Lobuche Peak Climbing - 18 Days

After your arrival at the airport in Kathmandu you will be greeted by one of our representatives who will later escort you to the hotel. After hotel check in you can decide whether you would like to have a relaxing rest at the hotel or hang around city depending upon the availability of time. O/N you stay at the hotel.

Today after breakfast we will set out for a guided city tour where you get to discover several historical and spiritual attractions of Kathmandu. You will be seeing the world heritage sites like historical Durbar Square, the sacred Hindu temple of lord Pashupatinath, Buddhist pilgrimage Swoyambhunath (famous by the name of Monkey temple among tourists), Boudhanath Shrine and many more cultural and natural monuments. The Kathmandu City tour will more or less familiarize you with Nepalese urban lifestyle. Later we will have a discussion session where we discuss about our trek plan and climbing preparation. Our trek leader would be obliged to brief you about our expedition and answer your queries. O/N you stay at the hotel.

After breakfast you will be escorted to the domestic terminal of the Kathmandu airport to board a flight to Lukla, a gateway for our trekking expedition. The scenic flight to Lukla is surely going to be a once in a lifetime experience for you. The air route to Lukla is one the most beautiful air route in the world. The 40 minutes flight above the majestic mountains will land you at Tenzing-Hillary airport in Lukla. Upon arrival at Lukla we start our trek until we reach Phakding. The trail to Phakding lets you discover the green landscape with a scenic view of Kusum Kangraru. 0/N we stay in a guest house.

Today we take a stiff walk through a beautiful pine forest that leads us along the Dudh Koshi River and Hillary Suspension bridge to reach the check post and the entrance to Sagarmatha National Park. The trail follows the confluence of Dudh Koshi and Bhote Koshi rivers. Walking further we reach chautra where we have the first glimpse of Mt. Everest peering over the Lhotse-Nuptse ridge. Two hours of more walk eventually lands us in Namche Bazaar(3440m) which is a gateway to Mt. Everest and trading point for many Sherpa people and Tibetan merchants. Namche Bazaar is an ideal market for visitors to purchase traditional crafts and other mementos. We will spend two days in Namche for acclimatization and visit local markets and traditions of the people living in the Himalayas. O/N we stay in a guest house.

We have set this day for acclimatization. We have all the options today whether go for hiking to Thame or visit Khunde or relax and explore Namche Bazaar itself. Namche Bazaar is the center of the Khumbu region and it has government offices, internet cafes, Shops, restaurants and colorful market each Friday evening and Saturday. A few hundred vertical feet of trekking will really us to properly acclimatize. Our guide will take you to the Tourist Visitor Center near the headquarter of Sagarmatha National Park (UNESCO world natural heritage site) where you can observe an assortment of things related to the first Everest ascenders, Sherpa culture and learn about the various plant and animal life of the Everest region. A day full of hangout at the Namche Bazaar lets you discover the Himalayan beauty of the Khumbu region. O/N we stay in a guest house.

We set out towards the trail that leads us to magnificent village of Tengboche enjoying the awe-inspiring views of Mt. Everest, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Ama Dablam and close-up view of Mt. Thamserku. Our journey today would rather be an exciting one for it offers magnificent view of the Himalayas and the Himalayan range throughout our expedition. On the way, we can spot wildlife musk deer, a herd of Himalayan Thar and multicolored pheasants. The trail via Kayangjuma eventually reaches Sansa, which is the major trail junction to Gokyo valley and Everest Base Camp. We walk further through the beautiful pine forest crossing prayer flags festooned bridge over the Dudh Koshi river to reach Phunki Thenga. After few minutes of halt for lunch we climb through the forests for few more hours to reach Tengboche where we spend our night. Tengboche is a great place for close up views of Mt. Everest, Mt. Ama Dablam and Mt. Nuptse. The biggest Buddhist Monastery of the Khumbu region “Tengboche Monastery or Gompa” is the central attraction of Tengboche. We pay our visit to the monastery and witness some ceremonies out there. We will also spend plenty of time capturing the scenic beauty of the Himalayan range in our cameras. Overnight, we stay at a guest house in Tengboche.

Early morning view of the towering peaks and Himalayan range from Tengboche is something that leaves your eyes wide open. After spending couple of hours snapping the scenic view, we gear up for our expedition to reach Dingboche, also known as Summer Valley. We choose the upper trail and pass through several chortens and Mani walls and small villages. We cross Imja Khola and trek through the village of Pangboche (3900m). The majestic views of Mt. Ama Dablam and the Himalayan range is still keeping our expedition energetic. We enter the Imja Valley and descend into the Lobuche River and a continuous climb from there will eventually take us to Dingboche. We will see beautiful green fields protected by stone walls to them safe from cold wind and animals. O/N we stay at the guest house.

We start our day ascending to Duglha via Khumbu Khola valley. We walk through the barren landscape enjoying the majestic views of mountains on all side. After reaching Dusa we continue trekking via narrow valley until we reach Phulung Karpo; one of the camp sites during first successful Everest Expedition in the year 1953. Chola Lake resides above Phulung Karpo. The majestic view of Mt. Pumori (7138m) makes our expedition even exciting. The trail further ascends to Dughla after crossing a small bridge. We can witness the Himalayas like Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Cholatse, Mt. Thamserku and other Himalayas from this point. Overnight, we stay in Duglha.

We will be taking a short walk today. The trail ascends via Chupki Larkha, an eerie ridge that offers great view of scenic mountains. The top of the ridge we find the array of stones festooned with prayer flags used as a memorials to Scott Fischer (American Mountaineer) and Babu Chiri Sherpa (10 times Everest submitter) who perished on a mission to climb Everest. The trail then descends down to the Khumbu Glacier Moraine, we find ourselves surrounded with raising peaks of Mt. Khumbutse, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Lingtren, Mt. Pumori and Mahalangur Himal. We are now quite close to the Everest but it still remains hidden. As we continue along the stream the Khumbu glacier slowly disappears because of its lateral moraine wall. We might feel some discomfort on breathing due to high altitude. Upon reaching Lobuche you may choose to hang around the region at your convenience. We stay overnight in Lobuche.

Today we will be trekking from Lobuche to Lobuche base camp. We pass through the rocky path and descend down for couple of minutes. We will feel little relaxed in breathing as we trek down to the lower altitude. We move ahead along the Loboche glacier enjoying the superb views of Mt. Ama Dablam, Mt. Cholatse, Mt. Thamserku etc. Upon reaching the base camp we take some time off to hang around the base camp and make necessary preparation to scale the summit. Our guide will provide training on peak climbing knacks, using climbing gears like ice axe, harness, jummers, rope climbing etc. The training will boost of your confidence level and helps you in successfully summit the peak.

We hike from base camp to Lobuche High camp today. The ascend takes approximately four hours. We hike through the rocky moraine path to reach the high camp. The high camp is located at an altitude of 5600m. Upon reaching the high camp, we set up our camp and spend the leisure time hanging around or preparing for climbing.

Today is the climax of our trip. We will be climbing to conquer the summit of Lobuche peak. We start early in the morning as we would be setting off for a challenging endeavor. We start climbing the peak thronging and struggling through the rocky route finally reaching the summit. Lobuche peak offers a superb panoramic view of Himalayas including Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Ama Dablam, Mt. Pumori and many other mountains. We will spend some time at the summit celebrating our success and capturing the beautiful scenes in our cameras. We will later get back to High camp for the overnight stay.

We have reserved this day for contingency. Favorable weather plays a significant role in successfully climbing the Lobuche peak. There is no guarantee that the weather would be favorable in previous day for summiting the peak. For any reason if we couldn’t summit the peak on 12th day we would climb the peak today (i.e. on 13th day). Sometimes we many even have to postpone our climbing endeavor to next day if someone in the group falls sick or get some problem in acclimatization. If the trip goes as planned, we would not need this day.

After the successful ascent of Lobuche peak, we will gear up to return back. We trek downhill from the base camp and join the EBC trail at Lobuche. From Lobuche we trek all the way to Pheriche. En route we enjoy the magnificent view of Ama Dablam at a distance. Trekking further the trail leads us to Pangboche. As we walk we would be enjoying the scenic mountain views of the Khumbu region. We have a glimpse of Mt. Thamserku, Mt. Kantega, Mt. Pokalde etc. We continue to trek through the forest filled with rhododendrons, pine and Juniper trees until we reach the village of Pangboche. Upon reaching Pangboche we pay our visit to Pangboche monastery which is believed to be one of the oldest monasteries in the Khumbu region. Overnight, we stay in Pangboche.

We trek down the trail through the hillside filled with Rhododendron and Juniper trees. We cross the prayer flag festooned bridge over the Dudh Koshi River and follow the gorge descending through the pine forest until we reach Sansa which is a major trail junction in the region. We then continue to Kyangjuma. We pay our visit to Tengboche monastery and discover the scenic view of raising Himalayas. The trail then follows to Namche Bazaar passing a Chorten and taking few ups and downs. Upon reaching Namche, we have may choose to hang around the bazaar and enjoy the beauty of the region. Overnight, we stay in Namche Bazaar.

We will be wrapping up our trekking expedition today. Leaving Namche Bazaar behind we descend down the rocky trail crossing suspension bridges over the Dudh Koshi river. As we walk the trail becomes more smooth and easy. We find the environment really warm and cozy compared to previous days of our expedition. We can feel the fresh air blowing from Himalayas that makes our expedition more energetic and vibrant. We pass through beautiful forest filled with Rhododendron, pine trees and different natural vegetations. We get to snap beautiful mountains and the panoramic views on our way. We will be pleased passing through Sherpa villages that offer a unique blend of Sherpa culture and tradition. Upon arrival at Lukla we conclude our long expedition and have a relaxing time with our friends and crew members. Overnight, we stay in Lukla.

We will wave our final goodbye to the beautiful mountains today. The flights from Lukla to Kathmandu are usually scheduled for the morning because the windy afternoon may cause difficulties flying the aircraft. The early morning scenic flight over the Himalayas drops us at the domestic terminal of Kathmandu airport from where you will be escorted to the hotel. Today we have the whole day to relax at the hotel or hang around in the city for buying gifts to your near and dear ones. You will be joining a special farewell dinner in a cozy traditional Nepali restaurant hosted by Breakfree Adventures and its team. O/N at the Hotel.

Your trip to the majestic country of Nepal comes to an end today! You will be escorted by one of the representatives of Breakfree Adventures to the international terminal of Kathmandu airport approximately three hours before your flight schedule. We exchange our last good-byes and now you will be leaving Nepal with all the good memories you had during the wonderful trekking adventure. We hope you had a lovely time with us. Breakfree Adventures would be obliged to be your travel partner during your next adventure in Nepal. Have a safe flight back home!