The Everest Base Camp trek is the most famous long-distance walk in the world — a 12 to 14-day round trip from the airstrip at Lukla (2,860m) to the rocky moraine of base camp at 5,364m, threading through Sherpa villages, alpine pastures, and increasingly dramatic mountain scenery. The route climbs through Phakding to the market town of Namche Bazaar, then follows the Dudh Koshi valley past Tengboche Monastery to the high yak pastures around Dingboche and Lobuche, ending at base camp with views of the Khumbu Icefall and the South Col.
The technical difficulty is zero — this is a walking trail, not a climbing route — but the altitude demands respect. Proper acclimatisation is essential: the standard itinerary includes rest days in Namche Bazaar (3,440m) and Dingboche (4,410m). Signs of altitude sickness — persistent headache, nausea, loss of appetite, or difficulty sleeping — are common above 4,000m and must not be pushed through. The standard protocol is to descend until the symptoms improve.
Base camp itself is a sprawling collection of tents, fixed ropes, and rubbish netting that manages to be both an anticlimax and deeply impressive at the same time. The mountain views from Kala Patthar (5,644m), the rocky hillock above Gorak Shep, are significantly better than base camp and are the real visual climax of the trek. Most itineraries include an early morning ascent of Kala Patthar to watch sunrise over the summit pyramid of Everest.