Everest Three Pass Trek - 18 Days

Morning flight to Lukla, the gateway to Everest, is 35 minutes of heart-stopping beauty. Snow peaks, terraced hills, rivers below like silver ribbons.

Lukla’s short runway and mountain walls are a rite of passage for every trekker. Meet porters — strong, smiling, grounded in generations of mountain life.

After breakfast, descend through pine forest along the Dudh Koshi River. Prayer wheels spin, children shout “Namaste,” yak bells echo like wind chimes.

Arrive at Phakding, a riverside village where warmth comes in tea mugs and stories. Tonight’s dinner: dal bhat, the meal that powers all of Nepal.

Cross several suspension bridges, the most famous draped in prayer flags — the Hillary Bridge. The trail climbs steadily through rhododendron forest into the clouds.

You officially enter Sagarmatha National Park, a UNESCO site since 1979. Here lives the Himalayan tahr, the blood pheasant, and legends older than any map.

The final two hours to Namche test lungs but reward spirit. As you crest the ridge, Everest flashes between peaks — a promise kept.

Namche feels like an alpine amphitheater: bakeries, gear shops, a museum, even an Irish pub. Rest, recharge, and gaze at the mountains you came to meet.

Altitude isn’t conquered; it’s befriended. Today’s gentle hike teaches that truth.

We climb to Syangboche Airstrip and the Hotel Everest View (3,880 m) — famed for its 360° panorama: Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku.

Descend through Khumjung, home to the Hillary School (1961) and a monastery rumored to keep a Yeti scalp.
Whether myth or metaphor, the story reminds us: in the Khumbu, belief and geography share the same map.

Afternoon free for cafés or gear checks. Your guide shares mountain folklore — of gods who disguised themselves as wind.

Trail undulates along the ridge, each bend revealing a postcard. Ama Dablam stands elegant — climbers call it the Matterhorn of Nepal.

We descend to the Dudh Koshi again before the long climb to Tengboche. At the top: stillness, pine scent, prayer wheels turning slowly in cold air.

Visit the Tengboche Monastery (built 1916), the spiritual heart of the region. Monks chant at dusk while incense curls into golden light.

If luck favors you in autumn, witness the Mani Rimdu Festival — masked dances honoring compassion and courage.

The trail drops to Deboche, crosses the river, then climbs above the tree line. Rhododendrons yield to juniper and windswept stone walls.

Villages grow sparser, mountains closer.You feel small, but beautifully so.

Lunch in Pangboche, one of the oldest Sherpa settlements, believed founded by Lama Sanga Dorje centuries ago.Here monks bless travelers with juniper smoke and soft laughter.

Reach Dingboche, fields of barley and potatoes fenced by rock. To the east rises Makalu (8,485 m), fifth-highest in the world. The air is thinner now; the stars, nearer.

Today’s shorter hike eases you toward the first pass. The path follows the Imja Khola Valley, with Ama Dablam glowing at your shoulder.

We pass alpine pastures where yak herders hum folk songs older than Buddha’s teachings. The sense of remoteness deepens — fewer trekkers, more sky.

Chhukung is a tiny cluster of lodges beneath towering ridges. It feels like the last human outpost before the world turns to ice.

Evening talk covers Kongma La Pass, tomorrow’s challenge. Guides check weather, wind speed, and your comfort — precision and care entwined.

Rest here is strategic, not idle. We hike light to nearby ridges for view and adaptation.

From Chhukung Ri (5,550 m), you glimpse the entire Imja Valley and the glacier-fed lake Imja Tsho. The Himalaya stretch endlessly — 8,000-meter peaks in conversation with the sky.

Afternoon in teahouse warmth. Your guide explains how weather systems shift from Bay of Bengal to Tibetan Plateau — why monsoons paint rhododendrons red in April and glaciers shimmer blue in October.

Tonight’s dinner: garlic soup, proven altitude remedy in local lore. Outside, the Milky Way burns brighter than any city streetlight.

Predawn departure under starlight. Today you cross the first of three passes, Kongma La.

The climb is long and pure — stone steps, frozen ponds, breath in rhythm with prayer.
Each pause reveals new horizons: the Imja Glacier glinting like hammered silver, Everest teasing from behind Lhotse.

At the top: a cairn of prayer flags, flapping like pages of a sacred book.
You’ve earned the view, one of the finest in the Khumbu.

Descend carefully over moraine and loose rock to Lobuche, a stark settlement on the glacier’s edge.
The air hums with stories from climbers and dreamers.

The day many dream about begins early. The trail winds over the Khumbu Glacier, where boulders creak and meltwater gurgles beneath ice older than human memory.

A gradual climb leads to Gorak Shep, the last outpost before Everest. You drop bags, sip tea, and continue toward Base Camp.

Colored tents appear like jewels on gray ice — the world’s highest temporary city during climbing season. Here climbers test courage, scientists study glaciers, and trekkers often fall silent.

You stand at 5,364 m, the roof of the trekking world. No photo can contain what your heart records.

Return to Gorak Shep for the night. The sunset turns Nuptse gold and your tea to reflection.

Predawn start, breath visible in headlamp beams. The climb to Kala Patthar is steady but sacred.

At the summit, Everest towers so near it feels human. Sunlight floods across the Himalayan Trinity — Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse — while Pumori rises behind you like a guardian.

Many call this “the best view on Earth.” You simply breathe, knowing you’re inside the postcard.

Descend to Gorak Shep for breakfast, then trek to Dzongla, crossing a ridge carpeted with dwarf juniper. The silence here feels ancient.

Tonight you sleep beneath the shadow of Cholatse Peak, stars spilling over its ice crown.

The trail climbs toward Cho La Pass, perhaps the most dramatic of the three. You step onto snowfields glinting like powdered glass.

Crampons crunch, wind hums through prayer flags frozen stiff. From the top, the Ngozumpa Glacier stretches below — Nepal’s longest river of ice, nearly 36 km long.

Descend carefully, following cairns through glacial debris until the valley opens into turquoise. That is Gokyo Lake I, gleaming like heaven poured into water.

Arrive at Gokyo village, a handful of lodges beside sacred lakes. Local lore says even birds do not fly above them out of reverence.

Dinner beside the fire tastes of victory and gratitude.

Early start for Gokyo Ri, a steady climb rewarded by one of Earth’s finest panoramas. Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, four 8,000 m giants in one sweep.

Below, six Gokyo Lakes shimmer in shades that defy description. It feels like standing inside a sapphire sky.

Return to the lodge for breakfast and rest. Afternoon free to stroll lake edges, chat with yak herders, or visit the small eco-center run by local youth.

This is the heart of high-Himalayan sustainability, solar power, filtered water, shared pride.

The Renjo La Pass completes your trilogy. You begin before dawn, the trail zigzagging through scree and silence.

At the top, the view is biblical: Everest framed by prayer flags, Gokyo Lakes below like tears of the gods. Few places on earth feel so pure.

Descending toward Marulung, the landscape changes again — from glacial desert to yak pastures and stone huts. You re-enter life, carrying the sky within you.

Evening fires crackle, and laughter returns. The hardest part is over; the heart is full.

Today the altitude drops, oxygen floods your body. You cross Thame village, birthplace of several Everest legends, including Apa Sherpa, who summited 21 times.

Visit the Thame Monastery, dating back 400 years. Its murals blend Buddhist art with mountain mythology.

The trail descends through forests of pine and rhododendron. Birdsong replaces wind as your soundtrack.

Arrive back in Namche, and civilization feels both welcome and strange. Hot showers, coffee, Wi-Fi — luxuries reborn as gratitude.

Retrace the Hillary Bridge one last time. Prayer flags ripple like memories refusing to fade.

Each village now carries faces you recognize, and children who wave knowing you’ll wave back. This is how travel becomes relationship.

Arrive in Lukla, the circle complete. Evening celebration with your team — dancing, Nepali folk songs, and heartfelt toasts.

It’s tradition to thank your porter personally; their smiles are the final summit.

Weather permitting, morning flight returns you to the world below. The Himalaya shrink in the window, but never in memory.

Back in Kathmandu, hot showers, soft beds, and city color feel unreal. Optional evening farewell dinner with your local guide in Nepal — a meal of momo dumplings and laughter.

You’ve walked through three passes and a lifetime of perspectives.

Breakfast in the garden, suitcase by the door. Transfer to the airport with a heart that feels both heavy and weightless.

You arrived as a traveler. You leave as part of a 15,000-strong Alpine Ramble family who have seen Everest not just with their eyes, but with their spirit.