Nepal's Everest region is an area of high mountains, Sherpa villages, steep trails, but above all, fantastic scenery. Roads in this area are non-existent - the road east from Kathmandu stops at the small town of Jiri, which was the starting point for many Everest expeditions before the airstrip at Lukla was built in 1964. Some trekkers, keen to follow in the original footsteps of Mallory, Hillary and Norgay, still trek into the region from Jiri, a nine-day walk to Lukla at around 2,800m. Lukla, however, is now the main entry point for visitors to the region: the original airstrip is now a proper (albeit small) airport, and from here the trail up to Namche Bazaar, Tengboche and on to base camp is easy to follow.
Walking in the region is not easy - the trails are often steeply ascending or descending, you share the path with yaks and mules, and the altitude makes the effort harder, but the rewards include wonderful mountain scenery, Buddhist monasteries and temples, and the hospitality of the local people, who live a hard life, but are always ready with a smile.
In this region
Lukla has grown rapidly with the introduction of its airstrip, which has made the Everest region accessible to many people, not just mountaineers. Once a tiny farming...
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Mende is a small village up on the hillside overlooking the valley leading to Thame (site of a big Hydro-electric project which supplies hundreds of houses in the area...
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Monjo is made up of a handful of lodges alongside the path a few minutes walk from the entrance to the Sagarmartha National Park. There is a small gompa (monastery) just...
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Namche Bazaar is one of the main stops on the trail up to Everest Base Camp, and is a great place to spend a day or two. If you have flown in to Lukla from Kathmandu, and...
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Pangboche (3,985m) used to be the highest permanently occupied village in the Khumbu until tourism created a demand for lodges higher up the valley towards Base Camp. It...
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Tashinga is a tiny collection of stone houses, most of which are now uninhabited. It is just off the main trail to Everest, and is a very peaceful place.
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