The Everest Base Camp Trek is on the bucket list, a journey that sticks in your head long after you’re done. While there is no doubt that the opportunity to climb Everest Base Camp doesn’t come every day and other great things of which to write home, the cost to climb Everest Base Camp can be a real killer. The good news is that you don’t need a massive budget to make it happen. A bit of wit and preparation, and a willingness to embrace more classic-style trekking, can significantly reduce the cost of your Everest Base Camp Trek.
This Everest Base Camp Trek cost breakdown is meant to help you through the financial side of the EBC Trek. We’ll break down the big costs and provide some mottoes to help you find your way to the foot of Mount Everest — in one piece, both mentally and financially.
Event: The Great Debate – Guided vs Independent Trekking
Your budget may be determined by your first big decision: whether you require a guide. An Everest Base Camp Tour that is a top-to-bottom one from an international agency could easily exceed several thousand dollars with flights, guides, porters, accommodation, and meals all being accounted for. And that, convenient and peace-giving as it is, you pay for convenience.
Alternatively, an independent trek where you set it all up yourself will be the cheapest. It requires a bit more planning, a little more faith in yourself, and an ability to haul your own gear. A 2-3 day trekking staffing, with a reasonable ratio of mortgage and the cost for work to Kathmandu or Lukla. Remember, a guide provides invaluable knowledge and safety that you’re paying for.
The Guilty Section of the Budget: Flights and Transportation
The single most expensive item on your trek will almost certainly be the return flight from Kathmandu to Lukla (gateway to Everest). Those flights tend to run high, er, and they can fluctuate a lot.
If money is tight, go the long way round. The only way to do it old-school is by no longer flying direct to Lukla but instead taking a local bus or jeep from Kathmandu and criss-crossing Nepal westward until you get to somewhere like Salleri or Jiri, and then hiking for a few days more to join the main EBC trail. It’s a few days outside your Everest Base Camp Trek Itinerary, but it is cheap and amazing for acclimatization if you are flying almost directly in from just above sea level. It also provides a look at some of the more remote parts of Nepal, well off the trekking masses.
Food and Drink: The Budget for the Day
Once you’re out on the trail, food and drink will be your primary daily expense. Prices increase with altitude, in accordance with the cost of transporting goods up mountains by porter and yak. Food: The trick to saving money here is to be a smart eater.
Familiarize: Unite with the national staple, Dal Bhat. But for a shining example of a classic (lentil-and-rice) dish, it’s hearty enough, and so very cheap, it beats way more than seconds. Avoid pricier Western-style meals like pizza or pasta. For drinks, forget bottled water. Bring instead a reusable water bottle and a method for purifying water (tablets, filter, or UV purifier) and replenish your container from the taps at teahouses. Many teahouses also sell boiled water for very little money (still more expensive than a bottle, but not quite as soul-crushing).
Accommodation: Finding the Cheapest Beds
Teahouse facilities on the Mount Everest Base Camp Tour are often basic and inexpensive. Rooms at these lower elevations can go for as little as a couple of dollars a night. You will also find that a lot of teahouse owners offer these rooms at no cost (or for minimal cost), provided all your meals are eaten at their establishment. A win/win and money well saved on accommodation.
Room prices go up if you start climbing floors, but the quality of food doesn’t, and neither does the betting when eating there to record an order for your room. Ask when you arrive, don’t be afraid to — it is going to affect how long you stay on the app.
Permits: The Unavoidable Cost
There’s not a lot you can do about the expense of permits. It needs a Sagarmatha National Park entry permit and a Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality Permit. The costs are non-negotiable and minuscule compared to other fees. They are very much a part of the trek themselves – keeping up with the trails, but also with locals along the way. If you’ve booked a total or partial Everest Base Camp Trek package, your guide(s) or local trekking agency will look after this for you, but it’s still good to have an idea about these costs.
Gear and Equipment: Rent it vs. Buy it
You don’t even need to purchase brand-new, top-of-the-line gear for the trek. This is somewhere you can save gobs of money. Kathmandu is teeming with shops renting top-notch trek gear; items run the gamut from down jackets and sleeping bags to trekking poles and boots. Getter here. Renting is also a much less expensive option if you’re not a frequent trekker. If you do buy it, ensure that you only buy what is necessary and shop around for a bargain in Kathmandu (much cheaper than on offer at Lukla or Namche Bazaar).
Extra costs: Miscellaneous, I didn’t consider these things!
The small charges can add up fast. You’ll have to pay more for a warm shower and battery charging at teahouses. These are often not part of the price given for room or meal reservations.
Final Conclusion: Life is a deserving bus ride
EBC Trek on a budget is almost an art. It takes a love of roughing it, wisdom in making choices, and a willingness to put the experience over creature comforts. There are ways to reduce the Cost to climb Everest Base Camp greatly, such as local transportation, local foods, and rental gear! The bottom line is, the ‘real’ value of this trip isn’t going to be dictated by how comfortable your lodge accommodations are or even at how fast you can travel on a Sherpa-bus up and down from Namche… but rather the life-long memories, friendships (with other trekkers/and porters), and sense of camaraderie that you can establish with people who simply were brought together during what will prove to be an unforgettable Bonding Experience for all involved — oh yeah, followed only by your utter sense of accomplishment when you finally stand in front of (what many would consider as) “the world’s greatest mountain”.