This is going to be the first day of Nepal adventure. At the arrival section of Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, one of our representatives will be waiting with a placard-carrying your name on it. The airport representative will explain the program upon arrival and escort you to the hotel on a private vehicle.

Overnight in Kathmandu;

After breakfast, Kathmandu tour begins. Kathmandu valley is an incredibly diverse city with a breathtaking Newari culture, centuries-old Hindu and Buddhists cultural sites alongside a plethora of ancient monuments. The capital of the country and home to 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Kathmandu, bridges modern facilities with centuries-old traditions and cultures with its tourist-friendly accommodations and the ancestral etiquette “Atithi Devo Bhava” meaning "Guest is equivalent to God". Throughout the day, most of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu will be observed.

 Overnight stay at the hotel;

Almost all treks to Everest begins from Lukla so, early in the morning, a drive to Tribhuvan International airport (in a private car) for a flight to Lukla will be arranged. It takes 30-35 minutes to reach Tenzing Hillary airport/ Lukla airport. After reaching Lukla, the porters and the team members joining us on the trek will be introduced. The ultimate Island Peak Trek begins with a hike up through the beautiful town of Lukla to the Pasang Lhamu Memorial Gate. From the gate, the trail leading us out of Lukla, drops down to the village of Phakding, traversing the community forest and small Sherpa villages like Thalsharoa, Chheplung, Thado Koshi Gaon, and Chhuthawa. Savour the beauty of well-decorated chortens, prayer rocks, prayer flags and prayer wheels on our way alongside the mesmerizing view of Kusum Kangru and the Dudh Koshi River. It takes about 4 hours to a walk downhill to reach Phakding. Check-in at the teahouse. In the remaining time, either rest or explore the nearby monasteries.

Overnight stay at a teahouse in Phakding; 

After breakfast in Phakding, Island peak trek continues. Crossing the bridge across the Dudh Koshi River, leaving Phakding our trail continues north, through the forest of pine, up and downhill past a few suspension bridges and small settlement: Toktok, Bengkar, Chhamuwa to Monjo. At Monjo, your guide will take care of the necessary formalities, before entering the Sagarmatha National Park. From the entrance of the Sagarmatha National Park, we will continue on a trail which steeply drops down to the bridge across the Dudh Koshi River. Crossing the bridge, and following the lower riverbank trail, we climb into the forest over gravel and boulders and continue to Larja bridge, past Larja Dobhan. Crossing the Larja Bridge, enjoying the first view of Mt. Everest and hiking up the steep hill through the pine forest on a rocky trail to Mislung, the forest ends and the trail levels out from Mislung. From Mislung, the plain trail leads us to Namche. After checking into the teahouse, the remaining time can either be spent resting or exploring the town of Namche.

Overnight stay in Namche Bazar;

To prevent Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), further up the trail, a day stop at Namche for acclimatization is essential. Staying active boosts, the process of acclimatization rather than simply resting. Therefore, we will go for an acclimatization hike. Enjoying the wonderful view of Khumbu la, Ama Dablam and Thamserku peaks we advance to Khunde Tsamkhang (a Buddhist temple), built above the village of Khunde. We reach Hillary Memorial Viewpoint to see the 360-degree views of Khunde, Namche, Ama Dablam, and Pachermo Peak. After exploring Khunde, through the potato fields we continue east to the largest village in the Khumbu region- Khumjung.  We will be exploring around the village to see the Hillary School (a school established by Sir Edmund Hillary), the longest Mani wall in the Khumbu region, and Khumjung monastery which treasures a skull of a Yeti.

Overnight stay in Namche Bazar;

We begin the trek to Tengboche through an easy trail to Phunki Thanga. Ascending towards Tengboche village which is home to the largest monastery in the Everest region, we enter the Sagarmatha National Park. The monastery is located within the Sagarmatha National park. Enjoying panoramic views of the highest mountains on the earth including Everest, Amadablam, Thamserku, Lhotse, and Nuptse, we reach Tengboche. If we reach there early, we will most probably be able to witness a religious Buddhist ceremony.

 Overnight stay in Tengboche;

After breakfast, we begin our day’s trek walking downhill passing through lush forests full of birch, conifers and rhododendron trees. Accompanied by breathtaking views of Mt. Everest, Lhotse and Amadablam, the trail descends down to Debuche, passing over the Imja river taking us to Pangboche. Walking the upper Pangboche trails, enjoying pristine views of the Himalayas and Pangboche monastery, we move towards the Imja Valley. Passing the Lobuche River and climbing up to Dingboche, we reach the beautiful windy village adorned by chortens and prayer flags.

 Overnight stay in Dingboche;

The trail will become more and more challenging as we reach higher altitudes. We ascend the steep terminal moraine of the Khumbu Glacier which goes through boulder-strewn slopes leading us up to Chupki Lhara. Chupki Lhara is a ridge that provides spectacular views. After climbing the moraine on the far side through Khumbu glacier the trail leads us to Lobuche.

Overnight in Lobuche;

Moving along the lateral moraine of the Khumbu glacier, we leave icy cold Lobuche and head towards Gorakshep. On the way, we come across the magnificent view of the crest of the north ridge of Everest along with Mt. Pumori, Mahalangur, Lingtern, Khumbutse, Nuptse and other mountains. After almost two hours of walking, we reach Gorak Shep and rest for lunch before heading to Everest base camp. We pass through rocky dunes, streams, and moraines and reach the base camp to the highest mountain in the world; Everest. From here, we can observe the stunning view of Nuptse, Khumbutse, and Pumori mountains. We trek back to Gorak Shep.

Overnight in Gorak Shep;

Early in the morning, we start our trek to Kala Patthar to catch the breathtaking view of sunrise on Mount Everest from Kala Patthar. After several hours of ascent, we reach the top of Kalapatthar from where, we can admire the glorious sunrise over Mount Everest up close.  The day’s first light will illuminate the pristine views of Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Taboche, Cholatse, and Lobuche on the way down.  From Kala Patthar, we head back to Gorak shep for breakfast. After breakfast we trek to Dingboche.

Overnight in Dingboche;

From Dingboche, we head towards Chukung where our climbing training begins. Although it is possible to climb the Island peak without climbing experience, training prior to the climb is quite essential. Once we reach Chukung, the expedition leader will provide the climbing gears like boots, ice axes, rope, radio etc. This training creates familiarity with mountaineering gears and tools and boosts your confidence to scale the peak.

Overnight in Chukung;

On this day, we will not walk any further. We rather take rest that day and prepare for the next day for the summit climbing of the peak. Although it is possible to climb Island Peak with no prior climbing experience training, the expedition leader will provide us with climbing gears like; boots, ice axes, rope, radio etc. This training will uplift your confidence to climb scale the peak. This day, the training will be provided and we prepare physically and mentally for further day.

Overnight at Island Peak Base camp;

This day is important for us because it is the summit day. We have our breakfast in the early morning and walk to conquer the summit of Island Peak. We start to ascend with headlamps scaling the rocky trail up. We will see glorious Himalayan sunrise and prepare for tough, ultimate climb. We will need the climbing skills and off we climb to Island Peak. We will be rewarded with the beautiful landscape view along with Himalayan views from the summit. We follow back the same path to the original path of our ascent. We head back to the Base Camp and then to Chukung to celebrate our success;

Overnight in Chukung;

We follow back to the original path of our ascent. The fascinating culture of the Sherpa’s is on display once more and we reach Tengboche.

 Overnight in Tengboche;

Walking downhill retracing our way back through Sagarmatha National Park accompanied by the stunning views of the glorious mountains we reach Namche.

Overnight in Namche Bazar;

 After our breakfast, we return back over the main track down to DudhKoshi retracing our way back to Phakding. Following the track, we reach Lukla scaling different Sherpa villages crossing a suspension bridge above ThadoKoshi. This will be our last night in the mountains until next time.

Overnight stay at teahouse in Lukla

Flights from Lukla to Kathmandu are sometimes canceled due to weather conditions. So, to avoid the impact of cancelled flights on your departure plans a day is reserved as buffer day.

After about 35 minutes of flight time, we land in Kathmandu and we’ll drive back to the hotel. Rest of the day is for relaxing or sightseeing around Kathmandu city or it’s up to you to plan whether to stroll around the city buying souvenirs or spend a relaxing day at massage.

Overnight in Kathmandu;

Depending on the flight time, Swotah will arrange the transfer to the airport. The airport check-in is 3 hours prior to the departure time.