 I've a friend considering a trek to Everest base camp with her boyfriend and she's looking for advice on some of the following aspects. If anyone has done this trek and can help it would be much appreciated. A good, reputable UK trekking company to use?
How long it takes?
How much it costs?
Where the trek starts/finishes, distances covered each day/overall etc?
Is this hike better/harder than the Annapurna circuit?
Are trekkers expected to use anything artificial for acclimatisation. Any other useful tips?
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 I went with KE Adventure to the Himalayas through the TGO trek and found them to be very good in particular with travel problems. They have lots of porters, guides etc which enables walkers to go at their own pace and nothing was rushed.
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If it was me (not that I know anything) I'd use Community Action Treks. It is a trekking company founded by Doug Scott, a great climber and the first Briton to climbe Everest, they pay the porters decently and all profits go to fund community schools, health projects and the like.
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ALS - all arrows seem to point in the direction of Doug Scott, funny really, I went to see him at a lecture last night and if I'd known then I'd have asked him in person.
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Yep Steve, he seems to be doing it right. Another guy that might be worth looking at is Russell Brice of Himalayan Experience - though maybe he's more the man to get you to the top. There was a fantastic documentary series on tv a while back about his Everest summit expeditions. Why stop at base camp? 
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 I went with me lady. You can do this trek easily independent, done it twice both times starting from Hille up to base camp then backtrack a little and over chola pass to gokyo back to lukla and fly out. Lovely. Just an idea to keep your options open , it works out ALOT cheaper than going with a group, loads of accomodation. . No time pressures either so if you need more time to acclimatize you can.. All you need to know is in the Lonely Planet trekking guide for Nepal.
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 If it was me (not that I know anything) I'd use Community Action Treks. It is a trekking company founded by Doug Scott, a great climber and the first Briton to climbe Everest, they pay the porters decently and all profits go to fund community schools, health projects and the like. Dougal Haston?  
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My daughter and i went to base camp and used the UK based KE adventure and found them good. the walk took about 12 days but total time of 18 days for the whole trip UK to Uk. If your iffy about altitude take some pills with you, if your all right no probs if you feel iffy at least you have the altitude pills with you and you can take them and carry on walking. We got off the Yeti Airline plane at Luka runnway to find people hanging around sufferring from altitude sickness and they had been too sick to even go any further up the mountain. Take AMODIUM pills with you . Every one in our trip ended up with the skiters(shits). Warm clothing along with the best sleeping bag you can get your hands on. Its cold at night time. If you forget any stuff you can buy it at a fraction of the cost 2-3 days into the walk at a village every one passes thru. The distance per day is not great but the effort of doing it is. Porter out in front sets the pace. Do it and enjoy the experiance, my daughter and i did. We were both ill, but there again if you have no story to tell its not worth going. Im allways ill acording to my daughter and rereading my diary for the tri[p. But we still go, and remonise just how ill we were. The stories get bigger and bigger.
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ALS - I don't think my mate has enough exp for a summit push, personally I'd love too if your offering me a spot MFD - Dougal/Doug?? depends which side of the border your from;-) Cheers for the info everyone, I just got loads searching past threads on this subject, kit lists etc. Great place for info.
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I don't think MFD was quibbling about the spelling but as to who did the climb. They're two entirely different guys, for a start, DS is still alive. And by the way Dougal's given name was Duncan, Dougal was a nickname.
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 It's easy to go independent or semi-independent if you choose. Hire a local porter guide, use tea house, put cash into the local economy. The Trailblazer guidebooks are great, comprehensive and well written.
As far as Annapurna versus the Everest trek goes, I've done both and they're both amazing. I'd say the Everest trek goes right in amongst the mountains, while the Annapurna Circuit tends to skirt round them giving amazing views. They're different, not better or worse. The Annapurna Circuit followed by the Annapurna Sanctuary trek works well btw, you get a bit of both.
If you have time, the longer walk in starting from Jiri is amazing and also makes for good acclimatisation.
If you search on here, there are articles with pics on both routes.
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Yeah, i was just sticking up for Dougal Haston. Folk seem to have forgotten about him these days.
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Not us Mike - same school- very distantly related - if I had a pound for every time we fed the hungry b----- after a session on the railway wa's I'd have retired by now. But there's truth in what you say. Probably better remembered in climbing circles rather than these ones.
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I've finished the trek 10 days ago. Lukla to base camp to Gokyo to Lukla took 14 days. Food & accommodation for the 14 days was about £200. Flights to Lukla cost $226 return but you can get them for less than $200.
I've also done the Annapurna Circuit. Wouldn't like to say which was better. Both have hard bits, but I was only tired on one day in the Everest region (when I'd gone over the Cho La pass). Had often finished walking by lunchtime.
Didn't use Diamox (for acclimatisation). I had headaches at night for about five nights but the OH had no problems at all. We had no problems at all with our digestive systems.
The coldest it got in the bedroom was just below zero, if that's of any use for picking a sleeping bag. Presumably will be warmer/colder at other times of the year.
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Nice one Dave! I'm off in December , really hoping to make it to Kala Patar.
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| Edited: 02/11/09 10:56 |
