32 Things You Need to Know Before Doing the Mount Everest Base Camp Trek

After tons and tons of research, we decided to do the trek with Mountain Gurus, and I can't recommend them enough. They know exactly what they're doing, and the company goes out of their way to make their trips extra special. For example, the main trail is known as the "Everest Highway" because it's always so crowded with trekkers, but Mountain Gurus' route takes you off the main trail a few times so that you get peaceful stretches of hiking and can stay at small, family-owned farms.

They take care of everything from staying in tea houses to ordering your meals. They also always keep staying healthy a top priority, taking the doctor-recommended route with allotted rest days to allow your body to adjust to the altitude and make sure everyone is feeling OK along the way. We felt completely safe with our amazing Sherpas and guide, and we all had the best time together.

On the very first day of our trek, we spent the first hour going downhill. And, like some sort of twisted joke, after we gained a few thousand feet in elevation going uphill for a few days, we spent the next day going down 1,000 feet . . . only to go back up again and then some!

Prepare yourself for a lot of downhill on the way up, and a lot of uphill on the way down. It's a hard pill to swallow, especially on days when you're trying to do the opposite, but every step really is worth it in the end.

Before we left for Nepal, I was trying to prepare myself for the worst when it came to sleeping. I'm not really sure what I was expecting, but I knew I wasn't expecting much. So when we got there and started staying in tea houses (where all trekkers stay unless you're camping) along the trail, I was pleasantly surprised for the most part. The tea houses are very similar to hostels, and a lot of the time, you're staying in an extension of someone's home. They're very basic (most rooms just have two beds and a night stand), but they have what you need.

Every tea house has a main dining area/common room where you eat dinner and hang out by the fire. It's warm, cozy, and lively with trekkers . . . until 9 p.m. Most common areas close around that time and the owners usually lock the door after everyone leaves for their rooms, which means 9 p.m. is your absolute latest bedtime.

In our group, a lot of people went to bed around 7 or 8 p.m. after long days of trekking, but I usually tried to push it till 9 p.m. every night. There's nothing worse than going to bed too early and then being wide awake at 4 a.m. and having nothing to do but lay in the cold.

When you leave (or are forced to leave) the tea house common/dining area around 9 p.m., your heart will break a little. Because that room has a fire, it's the only place that's warm at night, so leaving it to go to your room means being very, very cold while getting ready for bed, getting into bed, and while falling asleep.

We stayed at a few tea houses that had en-suite bathrooms (the joy!), but for the most part, the bathrooms were shared with the floor. This meant a few things. One, when you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night (and you will . . . a lot), getting out of your sleeping bag, wrapping yourself in a jacket, and putting shoes on to walk down the hall in the freezing cold really sucks. Two, you have to rummage around your room to find toilet paper to bring with you because they most likely won't have any. And three, you'll probably have to squat because the toilet itself is either just a hole in the ground or it's a regular toilet that's extremely dirty.

Have I mentioned you'll be freezing? While getting into bed is painful, once you're wrapped up in your sleeping bag, you'll probably end up peeling off a layer or two in the middle of the night. I usually went to sleep wearing two bottom layers, one pair of thick socks, one top base layer, a heavy sweatshirt, a down jacket, a winter hat, and gloves. I had a North Face Furnace Sleeping Bag ($179), and I usually took off the down jacket and sweatshirt during the night.

Most tea houses also give you a thick blanket on your bed, but we usually had to roll them up and use them as pillows since the ones provided were super thin, and keeping your head elevated is super important to help prevent headaches.

Since drinking water is so important on the trail, make sure you bring plenty of water purification tablets (we used these Aqua Iodine and Taste-Neutralizer Tablets ($12)). If you drink five liters of water every day, you're on the trail for 15 days, and you need two tablets per liter, that's 150 tablets. And that's not counting the water you need to treat for brushing your teeth and washing your hands and face.

All tea houses sell bottled water, and we definitely bought a lot on our trek, but you always need to be careful that it's sealed. Our Sherpas warned us of some places filling bottles from the tap and repackaging them, which will make you sick. Treating all water is your safest bet!

Suspension bridges are inevitable on the trek, and there are a lot of them. Yaks, horses, and trekkers all cross these so they see a lot of weight, but they really are solid. The fencing on the sides of some bridges isn't very sturdy, but it's best to just look ahead and walk straight across.

While you may lose your appetite from time to time on your way up, it'll definitely be because of the altitude and not the food. Everything is delicious, carb-y, and perfect for long days of hiking.

Tea houses have large menus with classic items like fried rice, chow mein, oatmeal, omelets, and toast, as well as classic Nepalese dishes like Dal bhat (steamed rice, cooked lentil soup, and vegetable curry), momos (dumplings), and Tibetan bread (fried bread that's slightly sweet).

On day two of our trek when we reached Namche Bazaar at 11,300 feet, I had a hard time taking a deep breath. It really freaked me out because we still had such a long way until we reached base camp, but our Sherpas stressed the importance of staying calm and taking slow breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth to prevent hyperventilating. Your body will adapt — you just need to give it time.

When we landed in Lukla to start our trek, we were kind of expecting to see Mount Everest right away. When we didn't, our guide and Sherpas explained that it was actually very far away and that we wouldn't get to see it for a few more days. When we saw it, we realized just how many mountains were in between us and base camp.

In the photo above, we got our first glimpse of Everest on day three of our trek (it's the tiny mountain top in the middle that has a cloud of snow blowing off it from the wind).

While you're on the trail for pleasure (well, it's painful, but you know what I mean), the porters and yaks are working and doing their jobs. They always have the right of way, and you'll definitely need to step aside and let them through frequently. And when it comes to crossing those suspension bridges, you'll sometimes be waiting 20+ minutes for a long line of yaks to cross first before you can go. Just always make sure to step aside away from the edge of the trail!

It's always good to ask before you take a photo of a local on the trail, whether it's a porter carrying a large load on their back or the owner of the tea house you're staying in. You're basically hiking in their home, and it's a sign of respect.

One thing I forgot to pack? Sunscreen. While you can easily buy it in Lukla, it's essential on the trail because you're so much closer to the sun in elevation. The rays are extremely strong (even when it's freezing), and the higher up you get, the more you need to put on (and continue to reapply throughout the day).

One thing I wasn't expecting to find on the trail was regular outlets. In the first few tea houses we stayed in, they had power outlets that accepted American chargers — no adapter needed. But the higher up you go, the more basic things become, and a lot of rooms stop having outlets. Because you'll want to keep your phone charged for photos, bring a portable charger. I used this Anker PowerCore Power Bank ($50), and it worked perfectly.

Having a built-in hydration pack in your backpack is great, but don't worry if you don't have one. My pack didn't and I just brought two 1-liter water bottles to have on me at all times to sip from.

Seeing so many animals on the trail is great, but it's always best to give them space. A lot of the dogs are friendly, adorable, and down for a few head rubs, but a lot of them are also wild, so be cautious.

The weather on the trek is all over the place, which is what makes packing so difficult. You'll be freezing in the morning, hot from the sun a few minutes after you start hiking, cold again when a few clouds roll in, piling on more layers when it starts to snow, and then warm again when it stops. Layer accordingly, but don't fret about stopping to take off a jacket (or two!) to adjust to the ever-changing temperatures.

This one probably goes without saying, but the trail is loooooong. Some hiking days will be short and sweet (three or four hours), but others will be very long and taxing. Your guide and Sherpas should discuss the days with you the night before so everyone is prepared, and just take it all as it comes. You'll get there!

We brought a few rolls of our own, but it wasn't nearly enough. Luckily, every tea house sells toilet paper so you don't have to worry, but it's worth noting that it gets more expensive as you go up. Hardly any bathrooms have toilet paper, and you'll probably need more than you might think. Because you're drinking so much water, you gotta go a LOT more. And when you need to go during a stretch of hiking, you'll have to grab a few squares and find a big rock to hide behind. Plus, your nose is constantly running.

The trail is such a sacred place, which is what makes it so special. There are prayer rocks, prayer wheels, climber memorials, monasteries, and more along the way, and it's so important to be aware of the Nepalese traditions and respect them. For example, always walk to the left around prayer rocks for good luck and spin prayer wheels as you pass them. And please, if you need to go to the bathroom when you reach the Everest climbers memorial, wait a few more minutes until you leave that very special and emotional place (I kid you not, I saw more than a few people not respect it).

Buffs are a lifesaver on the mountain. Not only do they keep the sun off your forehead, they also keep your hair (and sweat) out of your face, your ears warm from the cold, and, when you wear them around your nose and mouth, they keep the dust out of your lungs. I only brought two, and I really wish I brought more, especially a thick one for those extracold days.

Our entire group went about 12 days without a shower. We took advantage of a hot shower in our tea house on day two, and then we didn't shower again until we were almost done with the entire trek. After the first few days, tea house showers are shared and locked, meaning that if you want a hot shower, it's going to cost you. And it's not even guaranteed to be hot (our guide told us that it will most likely be very cold).

Going without a shower for so long was definitely hard, but even when we were desperate, we still didn't pay for a hot one because the insane cold you'd feel afterward just wasn't worth it (and if you have thick hair like me that doesn't dry quickly, you'd run the risk of getting sick). We leaned into being dirty, and I'm glad we did.

Like I mentioned before, a lot of the toilets on the trail are just holes in the ground. You definitely work your legs and core by squatting so much, and you do figure out a way to keep your pants (mostly) clean, but it's an adjustment in the beginning.

One important note? Don't have your sunglasses on while using squat toilets. I lost a good pair that way by hanging them on my shirt (RIP to the ones in the photo that fell right off).

When we finally reached base camp at 17,600 feet, we were all excited, emotional, relieved, and tired. But we were in for a huge shock when our Sherpas told us that we still had one more hour to go until we reached our camp for the night.

Base camp is massive. It's basically like a village with hundreds of tents and numerous companies set up for the months ahead. If you're staying overnight there like we did, you might need to really hike to get to your spot.

The thought of getting altitude sickness on the trail was the thing that scared me the most. I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to finish the trek and would have to turn around and go down due to illness. While altitude sickness is common, you can take steps to reduce your risk (or manage your symptoms if you do get it). Symptoms include headache, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, and difficulty sleeping. It's so important to drink a lot of water (between five to six liters every day), eat properly, and rest. Our group also took Diamox on the way up (it was recommended by our doctors as well as doctors we spoke to on the mountain), which helps reduce your risk of getting altitude sickness.

The most important thing is to just listen to your body. This might mean staying behind for an extra rest day or, worst case scenario, turning around and going back down the mountain if your symptoms don't improve. The worst thing you can do is continue to go up if you're really not feeling well. That can result in altitude sickness progressing into something more serious, like HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema), a buildup of fluid in the lungs, or HACE (high altitude cerebral edema), when there's fluid in the brain, which are both life-threatening.

We stayed with Climbing the Seven Summits at base camp, and they were beyond welcoming. They gave us a tour of their camp, showed us the oxygen tanks they were going to use on the summit, and introduced us to a handful of this year's climbers. While we were so excited to be there and meet the people who were attempting to summit Mount Everest, our Sherpas warned us not to offer to shake everyone's hand. Because the climbers live at base camp for two months and need to stay healthy, they don't want to catch any colds or germs from trekkers, so don't be offended if you get a fist bump in stead of a handshake.

If you can't tell in the photo above, my face was breaking out like crazy on the trek. While we all splashed our faces with treated water and wiped the sunscreen and dirt off with towels at the end of the day, we were in desperate need of some face wipes. Not showering for so long definitely becomes obvious in more ways than one, and the numerous pimples were not fun.

Climbing the Seven Summits set up amazing tents for us at their camp complete with mats to keep our sleeping bags off the rocky ground. But it was also 15 degrees at night. And we had to use our packs as pillows. I think I probably slept 30 minutes total the entire night, and when we woke up, our sleeping bags and the top of our tent were covered in frost.

Still, staying at base camp was one of the most incredible experiences, and I wouldn't change a second of it.

Maybe I'm just clumsy, but I went through three toothbrushes on the trek. Luckily my husband brought a few extras, but I dropped a few on some tea house bathroom floors, and once you do that, you have to throw them away. There's no saving them.

Trekking to Mount Everest Base Camp and back was, by far, the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'm also not the same after having done it. It was the most amazing, challenging, wonderful, painful, hard, and life-changing thing. While there are obviously many challenges along the way, there are even more beautiful moments. You meet amazing people, you push yourself further than you ever thought you could go, you see what you're really capable of, and you get to see one of the coolest places in the entire world. Embrace it all — the pain, the emotional roller coaster, the dirt, the discomfort, the breathtaking scenery. You absolutely won't regret it.