Our itinerary is shown below. Over 90% of the hikers are likely to adopt the same. Major variations are in return. Some would want to reduce backtracking by taking different routes down, which may entail going through a couple of high passes of above 5,000m/16,500ft and coming down along different valleys. This will extend the journey by three to five days, which was our original plan. But we finally decided to come down the same way.
| Day | Daily Trek | Distance | Altitude | Delta | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| hrs | Miles | KMs | Start(m) | End(m/ft) | (m/ft) | ||
| 1 | Kathmandu - Lukla | 1,400 | 2,850/9,350 | 1,450/4,760 | |||
| 1 | Lukla – Phakding | 5 | 5.1 | 8.2 | 2,850 | 2,610/8,600 | -240/-787 |
| 2 | Phakding – Namche Bazaar | 6 | 4.7 | 7.5 | 2,610 | 3,440/11,300 | 833/2,733 |
| 3 | A Day for Acclimatization | 0 | |||||
| 4 | Namche Bazaar – Tengboche | 6 | 5 | 8 | 3,440 | 3,875/12,700 | 432/1,417 |
| 5 | Tengboche – Dingboche | 7 | 5.3 | 8.5 | 3,875 | 4,410/14,500 | 535/1,755 |
| 6 | Second Day for Acclimatization | 0 | |||||
| 7 | Dingboche- Lobuche | 6 | 4.0 | 6.5 | 4,410 | 4,910/16,100 | 500/1,640 |
| 8 | Lobuche - Gorakshep | 3 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 4,910 | 5,140/16,900 | 230/755 |
| Gorakshep - EBC | 2.5 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 5,140 | 5,364/17,600 | 224 | |
| EBC - Gorakshep | 2.5 | 2.2 | 3.5 | 5,364 | 5,140/16,900 | -224/735 | |
| 9 | Gorakshep - Pangboche | 8 | 9.3 | 15.0 | 5,140 | 3,930/12,900 | -1210/-3,970 |
| 10 | Pangboche - Monjo | 7 | 8.7 | 14.0 | 3,930 | 2,835/9,300 | -1095/3,593 |
| 11 | Monjo - Lukla | 4 | 6.2 | 10.0 | 2,835 | 2,850/9,300 | 15/49 |
| 12 | Lukla – Ramechhap - Kathmandu | 2,850 | 1,400/4,590 | -1,450/-4,760 | |||
| 54.8 | 88 | 0.0/0.0 | |||||
* The return route for most hikers is Gorakshep – Pheriche – Tengboche – Namche Bazaar – Lukla – Kathmandu; it takes four nights/five days.