Jimmy
Three Passes Trek in Nepal

Friday, February 14, 2025

Three Passes Trek in Nepal

Preface: In October 2024, I hiked traveled to Nepal to hike the Three Passes trek in Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal, which includes a visit to Everest base camp. I organized the entire trip myself, including finding a last-minute private guide and arranging flights to Lukla.

Most information online about hiking in Nepal revolves around booking an all-inclusive package with a trekking company, so I wanted to share the important details about planning your own expedition in Nepal.

Why Nepal

Across hiking in Europe, Nepal was the place I heard people dream about over and over again. Those who haven’t visited, have it on the top of their list. Those who have, longed to return. With plenty of encouragement, I planned my trip in October 2024.

Three Passes

The Three Passes trek is an extension of the popular Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek in Nepal. ItThe route takes you through three mountain passes with the highest at 5540m (18,175 feet). You also get a chance to visit Everest Base Camp (5,364m) and Gokyo lakes (5,000m). A typical itinerary, including rest days, will take 15 days, including rest days.

Why plan your own trek

The most straightforward way to go on any trek in Nepal is to buy an all-inclusive group trek package with a trekking company. These packages include guides, porters, tea house accommodations, plane tickets to Lukla, and food and typically cost around $1500 (example). You’ll be joined together with whoever wishes to start the trek on your start date and travel as a group.

I wanted a private trek instead of joining a group. My main motivation is because I wanted to set my own pace and have the flexibility to spend more time at viewpoints. I also wanted to carry everything by myself without the help of a porter. This pushed me towards organizing my own trip.

Planning your own trek will require more work and research but you will have more freedom in every aspect of the trip:.

  • Go at your own pace including adding extra acclimatization days if needed
  • Select any tea house you like at each stop and get a private room
  • Make detours like climbing Island Peak at Chhukhung
  • Spend extra time at viewpoints and random stops of beauty along the walk

Something that surprised me was that arranging your own private trek cost less than purchasing an all-inclusive group package. This includes private rooms as opposed to shared rooms with group treks and guaranteed western toilets (more on this later).

In the next sections, I’ll cover details on organizing your own trek and how I went about it.

Finding a guide

I flew into Kathmandu without a guide. In three days, I was able to adjust somewhat to the altitudeget situated, find a guide, book a plane ticket to Lukla (the start of the trek), and start hiking.

I stayed in Thamel, where many of the trekking companies had offices. I would recommend Hotel Thamel as an excellent place to stay. I visited three companies in person that had good reviews on Google and asked about daily costs for a guide. Here’s what I was quoted (as of Oct 2024):

  • Nepal Trekking Experts: $35 / day
  • Green Valley Nepal Treks: $30 / day
  • Alpine Ramble: $35 / day

I ended up securing my guide through Green Valley and started my trek two days later1. My guide was already in Lukla so I met him when I landed.

One thing to note is that guides are not required and many complete the Three Passes trek without one. I wanted a guide since I was going solo and had no prior high altitude experience.

Getting to and from Lukla

Lukla is the starting point of the Three Passes trek and you need to take a flight to get there. There is so much misinformation about flying to Lukla from Kathmandu and this was the hardest part to get accurate information. Here are some common misconceptions:

Misconception #1: You have to fly from Ramechhap Airport instead of Kathmandu (KTM)
Reality: As of October 2024, flights are scheduled to leave Kathmandu to Lukla everyday on Summit Air and Tara Air metal. You can book these flights directly on the airlines website.

Where is Ramechhap Airport? It used to be a 5 hour drive from Kathmandu with a jeep on terrible roads. It’s now a 7 hour “redeye” journey leaving at midnight due to the September 2024 floods of Nepal washing away roads. It’s Not a pleasant way to start a demanding two week hike, and should be avoided unless absolutely necessary.

Misconception #2: Having a ticket means you will get there
Reality: LUA is not SFO. The plane ticket is just your receipt to show you paid the airline, and does not guarantee you a seat on a flight. Flights leave when they can depending on weather in Lukla. Usually, the later in the day, the worse the weather and higher the likelihood of cancellation. So earlier flights are the best bet. When there is a window to fly to Lukla, whoever is at the airport and in line at the counter will be the ones on the plane, regardless of what your ticket says.
Be willing to assert your place at the counter to get on the plane, because no one is reserving a seat for you. It’s not a great system but it is what it is and you should be aware.

Tea house logistics

A wonderful part of trekking in Nepal is staying in tea houses along the way. Every stop on the Three Passes trek has tea houses so you’ll never need to spend a night out in a tent. Tea houses have rooms for rent and serve meals.

Prior reservations are not required to stay at a tea house and many don’t accept reservations at all. I completed my entire trek without any tea house reservations and was always able to get a room (during the October peak season). Only in Dzongla did I not get my first choice of tea house.

Your guide will often have suggestions on which tea house to stay at during each stop. I found it was helpful to do my own research beforehand on which tea houses had good reviews, since my guide did not always bring me to the best tea house in each village.

Toilets

This feels like a silly section to write (especially since we are talking about hiking), but having a nice toilet is important to me and up to date information was sparse online. Let’s talk about the threat of the “squat toilet”.

There are two types of toilets in Nepal. One is the western toilet, which is a happy and familiar experience. The other one is the squat toilet, which is essentially a hole in the ground. You can view this video on squat toilet experience.

Fortunately, thanks to the hard work of my guide and my insistence, I can confirm that you can trek Three Passes without ever having to use a squat toilet. Here are the tea houses that I stayed at that all have at least one “western” toilet.

Gear

I carried all my gear myself and kept my total pack weight at around 10kg / 22lbs.

Note: From a cost perspective, hiring a porter is cheaper than purchasing ultralight gear. I wouldn’t recommend pursuing this path if the only goal is to cut costs. Most people hire porters.

Big 2

Soft Goods

Hard Goods

On altitude and altitude sickness

More than ⅔ of the Three Passes trek is above 3000m and ⅓ is above 5000m. The majority of people who go will experience symptoms of altitude sickness. I personally experienced two days of headaches and loss of appetite at Gorak Shep.

The best resource on altitude sickness and managing symptoms is Wilderness Medical Society’s clinical guide. If there is only one thing you read before going, it should be this paper.

Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Acute Altitude Illness

I recommend packing both Acetazolamide (Diamox) and Dexamethasone.

Dexamethasone stabilizes Why Dexamethasone? It can stabilize you in the unlikely event you experience HACE and require immediate descent. Think of it as an emergency ripcord that should only be used in a life threatening emergency. US doctors are hesitant towards prescribing Dexamethasone due to its potential for abuse but pharmacies in Nepal sell it over the counter.

Here are some common misconceptions that I had or heard others talk about on my trek:

Misconception #1: Normal blood oxygen saturation should always be between 96-100%
Reality: A “normal” acclimatised blood oxygen saturation reading changes depending on the altitude. Here is a handy chart ChatGPT helped me make based on the altitude of every stop on the trek and research done on people who permanently live at those altitudes (Source paper).

Misconception #2: My guide gives me the best advice on whether to take Diamox or not
Reality: I find that many guides are against taking medication even though there is strong clinical evidence that Diamox is beneficial. Guides often also advise on dosage that is not aligned with clinical evidence. Do your own research on Diamox and dosage (WMS has guidelines here) and keep in mind most guides have never taken Diamox in their lives.

Fun misconception #3: There is less oxygen in the air at altitude
Reality: There is almost no difference in the percentage of oxygen in the air between sea level and 5000m. The big difference is atmospheric pressure, which is almost half at 5000m compared to sea level. Our lungs rely on atmospheric pressure to absorb oxygen, hence the available oxygen at altitude is lower.

Just go and let it be a surprise

With the internet, we tend to be over prepared for adventures rather than underprepared. If you read enough trip reports and watch enough Youtube videos about the Three Passes trek, you’ll feel secure about having all your bases covered. But at what cost?

Be prepared and bring the right gear. Train and be in great physical shape. But don’t ruin the movie by reading the Wikipedia summary before you board the plane. Let it be a surprise!. I promise it’s a beautiful one.

Have a question about something I didn’t cover? I enjoy sharing knowledge and you can send me a message anytime.

Footnotes

  1. My first choice was Nepal Trekking Experts but they did not have guides available on my start date ↩

© 2025 Jimmy Liu