Khumbu (Mt. Everest) Region Beta Version

Any climbing trip to the Khumbu region of Nepal is a rather involved and expeditionary undertaking, despite good trails and copious amount of teahouses and people. Expect incredible mountains. Expect cold temperatures. Expect to be dirty, smelly, and sucking air most of the time. And expect hordes of Gortex-clad, solar-panel-toting, mountaineering-boots-wearing foreigners, mostly middle age Europeans or Asians and of dubious fitness ability. Do not expect true wilderness or Sherpa culture.

Even so, the Khumbu region can be well worth your time. The purpose of this beta version is to provide tips and recommendations in order to get the most out of your Khumbu trip. This post is long, but full of information that will make your trip smoother and more enjoyable. We welcome any additional or updated information that could be helpful for fellow climbers, particularly with those who have tips for the self-supported. For the blog entry and photos about our experience in the Khumbu, click HERE.

Below are the questions to which we wished we had answers when we planned our own trip (and our “hindsight is 20/20” advice). If you have other questions or want more beta on climbing self-supported or photographing the Khumbu, please contact us! We would love to help out fellow climbers however we can.

 

Summary of Questions (with full answers below):

• When should I go?
• Important Money Stuff!
• Is there cell phone service and internet access?
• How do I get to the Khumbu?
• Do I need to book ahead?
• What should I budget per day?
• Do I need an agency/guide/porter?
• What should I do in the Khumbu?
• What gear should I bring? Can I rent gear when I’m there?
• Is it worth bringing my skis?
• What do I need to know about climbing in the Khumbu?

 

When should I go? Fall and spring; to be more specific, the months of October-November and April-May. You are unlikely to see much during the monsoon months of June-September and you will be very cold (and possibly without shelter because many teahouses close) in January-March. There are so many teahouses that you can easily find a room during peak tourist season. We recommend the months of October and November, as the higher reaches of the mountains are quite snowy after the recent monsoon season and very picturesque.

 

Important Money Stuff! Bring a lot of cash with you to Nepal; you’ll need it up front if you get permits and/or pay an agency for any services. Banks have the best exchange rates, but there are plenty of money-changers on the street. Banks won’t give you any more cash than their ATMs regardless of your home bank’s daily withdrawal limits. It can take several days, and lots of ATM fees, to accumulate enough cash for your trip. Don’t count on the ATMs in Namche, and don’t expect the lodges to accept anything but Nepalese rupees. Any place that “accepts credit cards” will likely charge you a transaction fee of 3-6%, so you’ll save A LOT by simply bringing your entire budget in US dollars and guarding it carefully.

In most of Nepal, tips and taxes are automatically added to your restaurant bill, which can total a whopping 23% (especially in the Thamel district). The menus will normally state the additional charge near the bottom of each page or on the front cover. In the Khumbu, some of the larger teahouses have the same practice, but most of the small ones just charge a flat price for each item. Check the menu so you don’t get surprised.

EXCHANGE YOUR RUPEES BEFORE LEAVING NEPAL. Apparently it’s illegal to take Nepalese rupees outside of Nepal (of course, no one tells you that), so almost no institution outside of Nepal will exchange its currency into something useable. Be smart and avoid this headache.

 

Is there cell phone service and internet access? We recommend getting a Nepalese cell phone once you land in Kathmandu as a cheap and easy way to make local and international calls. A SIM card will run you less than $10 and then you can purchase additional time at any little shop with an “NCell” sign (that’s the primary company). It costs about 3 cents/minute to call the US. Cell phone coverage in the Kathmandu area is good. In the Khumbu, you’ll have sporadic service until Pengboche, including in Lukla and Namche. Once you’re past Pengboche, your best bet for communication with the outside world is WiFi, which is available for purchase at almost all the main stops (not available in Thukla or Dzongla as of 2014). Prices range from $3-$5 (sometimes more) for 30 minutes and the connection was pretty slow, but often more reliable than the shockingly bad internet in Kathmandu!

 

How do I get to the Khumbu? There are two popular ways to get into the Khumbu: (1) take a 30-minute flight from Kathmandu to Lukla ($165 USD per person one-way in 2014, regardless of which airline you take), or (2) walk in from Jiri (or Shivalaya), which is about 5 days of low-elevation but strenuous hiking. There are other less common ways to get into to the Khumbu, like taking a jeep to Phaplu and then walking two days, or hiking into the Rolwaling Valley and over Tashi Lapcha pass (this final way is challenging and highly recommended, but you have to plan ahead for it and have adequate supplies and gear).

If you fly into Lukla, any agency in Kathmandu should be able to purchase the plane tickets for you with 2-3 days’ notice. The agency will not charge extra for this service.

For flights to/from Lukla, keep in mind two important things:

(1) If you do not know when you need to fly back from Lukla to Kathmandu, deposit the fare for the return tickets with the agency (get a receipt!) and then call or email your agency from the Khumbu when you know what day you want to fly out; if you don’t deposit the money, then you may have difficulties booking the return ticket and have to wait around in Namche or Lukla for several days.

(2) Book your seat on the first or second plane of the day (i.e. around 6-7am), even if this means flying on a later date; this is especially important on your return flight. Booking a flight that leaves late in the morning is just BEGGING for one of those notorious Lukla nightmares that you will undoubtedly hear about (e.g. waiting for five days in the airport despite relatively good weather because, once your flight is cancelled, you have the lowest flight priority on subsequent days).

Extra or overweight baggage: It was impossible to find information about this ahead of time, likely because it changes on the airline’s whim. In 2014, the weight limit for your carry on and checked bag(s) was 15kg/person in total. Our bags were overweight on the flight there and the flight back. At the Kathmandu airport, they charged us Rs. 110/kg over the weight limit. At the Lukla airport, we were 10 kg overweight, and they charged us Rs. 800 (with no clear calculation). No promises on what they’ll charge you, but it generally was not a problem to have overweight baggage. It appears to be standard traveler protocol to wear your climbing boots and stuff electronics and other heavy things in your pockets to cut down on the excess weight.

 

Do I need to book ahead? Unless you plan to climb an expedition peak or are on an extremely tight timeline, there is little reason to book your trip to the Khumbu before you arrive in Kathmandu. The main tourist part of Kathmandu is the Thamel district, which is home to literally hundreds (if not thousands) of tourist agencies and trekking-related shops, all eager for your business. However, it could take a week or so to get a climbing peak permit, depending on the Nepalese holiday calendar, so that’s something you may want to arrange with an agency before arriving. It could also take a week or more to get your climbing garbage deposit back (see “What do I need to know about Climbing in the Khumbu?” below for more info), so either give yourself some leeway at the end of your trip or check with your agency about what will happen if you have to leave while the government is still “processing” your garbage receipts.

You also don’t have to hire a porter or guide before arriving in Lukla. Porters wait outside of the Lukla airport, ready to start work at a moment’s notice, and it is also very easy to find a guide (see “Do I need an Agency, Guide and/or Porter” below). You can, of course, set up a guide or porter in Kathmandu but you will either have to pay for them to fly to Lukla and back (about US$80 for

Nepalese citizens each way) or you won’t be able to meet them until arriving in Lukla, which means you don’t know if you’ll like the person who will be with you for the entirety of your trip. A bad guide/porter can really put a damper on things.

 

What should I budget per day? Once you reach the Khumbu, your daily costs should only be food and lodging. Most lodges run $1 to $3 per day, but you will be required to eat at the lodge (the only restaurants are at lodges, so this is not a problem); each meal runs about $5/person. My wife and I spent about $30.00 per day for both of us (in 2014), but we did not splurge on more expensive meal items, made our own coffee and hot water, and rarely paid for a hot shower. You could spend upwards of $50-$75/day given everything that is available for purchase in the Khumbu. The lowest average we heard on the trail was $9/day for one person (which took a lot of work to achieve). There are tons of snacks (snickers, instant noodles, crackers) available at little shops and inside teahouses everywhere.

It saved us a lot of money to bring a Jetboil and we had no trouble finding fuel in Kathmandu and Namche (about $6.50-$8 per canister in Kathmandu and $8-$10 in Namche).

Additional costs (all 2014 – check for updated amounts before relying on this information): $110 for the TIMS permit, $100 for the Sagarmatha National Park permit; $350-$500 per climbing permit; $250 per peak garbage deposit (see “What do I need to know about climbing in the Khumbu?” below for details).

Guide and porter services vary widely, but we often heard other travelers paid about $30/day for a guide and about $15/day for a porter. See “Do I need an Agency, Guide and/or Porter?” below for more information on the differences. The tipping expectation is about 10% of the total wages.

Other possible costs to consider: Agency fees (agencies that provide more of an all-inclusive service for your trekking or climbing trip will charge anywhere between $100-$1,000 per person); additional rental equipment for you, your guide and/or your porter(s), if necessary; and transportation to/from Lukla (see “How do I get to the Khumbu?” above).

 

Do I need an Agency, Guide and/or Porter?

Regardless of how you visit the Khumbu, you will likely require an agency’s services at some point. Most often, this is in the form of plane tickets to Lukla. An agency can purchase your TIMS card and national park permit, which are required for entry into the Sagarmatha National Park, as well as arrange a guide, porter(s), cook, etc. Generally, any agency in Thamel can provide you with these basic services. We used Marron Treks, primarily for the Rolwaling part of our trip. They were professional, trustworthy, and accommodating, and we recommend their services.

We strongly recommend AGAINST doing an organized group trek into the Khumbu, which many agencies will try to sell you on. The worst organized trek would undoubtedly be a camping trek; why pay exorbitant sums of money to sleep in very cold tents on the lawns outside of teahouses and have your meals cooked by a whole support team (paid for by you) when you can sleep in decent rooms and get hot food at teahouses for much less? Anyone with even limited travel experience can navigate the Khumbu self-supported or hire a porter (or two) for help. With the above said, a camping trek would likely be a top-notch experience in more remote regions of the Himalaya.

Think long and hard before you hire a guide for your trip to the Khumbu. Unless you have no hiking experience whatsoever or have a deeply engrained need to never be alone, it makes very little sense to hire a guide. The trails are obvious and there are plenty of people who can point you in the right direction when junctions are not well-signed. Guides do not carry any extra weight. The only reason you would need a guide is for getting a climbing permit because they have official Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) guide numbers (See “What do I need to know about climbing in the Khumbu?” below).

Porters are the best option for the budget traveler who wants assistance, especially if you aren’t well-acclimatized. All porters know the way and almost all of them speak passable English. A “guide-porter” carries weight but also takes on more responsibility for pointing you in the right direction. However, since most porters know the way, every porter is essentially a “guide-porters”.

There are significant downsides with having any support at all. You have to make an agreed-upon itinerary at the beginning of the trip, which (1) is rather dumb because your plans are almost guaranteed to change, and (2) reduces your flexibility. Both guides and porters are used to the same crusty itinerary and are generally rigid and reluctant to engage in any creative trip planning… which means you’ll end up following hordes of people if you let a guide call all of the shots. All guides and porters are paid per day regardless of how far they walk, so there’s a incentive to keep every day relatively short and easy, even when that doesn’t maximize your experience.

Also, be aware of the security of your stuff; theft by porters appears to be rare, but the concern is there nonetheless. Be cautious and write down the porter’s full name, village, and telephone number on the very first day. Another important downside is that you are likely to feel that you need to entertain or engage your porter/guide, as they will be with you almost all waking hours (the language barrier makes this especially onerous). Be prepared for hours of awkward or even unwanted talking.

Lastly, you are responsible for your porter’s welfare, and porters often come poorly equipped for high passes or bad weather. Do not pay any agency (or the porter directly) for equipment or clothing rental, as the porter is likely to just pocket the money and come as he would otherwise (this happened to us in the Rolwaling – we paid $80 to our agency for our porter’s clothing and equipment, and he showed up in jeans and light jacket with a broken tent; this alone defeated our plans to cross the 19,000-foot Tashi Lapcha pass). If you want to make sure your porter is properly equipped, go with him to a rental shop and get him fitted with the right stuff yourself.

As you might expect, some porters are better than others. Every agency will say they only use “good” porters, but whether a porter is “good” depends on personal compatibility and your needs. With that said, we can recommend Zangbu, a porter who works with Marron Treks, as trustworthy, easy to be around, and customer-service oriented.

 

What should I do in the Khumbu?

There is much more to do in the Khumbu region than trek to Everest Base Camp. Think outside the box! In terms of hiking, the Three Passes route (Renjo La, Cho La, and Kongma La) is a good option and requires no special gear. The passes of Tashi Lapcha and Amphu Lapcha – as well as the numerous other less-traveled passes in the region – will require more planning and mountaineering equipment. We have lots more beta on those than we can include here, so contact us if you want to learn more.

We highly recommend taking advantage of permit-free day hikes including Chukhung Ri, Gokyo Ri, Awi Peak (from Thukla or Dzongla), and the grassy slopes above Tabuche Base Camp (near Pengboche – this one has in-your-face views of Ama Dablam). Kala Patthar is worth a visit as well; outsmart the crowds by hiking up for sunset if weather permits and actually staying to watch the whole thing. Watching the setting sun illuminate the upper reaches of Mt. Everest and Nuptse is an almost spiritual experience; quite differently, getting up at 4am and freezing at the top of Kala Pattar to watch Everest remain in the shadows as the sun rises is, by all reports, less than inspirational.

In terms of mountaineering, our favorite climb was Lobuche Peak, which had much better views and far fewer crowds than Island Peak; about one team a day attempts it. Polkalde is also a great climb and, if taking the route from near Kongma La pass and comfortable on rock, does not require any special gear (the top is 4^th to low 5^th–class rock). We cannot recommend Island Peak due to the obscene crowds and resulting bottlenecks. With that said, Island Peak was more challenging and strenuous than we expected (the hardest PD we’ve ever done!) and could certainly be a very hard “first climb” for client-climbers. If we could do Island Peak again (and if weather permitted), we would sleep in and leave base camp around 6 or 7 in the morning (guided groups leave at 1am), so we could simultaneously see the surrounding mountains and bask in the relatively warm sun on our ascent (and descent), rather than freeze in the extremely cold darkness of the early morning and battle the crowds.

There are many adventures worth your time in the Khumbu, and if you leave the Lukla-Namche-Gorakshep corridor (Cho La pass is also crowded), you will likely enjoy a more wilderness-esque experience. Or you can put yourself slightly off-schedule from the big groups by either staying at teahouses in-between the major stops or by having a leisurely morning and leaving at 9 or 10am to miss the “peak” crowds (all the large groups start trekking at about 7:30am every day and stop at the same places).

 

What gear should I bring? Can I rent gear when I’m there?

You can rent any gear you need in Kathmandu or Namche, if you didn’t bring it with you. Make sure you have a zero-degree sleeping bag, which will cost about $1.50 or $2.00 per day to rent in Namche. There is absolutely no need to wear mountaineering boots for trekking; wear something comfortable that you don’t need to keep clean, like normal hiking shoes. Similarly, you don’t need crampons except for climbing, even if you do the Three Passes Route (i.e. Renjo La, Cho La, and Kongma La). Of course, severe weather could change the conditions, but generally there are so many people that a good trail with steps in the snow is almost guaranteed (or will be established quickly after it snows).

We highly recommend bringing a personal stove and a cup/bowl– we used our JetBoil everyday for boiling water and making coffee, tea and soups. Teahouses charge upwards of $3 for a liter of boiled water, which you’ll likely need to stay warm. Cold water is free and you can buy a pack of 100 chlorine tablets in Namche for about $5. Isobutane Gas is available at most villages ($8 and $10 per canister in the Khumbu, or $6.50 to $8 in Kathmandu). Keep your fuel in your sleeping bag at night and use it when it’s warm to make it last. Instant coffee, tea, and instant noodles are available in little shops or inside teahouses everywhere.

If you want to rent climbing gear, you can do so in Kathmandu, Namche, or Chukhung. The gear available in Namche and Chukhung is good enough to get you up and down Island Peak or Lobuche East safely, and includes ropes, boots, jumars, axes and ice screws. I believe the Chukhung shops also rent tents and sleeping pads, although you could certainly get these items in Namche. We brought all of our climbing gear with us, but if we could do it again, we would simply rent climbing gear in Chukhung for Island Peak (assuming we even wanted to do Island Peak) and Lubuche East.

It is perhaps worth noting that a very strong and acclimatized party could climb each of the main Khumbu climbing peaks in a day (i.e. without camping gear) in good weather with an early start from the nearest village. This is especially true for Polkalde (we summited from Dingboche round-trip in one day), but would be more difficult for Lobuche East (leaving from either Thukla or Lubuche) and even more difficult still for Island Peak (leaving from Chukhung). Still, for a fast, acclimated, and experienced party, it would be possible.

We brought most of our own gear (the overweight baggage fees were totally reasonable – see “How do I get to the Khumbu?” above for more information) but rented supplemental gear at “The Trekker’s Shop” in Namche, a store we highly recommend. A very nice older man runs the shop and has the best prices. Regardless of where you rent, don’t be afraid to bargain.

 

Is it worth bringing my skis? Not counting fringe sports, there are only two types of activities worth pursuing in the Khumbu region: trekking and climbing. We do NOT recommend that you bring your skis; the approaches, snow conditions, and elevation render the Khumbu poorly suited for skiing.

 

What do I need to know about climbing in the Khumbu?

Set your expectations for the Khumbu “climbing” culture: you are unlikely to run into any experienced climbers in the Khumbu; the vast majority of people climbing peaks are “clients” and lack many (if not all) basic climbing skills. These “clients” are escorted by a team of guides and porters who place obscene amounts of fixed rope along the climbing route. If you’re like us at all, you will find much of the Khumbu climbing culture somewhat painful to utterly repulsive. Experienced climbers tend to avoid the Khumbu unless they’re professionally guiding others. If you want a vibrant alpine climbing culture, you should perhaps look into visiting the Rolwaling area of the Nepalese Himalaya.

Permits: Mountains in Nepal fall into one of four categories: (1) no permit needed, (2) climbing permit needed, (3) expedition permit needed, and (4) off-limits. You might hear that any peak over 5500m requires a permit to climb, but this is NOT the case (e.g. Chukung Ri, Kala Pattar). Not a single person we talked to on our entire trip knew the exact climbing rules; it is quite possible that no one in the entire country knows what exactly is allowed, what requires a permit, and what is prohibited.

We encourage you to think long and hard about whether you want to obtain climbing permits at all. If we could do it again, we wouldn’t get permits and instead climb lower, less-popular peaks; there are innumerable sub-summits and high points that you can legally scramble to or climb without a permit, most with incredible views that approximate the views you get from the summits of 6000m peaks and avoiding the bureaucratic headaches.

Permits are checked so infrequently and only in the most popular areas (Island Peak) that the likelihood of any permit-related problems is very low. Ultimately, the reality is that no one seems to care about permits other than the government and trekking agencies, and there are very few, if any, of those guys high in the mountains. Of course, climbing without a permit is illegal in Nepal and we certainly cannot condone that, but our experience is that climbing permits unfortunately have more moral than legal value.

Generally, any peak over 6500m will require an expedition peak permit, payment to a government liaison officer and jumping through a host of bureaucratic hoops. The costs of doing an expedition peak add up quickly; we looked into Ama Dablam and couldn’t make it happen for less than $5,000.

There are 33 climbing peaks (formerly called “trekking peaks”), which are divided into two categories: “A” peaks and “B” peaks. A quick Google search will provide you with a list of the peaks in each category. The only difference is the price; the range is $350-$500 (2014). You will also need to pay a refundable garbage deposit ($250 per peak), and getting that back is sure to give you a headache, but we did get ours. To get it back, you must carry out your climbing garbage, turn it in to the government office in Namche Bazaar and get a receipt, and then turn that receipt in to a different government office in Kathmandu to (finally) get your deposit back, possibly more than a week or two after you turn the receipts in. It’s a huge hassle and well worth using an agency to guide you through the process and negotiate with the government offices. Again, Marron Treks assisted us in the process and was very helpful.

My understanding is that, technically, you need a permit to climb above base camp on any registered climbing peak. Importantly, in order to obtain a climbing peak permit, you will need to proceed through an agency and you need a registered guide NMA (Nepal Mountain Association) number. Ultimately, this means that most agencies will refuse to obtain a permit for you unless you take a NMA guide. For those climbers (like us) who do NOT want a guide, and see a Nepalese climbing guide as a liability in the mountains, then we suggest that you fire the guide after receiving hard copies of your permits. Heartless? Perhaps. But effective. Of course, this means that you should not pay the agency for the entire trip up front, as they will undoubtedly request; instead, offer to pay the guide on a per-day basis, which makes sense in any event as plans often change in the Himalaya (sickness, injury, weather, etc.). Note that you are not required to have a guide in order to climb, so long as you have the right paperwork with you; a guide is only required to get the permits. How’s that for Nepalese logic?

Which Route? Be prepared to only be able to climb the standard route up any peak. We had grand desires to climb alternative routes on all of our peaks, but the avalanche conditions were so spicy that we were always forced onto the normal route, which inevitably had been beat into an obvious path by high volumes of traffic. A decent snowstorm even a month before your trip could seriously impact your climbing route plans; this is equally true for some of the higher and less frequently traveled passes – e.g. Amphu Lapcha, Tashi Lapcha, the Three Cols – as these passes are often more difficult than the climbing routes on nearby mountains. For us, it was easy decision to put a kibosh on our plans to cross Amphu Lapcha (and live another day) after just one look at the pass, even though it had been a full month since the last snowstorm. Ask around for beta when you’re up there to see if others have taken the same route and can give you information on the current conditions, but don’t expect agencies in Namche or Kathmandu to have updated information. Also, be comfortable turning around and bailing; far too many people die in the Himalaya from unpredictable conditions and rigidly adhering to a plan. Don’t count on your guide to make the safest decision; there’s a lot of pressure on guides to get you up something, even if it puts both your lives at risk, and the qualifications to be a climbing guide are not as rigorous as required in other parts of the world.

 

We would love to hear from you if you have other questions, want more information, or have other beta to update or add to this post. Good luck with your trip and enjoy the Himalaya!