The Everest Three Passes trek takes you into the magnificent Nepal region where you are dwarfed by mountains and ranges among the highest in the world. You’ll travel over extremely high mountain passes, experience Everest Base Camp and cast your eye over the largest of them all – Everest.
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Everest Three Passes
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Everest Base Camp
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Gokyo Lakes
If you want to push your trekking up a notch then Nepal should be on your radar for the next big adventure. Husband and I climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania followed by a couple of tough backcountry expeditions at home in New Zealand so we decided it was time to follow in the footsteps of countryman Sir Edmund Hillary. Not Everest (that’s a whole different level of commitment), but the Everest region or the Khumbu which includes Sagamatha National Park.
We’re moderately fit so we opted for the Everest Three Passes trek – a route which takes in three high altitude passes, Everest Base Camp and the Gokyo Lakes area in a hike of around 16-18 days. It’s tough but sitting up on the Renjo La Pass (5360m) looking out of over Gokyo and towards Everest (8848m) bathed in a wintry sun with the sound of Yak bells clanging below is something special.
This trek, whatever route you take within the region, will fill with the full spectrum of emotions – from absolute fatigue to pure elation – but know that it will be one of the most rewarding trekking experiences.
Freedom walk versus paid guide
We’re aged in our 40s – everyone we met freedom walking the Everest Three Passes with their own backpacks and booking their own tea houses were in their 20s and early 30s. Some struggled and opted to pay a porter to lug their backpacks over the passes. It’s tough with a heavy bag but if it’s a money saving option then do it. We used an awesome local company Green Valley Nepal Treks and had our own guide and porter. Why struggle with a 15kg plus pack when you can carry a day bag with just essentials and have the energy to soak in the scenery and take photographs.
As far as cost goes – it was approximately $1330USD (not incl tips) per person for our trek with Green Valley. Our guide on the Everest Three Passes trek was from the area and we gained a great insight into the culture, the wildlife, the name of all the mountains and he took us on a few welcome short cuts. It was the busy November trekking season and having a guide to sort out accommodation i.e warmest tea houses, flights, sunniest rooms was invaluable. We lucked it- it was just husband and I in our group but we met plenty of other trekkers and it helped that we could just walk at our own pace and stop when we wanted.
The Diamox Question
You might have already been prescribed this medication for altitude sickness by your doctor back home. In New Zealand we have to see a specialist travel doctor which is expensive. Then there are the numerous medications they seem to prescribe alongside a healthy dose of fear for every little thing that could go wrong.
Buy Diamox in Thamel, Kathmandu – plenty of places sell it and it’s very cheap. You will need to pee a lot after taking it so don’t make the same mistake as me and take it at the Kathmandu airport on the way to Lukla. I have been at high altitudes several times and only had altitude sickness once and that’s because I ascended way too fast (on a cable car).
If you plan on taking the Everest Three Passes trek slow and allowing for the necessary acclimatization days then you might not need Diamox. Every person is different – perfectly fit individuals can’t go on while a heavy smoker finds it a breeze. In the end, the tingling hands and feet annoyed me and I decided to go off Diamox after several days as I felt fine.
Plenty of people around us on the trek did suffer from AMS – some having to take emergency helicopters back to Kathmandu (cost approx $2500US). If in doubt buy Diamox in Nepal and bring it along just in case but all the advice says just ascend slowly to minimise your chances of getting sick. But the take out piece of advice from this… get travel insurance the moment you book your trip!
Go Vegetarian
The warning from most guides and companies who operate in this region is not to trust the meat – as tempting as a Yak steak might sound because they look much better sizzling on a plate arriving at someone else’s table.
Most of the meat you see on the teahouse menus on these treks is likely bought in from outside the Khumbu and therefore it’s been hiked in without refrigeration.There’s plenty to eat without the risk. Pizzas, Sherpa stew, momos, potatoes, noodles, rice and Dahl Baht all come sans meat product. I don’t have a cast iron gut so I wasn’t leaving anything to chance and in 16 days I did not have any serious tummy troubles. Despite all the energy you are exerting on this trek, the altitude will likely knock your appetite so be prepared for a bit of weight loss.
How safe is Lukla Airport?
When you think of how many people are herded in and out on the Twin Otters daily – especially during the busy October/November months – you’re more likely to get altitude sickness than be involved in an air accident.
I have my private pilots’ licence, so maybe I am a bit nonchalant when it comes to the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla being held up as the world’s most dangerous airport. When we flew out of Kathmandu to start our Everest Three Passes trek, I had my mind on other things(see Diamox section above). You are quickly shepherded into a seat then to my surprise an air steward tries to pry herself among the passengers to give out not sweets but bits of cotton wool as the Otters can be a little noisy.
Photos from the air? Forget it, the windows looked like they were last washed in 1994. Once on the ground you are hurriedly herded off your flight as the crew are already trying to ram their outgoing PAX on board and within seconds the aeroplane has taxied out and disappeared downhill – leaving an eerie silence with the odd black crow squawking to welcome your arrival.
Plenty of flights are cancelled due to the weather and going home is a hot mess of trekkers waiting for their number to be called before there’s an urgent panic to get on board. It’s only a 30-40 minute flight but if you are that worried about it, take the bus or hire a jeep which will involve a lot more walking and works out more expensive than flying.
Rug up, it’s cold up there!
Yes we had 16 days of perfect sunshine, yes it was warm enough during the day below Namche Bazaar to wear a t-shirt trekking BUT the moment the sun disappears you will feel like you stepped into an ice chiller. We stayed in a two-horse town of Marulung in the Thame Valley and ourselves and fellow trekkers sat outside at 2.30pm watching the sun disappear over the mountains alongside any hope of keeping warm for the afternoon/evening.
So one place you will spend a lot of time on this trek is in your sleeping bag. Choose well when you embark on the Everest Three Passes or Everest Base Camp treks. Most of the beds have pillows and some have a basic rug but you will need a warm sleeping bag. I had a Sea to Summit Traverse sleeping bag and as I suffer from the cold, I also added a few degrees of warmth with a liner. I was toasty warm sleeping in just long johns and a merino top and the mummy hood meant I didn’t have to sleep with a warm hat. Husband made do with our summer weight bag adding the teahouse rug thrown over for extra warmth.
When we trekked up 5550m Kala Pathar to view Everest and just before the sun had risen my hands were like ice tentacles. Cue the most amazing invention ever, HotHands – a Japanese product which are two tea bag shaped pouches that after they are shaken and stuffed in your gloves for 10 minutes begin to warm up and stay heated for up to 10 hours.
How fit do I need to be?
Obviously the fitter you are, the more rewarding the experience when walking Everest Three Passes, but I came across plenty of people returning from Everest Base Camp who certainly did not look like Olympic athletes. It’s a trek for all sorts. Mental toughness is probably your key ally – especially when tackling the harder Everest Three Passes.
That’s because it’s cold, it can be windy and there is a lot of elevation on these walks. As an average I was doing around 26,500 Fitbit steps each day on the Everest Three Passes trek with around 220 floors daily – this will be less for Everest Base Camp. Total elevation for the Everest Three Passes trek according to Fitbit was 14,000m!
Of course throw in less oxygen and your pace will slow down significantly plus you might develop an annoying low level form of the Khumbu Cough. Days generally start around 7.30am and finish early afternoon with a lunch stop. So train for the walk. We have done peak treks like Kilimanjaro where many had done no training and were fine. I am not sure youth or zero training will work for you on Everest Three Pass or even to Everest Base Camp. Age is no barrier either – we encountered a large group of Japanese trekkers aged 60 and above tackling the Gokyo region and the Renjo La Pass. Sure they were slow but they made it.