Namche Bazaar

About 3,440 m at the lower village. The houses climb the hillside above it, which is why you will also see 3,450 m and 3,500 m.

On our plan Namche is the first night above 3,000 m, which is why the next day is a rest day, to give your body time to get used to the thinner air: see the acclimatisation day in Namche. It lies in Solukhumbu District, and Sagarmatha National Park (Sagarmatha is the Nepali name for Everest) has its headquarters here.

On foot, in two days from Lukla, the mountain airstrip where most Everest treks start. Day 2 is the climb: up the Dudh Kosi to Jorsale, where the national park begins and permits are checked, over a high suspension bridge, then about three hours uphill to Namche. It takes 5 to 7 hours and climbs about 830 m in all.

You could walk from Lukla to Namche in one long day, but Wikivoyage strongly recommends two, because many people who rush it get altitude sickness. Our plan sleeps the first night at Phakding, 2,610 m.

No road reaches the Khumbu: apart from chartered helicopters, everyone moves on foot. The Syangboche airstrip on the hill above the village no longer takes passenger flights. For the flights to Lukla, see how to get to Everest Base Camp.

On day 3 you walk higher for 3 to 5 hours and come back down to sleep in Namche again. The second night at the same height gives your body time to adjust before you go on to Tengboche.

The Himalayan Rescue Association advises that above 3,000 m you sleep no more than 300 to 400 m higher than the night before. Phakding to Namche is already about 830 m, so the second night lets your body catch up.

The usual walks go up to Syangboche and the Hotel Everest View, 3,880 m and about 440 m higher, or to the Sherpa villages of Khumjung and Khunde; Thame is a longer option. Your guide chooses the walk on the day.

Can you see Everest from Namche? From the ridge above the village, yes: the Hotel Everest View says every room looks at Everest. On the trail beyond Namche, Everest and Lhotse fill the skyline ahead, as the Nepal Tourism Board puts it.

From Namche you reach base camp on day 8, with a second rest day at Dingboche on day 6. Everest Base Camp trek distance and days has the whole plan.

Lodges, bakeries and cafés, shops for trekking gear and last-minute things, Wi-Fi, a Saturday morning market and the national park’s visitor centre.

All three of our Everest treks sleep here three nights: two on the way up and one on the way down. They are the Everest Base Camp trek, the Gokyo Lakes trek and the Everest Three Passes trek.