The Everest Base Camp trek is a 12 to 14 day walk of about 130 km return from Lukla to the foot of the world's highest mountain at 5,364 metres. You need exactly two permits, both bought in person (NPR 6,000 total for foreign trekkers): the Sagarmatha National Park entry and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Trek-Card. There is no official online permit portal and no official Everest emergency number - anyone telling you otherwise, including older versions of this guide, is wrong. This rewrite corrects the record: real permits, real emergency contacts, real costs and the altitude rules that actually keep people safe.
Everest Base Camp at a glance
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Base Camp altitude | 5,364 m; viewpoint Kala Patthar 5,545 m |
| Distance | About 130 km return from Lukla (roughly 65 km each way) |
| Duration | 12 to 14 days including 2 acclimatisation days |
| Permits | 2 permits, in person only, NPR 6,000 total (foreign nationals) |
| Access | Flight to Lukla (2,846 m); from Ramechhap in peak season |
| Best seasons | March to May and September to November (October-November clearest) |
| Emergency | Police 100; Tourist Police 1144; no dedicated EBC rescue number |
The permits you actually need
Two permits, both paper, both bought in person - there is no online application, no e-permit portal and no reason to upload a passport scan anywhere. Be wary of any website offering to arrange Everest permits online for a fee plus your documents.
1. Sagarmatha National Park entry permit - NPR 3,000
The Nepal Tourism Board lists the foreign-national entry fee for Sagarmatha National Park at NPR 3,000 per person per entry (SAARC nationals NPR 1,500, Nepali citizens NPR 100, children under 10 free). Buy it at the Tourist Service Center in Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, before you fly, or at the park entry gate at Monjo on the trail. Some operators quote the fee with 13 percent VAT added (NPR 3,390), so ask at the counter which figure applies.
2. Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Trek-Card - NPR 3,000
The Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality issues its own trek card: NPR 3,000 for trekkers from outside SAARC and China (NPR 2,000 for SAARC and Chinese nationals), a price raised from NPR 2,000 in September 2024, which is why older guides and blogs still print the old figure. It is issued at the Tourist Information Center in Lukla when you arrive (about 15 minutes with your passport) and is also available at Monjo. It cannot be bought in Kathmandu.
What about TIMS?
Honestly unsettled, and this guide will not pretend otherwise. The Nepal Tourism Board's TIMS page still lists the Everest region under its revised rules (trek with a licensed guide, TIMS card issued through an agency), while Khumbu sources and operators on the ground say the municipal Trek-Card replaced TIMS in the Khumbu in 2018, that TIMS is not checked on this trail, and that independent trekkers still walk it. The safe course: confirm the current position with the Nepal Tourism Board or a registered trekking agency shortly before you go, and never pay a "TIMS NPR 500 in person" fee quoted by older articles - that price does not match any official listing.
Getting there: the Lukla flight, honestly
Almost everyone starts with the flight to Tenzing-Hillary Airport at Lukla (published elevation 2,846 m; the town is usually quoted around 2,860 m). The runway is 527 metres long, flights run in daylight and visual conditions only, and weather delays and cancellations are routine - build one or two buffer days into your itinerary, especially before an international flight home. From Kathmandu the flight takes 30 to 35 minutes, but in peak season (mid-March to late May and mid-September through November) most Lukla flights operate from Manthali Airport in Ramechhap instead, a 4 to 5 hour drive from Kathmandu, for a 15 to 20 minute flight. Checked baggage is typically 10 kg plus 5 kg hand baggage. On price: no airline publishes a simple fare table we could verify; 2026 booking agents list one-way foreigner fares around USD 210 from Ramechhap and USD 255-260 from Kathmandu (so roughly USD 420-520 return). Treat any article quoting a flat "$200 return" as out of date.
The route and a sane itinerary
The trail runs Lukla - Phakding - Namche Bazaar (3,440 m) - Tengboche - Dingboche (4,410 m) - Lobuche - Gorak Shep (about 5,164 m), the last teahouse settlement, from where you walk to Base Camp (5,364 m) and, the following morning, climb Kala Patthar (5,545 m) for the classic Everest viewpoint before descending. A responsible 12 to 14 day itinerary includes full acclimatisation days at Namche and Dingboche and does not combine the Namche-to-Lukla descent with a flight on the same day. Two sequencing errors in older versions of this guide are corrected here: Kala Patthar is the morning after Base Camp, not the same sunrise, and the walk out deserves its own days.
Altitude: the rules that matter
The Himalayan Rescue Association, which staffs the aid post at Pheriche with volunteer doctors in season and gives daily altitude talks, teaches the rule that should govern your itinerary: above 3,000 metres, increase your sleeping altitude by no more than 300 to 400 metres per day, with rest days worked in - a slower ceiling than many blogs quote. Headache, nausea, dizziness and poor sleep are altitude sickness until proven otherwise; if symptoms worsen, the treatment is to stop ascending and, if they do not settle, to descend. No itinerary, permit or summit photo is worth ignoring that. On medication: acetazolamide (Diamox) is a prescription medicine - discuss it with your own doctor before the trip if you wish; there is no official guideline telling every trekker to start a routine regimen, and previous versions of this article were wrong to describe one. Trekking insurance that explicitly covers helicopter evacuation at altitude is essential; verify the altitude ceiling in your own policy wording rather than trusting any article's summary of it.
Emergencies: the real contacts
There is no official "Everest Base Camp emergency number", and this guide previously printed three numbers that do not appear in any official listing - they have been removed. The verified contacts are: Nepal Police 100, Tourist Police on the toll-free 1144 (head office at Bhrikutimandap, Kathmandu, +977-01-5347041; the Lukla tourist police mobile is +977-9852821304), fire 101 and ambulance 102. In the Khumbu itself, help works like this: your guide or agency raises the alarm, your insurer's 24-hour assistance line authorises any helicopter, and the Himalayan Rescue Association's Pheriche aid post (seasonal, volunteer-staffed) is the medical facility on the trail; the hospital serving the upper Khumbu is Kunde (Hillary) Hospital in Kunde village above Namche, which publishes no public phone number - go through the police numbers or your agency rather than any number printed in a blog. Note for 2026 planning: rules on commercial helicopter flights inside the national park were contested through 2025 (a park and municipality ban, exemptions for rescue, and pushback from the aviation authority), so confirm the current position with your operator; rescue flights with proper referral remain the exception everyone agrees on.
What the trek costs in 2026
There are no official tariffs for trail services; the figures below are 2026 market ranges reported by operators, and prices rise with altitude. Permits are fixed (NPR 6,000 total, above) and Nepal's tourist visa costs USD 30 for 15 days, USD 50 for 30 days or USD 125 for 90 days, multiple entry. On the trail: a teahouse room runs about NPR 700-1,500 a night (USD 10-15 at Gorak Shep), a dal bhat from about NPR 600-800 low on the trail to NPR 1,000-1,600 high up, with food and extras typically totalling USD 40-50 a day near the top; a hot shower NPR 500-1,000, device charging NPR 300-700, and Everest Link Wi-Fi around NPR 2,500 for a 10 GB package. A licensed guide costs about USD 30-40 a day and a porter USD 24-30 a day through agencies. Add the Lukla flights (see above) and honest budgeting beats the suspiciously round totals older versions of this guide printed.
When to go
The two trekking seasons are March to May (warmer, rhododendrons, Everest expedition season at Base Camp) and September to November, with October and November offering the clearest skies. The monsoon (June to August) brings cloud, Lukla flight disruption and leeches lower down and is not recommended for this route; winter is walkable for the very well equipped but brutally cold at altitude. Whichever season you choose, the buffer days for Lukla weather are not optional extras - they are part of the trek.
Sources
- Nepal Tourism Board: national park entry fees, including Sagarmatha
- Nepal Tourism Board: the TIMS card and its current rules
- Nepal Tourism Board: Tourist Police contacts (100, 1144, Lukla post)
- Himalayan Rescue Association: altitude illness and acclimatisation guidance
- UK Foreign Office travel advice for Nepal: getting help (fire 101, ambulance 102)
