Last revised on October 23, 2022.

Table of Contents:

• The World’s Great Long-Distance Treks – A List of the Top 5
• One Trek To Rule Them All: The High Passes of Everest Trek
• A Google Earth View of The High Passes Route
• Himalayan Maphouse Map of the Everest Region

How To Do The Trek

1. The Trekking Agency Option

• Exodus Travels
• Mountain Kingdoms 
• KE Aventures
• Other Non-Nepalese Agencies
• Nepalese Agencies

2. Doing It On Your Own (Or With Porter/Guide)

The Permits You’ll Need To Get

From Kathmandu To Lukla

• The Classic Approach from Jiri to Lukla  – six days
• The Flight From Kathmandu to Lukla – 30 minutes
• Lukla to Namche – Days 1 – 3
• Namche To Chhukung – Days 4 – 7
• Chhukhung to Everest via Kongma La Days 8 – 10
• Lobuche to the Kokyo Lakes Via Cho La Days 11 – 14
• Gokyo to Lukla via Renjo La Days 15 – 19

Previous Post: Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit – Is It Still Worth Doing?

———————–

The World’s #1 Long-Distance Trek

There is no way that everyone will agree on a list of the top ten must-do treks in the world. Google the topic and you’ll come up with an incredible range of choices – and be left disagreeing with some of them.

The people behind the  Wiki Explora website came up with a novel idea – Why not check out several books that contain such lists and based on a trek’s appearance in more or fewer books, come up with a ranking? Almost sounds scientific! In the end, it is still subjective, however, no matter how well-travelled were the writers of the various books.

The above site, for example, has as its goal the promotion of outdoor activities in Latin America. This could explain why Torres del Paine ended up as the #1 hiking destination and the Inca Trail as #2 and why they’ve provided write-ups (highlighted in blue)  only for the South American entries.

Over the past few years (from 2000 to 2019), I’ve done the top 5 treks ranked on the Wikiexplora website, as well as some others, including the other South American hikes on the list. There is a wide range of trek durations:

• the Inca Trail trek takes 4 days,
• the TDP trek and the Kilimanjaro hike take a week, and
• the Tour de Mont Blanc takes 10 days.
• The Everest Base Camp trek is the longest at 12 to 14 days

The Everest B.C. trek is, to me, the clear  #1 trek and should be at the top of the list!

While Everest B.C. is at the top of the list, there is an even greater trek – the true #1  – of which the Everest B.C. Trek is only a part.

The interactive Google map will allow you to zoom in or out. Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Mount Everest.

———————–

One Trek To Rule Them All:

The High Passes of Everest Trek

The trek I have in mind is what the Lonely Planet guidebook Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya (10th Ed. 2016 – next Ed. due March 2023) describes as

“an epic journey that will take you over some of the highest mountain passes  in the world. It stitches together the best of the Everest Base Camp and Gokyo treks and two of the most rewarding side treks of the lower Khumbu.”

Called The Three Passes Trek by the LP writers,  during the twenty days or so of your adventure, you cross three 5300m+  passes –

• Kongma La 5535
• Cho La 5420
• Renjo La 5335

as you traverse from valley to valley and glacier to glacier. [If you’re wondering, the word “La” is Tibetan for “pass”!]

Included in the trek are three non-technical peaks that most choose to walk up for yet more incredible views:

• Chhukung Ri   5546    18196′
• Kala Pathar   5645      18,519′ 
• Gokyo Ri    5357 m      17,575′ 

This puts the Three Passes of Everest Trek in a category all of its own.

• Not to discount the wonder of Machu Picchu and the four-day hike to get there,
• not to disparage the fine views of glacial lakes and of Siula Grande on the Huayhuash trek,
• not to dismiss the six-day walk around the iconic towers at Torres del Paine Park or
• three or four days doing day hikes at Fitz Roy,

However, the High Passes of Everest trek offers all this and more on an epic scale that the Andes or the Alps cannot match. In the twenty days of the High Passes trek, you could do any three of the South American hikes without rushing!

The High Passes of Everest Trek has everything a trekker could want –

• the stunning physical landscape of the Himalayas
• the fascinating, vibrant local culture of the Sherpa people infused with their Tibetan Buddhist religion, which becomes a part of your journey,  and
• the physical challenge of staying healthy and acclimatizing to the demands of the high altitude over three weeks.

Take a look at Radek Kucharski’s collection of Everest region panoramas for a sample of the iconic peaks that make up your journey! Along with Kev Reynolds, Kucharski authored Cicerone’s Everest: A Trekker’s Guide (2018).

The Khumbu region above Lukla is defined by three great river valleys. From west to east, they are the Bhote Kosi, the Dudh Kosi, and the Imja Khola.

The High Passes of Everest Trek has you walk up or down all three of these river valleys and hike up and down the Khumbu Glacier to Kala Pathar above Everest Base Camp.

———————–

A Google Earth View of The High Passes Route:

If you want a Google-Earth 3D view of the High Passes of Everest route, download this internet-accessed kml file of the route from my Dropbox folder.  Just click on the download prompt in the top left-hand corner and then open the file in Google Earth.

———————–

Himalayan Maphouse Everest Region map

Paper copies of the map are available in Kathmandu shops. This digital copy will help you visualize the route and waypoints until you get yours. Click here or on the map itself to access the interactive webpage –

———————–

How To Do The Trek

1. The Trekking Agency Option

A. Exodus Travels

I did not do the trek on my own; rather, I booked the trek with Exodus, a UK adventure travel company that I have used on several occasions, always quite satisfied with their service and attention to detail and with the quality Nepalese guides and support staff it has on the ground running the tours.

Other trekking companies offer a similar package, and I am sure most of them do a pretty good job. A bit of research on your part should lead you to a good match.

What the Lonely Planet called The Three Passes Trek was originally named the High Passes of Everest by the Exodus marketing department. Then it was repackaged as High Passes To Everest Base Camp. Perhaps having “Base Camp” in the title made it seem more marketable.

And post-COVID?  The Three Passes trek does not exist at all in the Exodus catalogue. Click here to see the details of the 19-day teahouse trek that is now the most ambitious trek Exodus offers in the Khumbu region.

While the Exodus-organized trek I did make use of yaks who carried all the supplies and camp infrastructure, the High Passes Trek is offered by most as a teahouse trek these days The agencies below are just two of them.

—————

B. Mountain Kingdoms

Mk is the UK adventure travel company with which I did Bolivia’s Cordillera Real Trek. I was quite impressed with their local crew: an excellent guide, top-notch tent and other camp shelters, vehicles that were always on time, food that even this vegan was enthusiastic about…excellent value.

Like Bolivia, the on-the-ground crew on the Everest trek will be Nepalese, undoubtedly hired by MK based on excellent reviews from previous trips.

The High Passes trek is offered on the UK’s Mountain Kingdoms website. My one hesitation is that it does the trip clockwise, which is unusual. The itinerary has allocated several acclimatization days to lessen potential problems, and the post-trip comments are quite positive, so perhaps my fears are unwarranted. In 2022 the cost of the MK trek is £2350 (US2770.), starting and finishing in Kathmandu.

—————

C. KE Adventure Travel

Another UK-based company that also offers a clockwise version of the Three Passes Trek is K.E. Adventure Travel.  Maybe the thought is that arriving at Everest Base Camp near the end of the trek is more dramatic than visiting at the halfway point.

The KE price is £2475. (US2995.), Like the MK package, it begins and ends in Kathmandu. Airfare and other costs to get there will be extra.

D. Other U.K., European,  or North American-based agencies

Some googling may turn up other non-Nepalese-based agencies offering variations of the High Passes of Everest trek in 2022. You do pay a premium for using a U.K., European,  or North American-based trekking agency, sometimes up to 20%.  In the end, they all are required to hire local guides and support teams, so it can be cheaper just to eliminate them and go with a Nepalese company. On the other hand, the guides and support teams used by the big foreign agencies tend to be the best locals available and have been hired based on reviews of previous trips they have done for the agency.

—————

E. Kathmandu-based Agencies

The Lonely Planet guidebook has been a reliable source of information in a search for Kathmandu-based trekking agencies able to meet your expectations. The current edition dates back to January 2016; the 11th edition is slated for release in early 2023. Two and half years into the Covid era,  the trekking agency industry in Nepal has surely been rattled. I wonder how valid the LP reviews done in 2015 still are.

Cicerone has the 5th Edition of its Everest: A Trekker’s Guide. It dates to November 2018.  It also has recommendations for Kathmandu-based trekking agencies that offer the High Passes trek.

TripAdvisor will also have reviews of local agencies. Scanning the various topics in the Nepal Forum will turn up threads like this one from April 2022 – Everest Base Camp Trek or this one from 2019. Beware of the responses from people clearly self-promoting their businesses. Their comments are sometimes not deleted. On the other hand, some excellent forum contributors have been offering free solid advice for years!  See comments by scoodly, into-thin-air, or arkienkeli. for three examples.

You should be able to glean the names of some reliable local trekking companies that can arrange your Three Passes Trek. Depending on how many are in your trekking group, you may save 20% or more if you go local instead of via the UK or other foreign agencies I mentioned above. 

———————–

2. Doing It On Your Own (Or With Porter/Guide)

Since it was my first time, I had no idea what to expect before I went to Nepal. I’ll admit that letting a trusted trekking agency take care of all the details about

• internal flights
• accommodation
• food
• health and safety issues
• route-finding (such as it was!)

while I focused on interesting camera angles had its attractions!  However, had I been 25 instead of 55, my bank account may have encouraged me to do more of the above myself!

I will say that the Exodus crew added value to my experience thanks to the fact that they were born in the Khumbu and had countless contacts in Namche, at Thyangboche (i.e. Tengboche), and all along the way that truly enriched our trek. Organized group or independent trekker – a good guide will make a difference.

If you are up to the challenge of taking full charge, the next step would be hiring your own porter/guide once you get to Nepal.  Check out this informative and up-to-date BestHike webpage with its emphasis on the do-it-yourself alternative.

However, having done it once in an organized group, I would feel comfortable doing it alone a second time. I might still be tempted to get a guide/porter that I would hire once I got to Kathmandu. A good guide can add to your experience by explaining things that you see or pointing out things you don’t. Your people back home will also appreciate the added safety factor!

A bad guide, of course, would be a disaster that could ruin the trip! The BestHike website points out some of them:

Certainly, trekkers regularly have trouble with guides:

• some can be insistent on where they want you to stop each night. This sometimes leads to conflict.

• they may ask for more money, or gear they “forgot” to bring

• they may want to change/shorten the itinerary

• they may ask you hire an additional porter once you get on the trail

There is also the insurance issue for guides/porters and getting them to Lukla from Kathmandu and then back again.  Somehow setting off as an independent trekker and not having to deal with all of the above has its attractions.

I like the idea of hiring a guide for certain sections of the trek where potential trouble may occur – i.e. the Chhukhung to Lobuche over Kongma La hike.  In the end, you certainly will not be the only one doing the Three Passes Trek on your own and may find a trekking companion when you are on the trail.

TripAdvisor Trip Report – August 22, 2022

The following TripAdvisor post in the Nepal Forum by PeterMorley contains up-to-date information on doing the High Passes Trek on your own. Tips on accommodation, route finding, and more make it a useful source as you plan your own trip.

Click here to access the thread.

———————–

The Permits You’ll Need To Get:

When I did the Three Passes Trek, the Maoist Insurgency was still going on. Since I was part of an organized group, our guide/leader took care of all the permits and form submissions. Three different permits were required:

1. a TIMS (Trekkers’ Information Management System) card issued in Kathmandu
2. a Sagarmatha National Park Entrance Permit
3. a “tax” collected by the Maoists just north of Phakding on Day 2 of the trek

These days the Maoist tax is no more – the party’s leader actually served as Nepal’s Prime Minister in the 2010s!

The TIMS fee is also no more, having been replaced by a 2000 rupee (about US $20.) Khumbu entrance fee levied by the government of the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality. This permit can be obtained in Lukla or at the Park Entrance gate at Monjo.

The other fee is for the 3000-rupee Sagarmatha National Park entrance permit.  You can get it in Monjo at the official park entrance gate.

As of September 2022, another requirement is the Khumbu Trek Card, free and available in Lukla,  the start of most treks. It is meant to digitalize trekker info and hopefully eliminate bureaucratic red tape. Time will tell how effective it is and how much confusion it creates!

A thread in TripAdvisor’s Nepal Forum – Trek Card Implementation in the Everest Region – has more info and readers’ views about the new card.

———————–

Getting From Kathmandu To Lukla

1. The Classic Approach from Jiri to Lukla  – six days

Jiri (and now Shivalaya) are the starting points for a walking trail that takes you up to Lukla over a six-day period. The main attraction of this route is the fact that in the 1950s, this was Hillary’s approach to Lukla and the Everest Region.  Do note that the villages along the route were heavily damaged in the 2015 earthquakes.

Over the six days, you gain less than 1000 meters in altitude (1950 to 2840), so it has very limited value as an acclimatization exercise.

If you see the trail as a way to get into shape before you get to Lukla, the question is – what were you doing at home in the three months before your arrival to improve your fitness level?

However, read this Backpack Adventures’ account of the Jiri-Lukla trek by a Dutch traveller, which she did in 2021. She may convince you that time spent in the lower hills below the Himalayas is time well spent!

———————–

The Flight From Kathmandu to Lukla – 30 minutes

My agency-organized trek began with a thirty-minute flight from Kathmandu to Lukla. The Exodus team took care of all 14 duffels- one for each client, all but me from the U.K.

Good weather meant no problems with take-off.

———————–

Next Post: Lukla to Namche… (Days 1 and 2) + Day 3 – Acclimatization Day

———————–

See also:

• Namche to Chhukung: Days 4 – 7

• Chhukhung to Everest via Kongma La: Days 8 – 10

• Lobuche to the Kokyo Lakes Via Cho La: Days 11 – 14

• Gokyo to Lukla via Renjo La:Days 15 – 19