped Himalayas before you land back in Ramechhap and see all the eager people waiting to get up there. You’ll have such a sense of accomplishment at this moment. I will never forget the mixed emotions I felt disembarking that plane, knowing it was all over.
Planning your Trek with Buffer Days
Plan your trip to Everest Base Camp with buffer days! With the Lukla airport being the most dangerous airport in the world, any bad weather can cancel all flights in and out of the airport, for days at a time. The day after I flew to Lukla, there were no flights at all in or out of the airport for 6 consecutive days. I had my flight cancelled on the way back to Kathmandu, and had to spend an extra night in Lukla after the trek as well. My flight the next day was the only one that went. This isn’t rare, even in the dry season. Please have extra days booked into your trip to avoid expensive flight changes. The wifi and service up in the mountains also isn’t good enough to rely on to change your flight when you’re up there.
Don’t Eat Meat
Another top tip for Everest Base Camp is to not eat meat (or dairy). There are no roads into Lukla, and beyond Lukla, everything on the mountain has to be carried up by porters, yaks, jokyos, or donkeys. This means it is not refrigerated sometimes for days. Eating meat or dairy at any of the tea houses or restaurants along the way is very risky and food poisoning is very common amongst those who do. The best way is to be vegetarian, and you will have so many options.
Booking a Guide and Porter for Everest Base Camp
Not only is it required to have a guide for the Everest Base Camp trek, it is also worth every penny. Here are a few key reasons why:
They help booking accommodation, flights in and out of Lukla, and transport to and from Ramechaap airport
You support local people and the environment
They help monitor you for symptoms of altitude sickness
They help you rent gear in Kathmandu at the best prices
They carry your gear so that you can successfully complete and enjoy the trek
For more on guides and porters for Everest Base Camp, see my post here.
I hope these tips help you prepare for your trip to Everest Base Camp. I have written a whole host of articles on this trek, so make sure you take a look at them below. As always, when trekking in such beautiful places, take care of the environments you visit and only leave your footprints behind :)
Planning your Everest Base Camp trek? Have a look at my other posts here:
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