For this post, I wanted to do something a bit different. Last year, Adam (also known as Mr. Away With Maja!) set off for Nepal to trek to Everest Base Camp. Going on a group trip with Himalayan Wonders, we thought it would be a helpful resource to provide more detailed information on the company, the trek, and what seeing Everest is actually like!

I interviewed Adam about his experience with Himalayan Wonders on their Everest Base Camp trek. All opinions are honest and remain our own! All photos in this post are courtesy of Adam.

Q: What company did you go with, and what was included?

A: I went with Himalayan Wonders for my Everest Base Camp trek. I was initially a bit apprehensive, as they are one of the cheapest on the market. But I really had no reason to be—nearly everything was included on the trek, besides alcohol and soft drinks (and you don’t want a beer at that altitude anyway!). It was all-inclusive from getting to Kathmandu and the transfer to the hotel, to all my food (3 meals a day), to most drinks on top of that. The big exception is that bottled water wasn’t included, but tea/coffee was included with every meal. Accommodation was included before and after the trek in Kathmandu, all my accommodation during the trek, applicable permits, and our guides and porters. You will need to arrange your own travel insurance that covers trekking up to 6000 meters—I used World Nomads for this and it cost roughly £100. You will also need to arrange your own flights to and from Kathmandu.

Himalayan Wonders have their main office in Nepal, which really mattered to me as it means that the money stays local, and promotes the local tourist industry. This is in contrast to other companies, such as Mountain Madness, which are larger companies but are based outside of Nepal. Himalayan Wonders was really attractive to me because they are a local company. Prices for the 14-day Everest Base Camp trek start at $1389 per person.

Q: How many people were on the trip with you?

A: My actual group was a mixture of 4 different treks to Everest Base Camp. There was one person on the 3 Passes Trek, a private tour from Kenya/Canada, two people on a “luxury” trek that included slightly better accommodation, and one person on a customizable shorter trek. There were 5 people in the public group, but we all walked together for a group size of about 10 or 12 people altogether.

Q: What was the group dynamic like? What were ages/nationalities of other travelers like?

A: Everyone got on really well on the trek. It was definitely a group of like-minded people. I traveled solo to do this but it was really easy to make friends with everyone. All the people in our group had different reasons for doing the trek, but we all shared the common goal of getting to Base Camp. The dynamics of the group were really great.

I was the youngest on the trek (I was 24 when I went). Most people in my group were mid-30s to mid-40s. All of us were roughly the same level of fitness—there weren’t any extraordinarily slow or extraordinarily fit people in our group. It was a mixture of nationalities: several Americans, a group of Canadians of Kenyan and Filipino origins, two Brits (including myself), and a Swiss woman from Argentina. It was definitely a diverse group. Our guides were also excellent to hang out with as well, especially Phurba and Dorji.

Q: How long did it take to get to base camp? How high is base camp?

A: It took 10 days of actual trekking to go from Lukla Airport, to Base Camp, and back to Lukla. It took one week to trek from Lukla to Base Camp, including acclimatization days. Overall, there were 8 days of solid walking on this trip to get to and from Everest Base Camp (which is located at 5364 meters or 17,600 feet).

Q: What was the most you walked in a day (both distance and altitude)?

A: For distance, we never did more than 15km (~9.3 miles) per day. The longest day is trekking from Namche Bazaar to Lukla on the way back—that day is just about 16km. But it’s so much easier to breathe, as you’re going downhill and descending in altitude after acclimatizing. The most altitude we climbed in a day was from Lobuche to Gorak Shep, to Base Camp, and then back to Gorek Shep. The day started at 4900m, we reached Base Camp at 5364 meters, and then descended back down to about 5000 meters.

Q: What was the hardest day of the trek?

A: The hardest day was Day 2 of the trek (which is Day 3 of the trip). That day you go from Phakding to Namche Bazaar, which is a mainly uphill and climbing in altitude. It was a struggle as you’re still trying to acclimatize, and you’re also walking a lot.

Q: What were the trails like that you were on?

A: The trails were very well-maintained—it’s a very used tourist track. The main downside is that you do share the trails with animals. You have to pull over for mules or yaks or dzo (yak-cow-hybrids) that are also using the trail. The animals have bells on that you can hear from a ways away.

Q: What was downtime like on the trek? Were there enough rest breaks, stops, etc.?

A: We had a few rest/acclimatization days built in to the trek—two specific acclimatization days. There were lots of rest stops on the way, mainly stopping at tea houses for a tea. We had a lot of downtime in the evening that was very chill—mainly hanging around and reading books and just talking. Snow Leopard Bakery in Dingbuche had really good cakes, and we hung out playing Uno. Café 8845 in Namche Bazaar showed Everest movie screenings, which was really fun!

Q: What was the pace like on the trek, and how did others get on?

A: I thought the pace was fine—it is important to remember that it is a real trek, not just a stroll! You also walk a lot slower than normal as it’s really hard to manage the altitude difference. There’s a Sherpa guide at the front who walks (slowly) to set the pace, and then another guide who follows up the group at the back. It’s a pleasant sort of pace of walking, and others got on quite well with it. The main time I saw other people in my group struggling was coming down on the days after Base Camp, as the trek was really hard on knees. I did see some helicopter evacuations—they’d basically gone too quickly and got altitude sickness. It’s best to go slow and steady.

Q: What kind of training did you do beforehand to prepare?

A: I did lots of rock climbing and bouldering, but that’s mainly because that’s what I enjoy. I also ran 1-3 times a week for about 3 months before I went. I started off running just once a week, and then got up to 3 times a week in the month before I went. For training, I’d recommend focusing on endurance running (longer distances). But physically I felt fine on the trail and that I did quite well. I could have trained more, but I never felt like I wasn’t going to make it.

Q: Did you struggle with the altitude?

A: I felt like I did quite well with it. Two of the main symptoms of altitude sickness are losing your appetite and sleeping poorly. The biggest shock to the system as you acclimatize is getting off the plane in Lukla. I ran up some stairs for the toilet in Lukla and got incredibly out of breath! But that’s why the trek is planned the way it is, and so that you can acclimatize as you go. You get more tired easier and your pace slows down and you need to take more breathing breaks—you are going into thin air.

Q: What was an average day like on the trek?

A: Basically, you get up, pack up your stuff, eat breakfast, and then head out on the way to Everest! You walk, stop and eat lunch, and then walk again. Once you get to the accommodation it’s time to chill, eat dinner, and go to sleep. Then wake up and do it all over again! Acclimatization days are different—the walks are shorter and you’re not packing up every morning, as you’re spending several nights in the same teahouse.

Q: What was accommodation like on the trek?

A: We stayed in teahouses and there were multiple options. The farther away you get from Lukla Airport, the more basic the accommodation becomes. Rooms were generally two single beds with some bedding, but you typically just use a sleeping bag. It was cold outside the sleeping bags, but with proper gear I was always warm enough. Some rooms were en-suite, but there’s no flushing water. The quality of the toilets really decreased as the trek went on (some of the toilet floors were frozen with water and pee). All the teahouses have big communal rooms with a big fire where you eat, chill, and socialize. There was an excellent teahouse in Phakding, between Lukla and Namche—it was actually the house of our main guide, Phurba.

Q: What was food like on the trek? Where did you eat?

A: Food was very carbohydrate-heavy. I ate lots of pasta and noodles and rice. You don’t touch meat on the Everest Base Camp trek, which was the longest I’ve ever gone without eating meat! There’s no electricity and no fridges, so all the meat is carried up and then cooked, so avoid eating it. Garlic soup is common everywhere (which is really good for nutrition and hydration when you get altitude sickness). Tibetan pancakes were a common staple in the morning, like normal pancakes but thicker. The best food I had was dal bhat! It’s essentially a lentil soup that you have on top of rice and tastes amazing. All my meals were included and definitely filling enough. I think I actually put on weight on the trek—the food is designed for people who are walking for hours every day, but it was so good! We would have breakfast in the morning in the morning before setting off, have a lunch stop during the day, and then once we got into the next teahouse we’d have dinner.

Q: What did you do for water on the trek?

A: You have two choices: you can buy (bottled) water everywhere, as it’s not included in the trip, or you can filter your water. When you first enter Sagarmatha National Park (where Mt. Everest is located), water is about $0.80 a bottle (a bottle is one liter). The higher you climb, the more expensive the water gets. By the time you get to Gorak Shep, water costs about $4/bottle (liter). You shouldn’t drink the normal water as it’s not safe, and I didn’t want to pay for water and use more single-use plastic—so I used chlorine tablets to filter my water every day. As a lot of the plastic doesn’t get recycled, I wanted to be more environmentally conscious. I took 1 pack of chlorine tablets (with 60 tablets) to filter my water, which was plenty for the trip. It does have a chlorine taste, but you get used to it eventually. Some people would spend up to $30 a day on water—you need to stay hydrated to deal with both the trekking and the acclimatization! Filtering my water worked really well—I think I was the only person in our group who committed to filtering water.

Q: What was charging/electricity like? How much did it cost?

A: Charging didn’t really exist—most of our accommodation didn’t have electricity. I kept my phone on airplane mode, and fell asleep with my camera and phone in sleeping bag to keep it warm (to make the batteries last as long as possible). These two devices lasted for the entire duration of the trek with the portable charger I brought. I also bought an internet card in Dingboche so that I could call my wife —there is (very slow!) Everest wifi. There was also (free) wifi in several cafés in Namche Bazaar.

Q: How many guides were with your group? Did you like/trust them?

A: Our Everest guides were amazing. Since we were divided into so many separate treks, we had five guides. I trusted them completely. All of our guides were fantastic, incredibly professional, and they knew what they were doing. They also knew the history and what was going on around us, which I found really interesting. Phurba was the head guide, and he did all the briefings—he was older and more experienced. I became good friends with them, and I’m still in touch with them on Facebook. That said, I could definitely trust and rely on them to do their jobs when needed.

Q: How many porters were with your group? How did luggage work?

A: There were six porters total, including two for our main group of five. Everyone could take a duffel bag that weighed up to 10kg. After breakfast, you put your bag outside your door and then you see it again at the next teahouse. Each porter would carry about 2 duffel bags. Some groups use mules and yaks to carry gear—especially summit and expedition gear for summit expeditions. The porters were incredibly fast and put everyone else’s pace to shame! On the last night in Lukla, we did a farewell meal and met the porters properly—since they walk so far ahead, we didn’t actually spend much time with them until the end. In Lukla, we bought them dinner to say thanks, and did our tips.

Q: How did tips work?

A: We gave cash tips for our guides and porters. As a group we pooled our money for the team of tips, which is split between the porters, the main guide, and the rest of the guides. Himalayan Wonders gives a lot of information on this beforehand, and let you know when you’ll need to get cash out from ATMs. You can tip in US Dollars or Nepalese Rupees. Everyone in my group tipped at the end. We did a collective tip for all our group, and then most of us gave separate tips on top of that. I tipped roughly $100 USD for everyone. All the money goes to guides and porters—they do make a wage on top of this. But tipping is a big part of this culture and after finishing the trek, you’ll realize it is certainly well-deserved.

Q: What was your favorite part of the trip?

A: Picking just one favorite part of the trip to Everest Base Camp is really difficult! I loved Kathmandu, which was big, buzzing, and busy. Flying into Lukla was amazing as well, and the scenery on the actual walk was incredible and kept getting better as you go. But for me, the best moment was at the end when you leave Gorak Shep and trek over and you can see base camp. It was the most glorious feeling—one you have to earn. I felt absolute success and joy being there in that place. I’ve read so many books, and seen all the films, and it was just the best feeling to actually be there!

Q: What was your favorite scenery/view of the trip?

A: Every day the scenery keeps getting better. Flying into Lukla was amazing, as was seeing Everest for the first time from the Namche Everest View Hotel. But my favorite scenery was the day after we’d been to Base Camp. We slept at Gorak Shep, our alarms went off at 3:30am, and we got up and walked up Kala Patthar to see the sunrise over the Himalayas. We watched the light break over these mountains and it was just incredible.

Q: How much free time did you have in Kathmandu? Was it enough?

A: I had a day and a half at the beginning of the trek, and a day and a half at the end. It was more than enough time to see everything I wanted. I had enough time to go out of the city center to the Swayambhunath Temple (the monkey temple), which was incredible. I was able to see everything I wanted to see in Kathmandu, and also just to relax.

Q: What items do you recommend people bring for this trip?

A: The most important things I’d recommend people bring for this trip are: walking poles, a buff, Diamox (a pill that helps combat altitude sickness), a portable charger, a warm hat, a good book, water filtration tablets, sunglasses and sunscreen, and warm socks. I love my Bridgedale socks especially! I’d also recommend bringing a warm sleeping bag and a down jacket, although you can rent these from the company as well. And obviously don’t forget a camera, even though photos can’t do the scenery justice!

Q: What didn’t you like on the trip? Anything you particularly struggled with?

A: Some of the toilets in the teahouses were a bit gross. But there honestly wasn’t anything I’d really say I disliked—it was really all a part of the experience and part of the journey. I thought I’d struggle with not having phone signal or wifi, but in end end I actually really enjoyed being able to disconnect and just enjoy the trek and the trip as a whole.

Q: Would you recommend the company?

A: Absolutely, yes. Before, during, and after the trip they were amazing. I honestly can’t think of anything they could have done to have made it a better experience. Now I’ve been to Everest with them, I would definitely use them again for future treks.

Q: Any advice for others looking to do this trek in the future?

A: Just do it. I spent years thinking I wouldn’t be able to, but normal people do do it, and do go to Everest. It was one of the best moments of my life and a once in a lifetime experience. Get yourself some walking poles, get Diamox, research your companies, and make sure you’re in shape. Then just do it!

Q: What is your next trekking adventure?

A: I’ve spent a lot of time since then walking around the UK, mainly in the Lake District, the Peak District, and Scotland. But my next big adventure is hiking Mount Kilimanjaro around Easter 2019!

Thanks very much to Adam (Mr. AWM!) for sharing so much information, tips, and photos. We were not compensated in any way for this trek—all opinions remain our own. For more information on Himalayan Wonders or to book the Everest Base Camp Trek, visit their website here.

Have you ever done a major long-distance trek before? Share your experiences in the comments below!