Thank you very much for your reply, Alyson!

Hope all will be well for us in the Everest region. And for you, the world!

Hi Su. Your guide is per day not per person. Our guide was very cheap, you’ll probably pay more. The second time we went to Everest Base Camp we didn’t take a guide or a porter, you really don’t need one. No, nothing is particularly expensive, it just adds up. We paid $10 for a room ( and of course we need 2 rooms) once and that was a massive rip off because somebody else’s guide got involved and took a commission on taking us to this particular place after telling us everywhere was full. Had we walked a little further there were plenty of places not full. But we trusted. $5 or less is common. Even free below Lukla. Avoid the major towns and hubs where the tour groups go ( and where a guide will want to take you) and it’s much quieter, nicer and cheaper, you’ll be welcomed. The busy places with tour groups aren’t nice really. Once you get high some of the rates are regulated and everywhere is $7 per room. But some people pay too much. I know in one place we paid $5 or so, after negotiations, and the owner made us vow not to tell the lady in the end room because she was paying $10. As you get high food prices rise. So a dahl baht that would be a couple of bucks in Kathmandu suddenly becomes $8. So not expensive, but prices rise and 3 meals for 4 people becomes a big daily spend. We don’t eat meat, I wouldn’t recommend anybody eats meat up there as the meat has to be carried up on porters’ backs. I would have garlic soup because it was cheaper but 3 hungry boys needed a lot of food. A toilet roll could be $4. I can’t remember what we paid for Snickers, but prices rise. Then there are charges for charging your electronics, wifi, showers, water. It just adds up. Yes we flew to Phaplu. We chartered our own plane because no planes were going into Lukla. That’s common. We talk about that in another post I think it’s the Everest Base Camp Hardships one. If you’re trying to book guest houses online, yes you’ll see high prices, places like The Pyramid ( which friends of ours stayed at – it wasn’t good) and Everest View Hotel, yes they’re expensive, but there are plenty of normal lodges and tea houses that won’t be online.

Thanks for the prompt response, Alyson!

Gosh, food is that expensive?! Hope vegetarians will have it cheaper. The difference between feeding one and feeding four is definitely huge.

Please correct me if I understand the charges wrongly. The cost for a guide ($20/day) is split among the number of pax in the group. NOT $20/day/tourist, right? I will definitely be getting a guide and a porter.

As I do more reading up on the Everest Region, I also find it amazing that the accommodation in this region seems to be so much more expensive than the Poon Hill trek. Over at Poon Hill area (which we did 2 years ago), the price for a room is standardised by the authority and they are generally no more than USD10/night. Everest region… oh my, I see room charges of around USD10/night and over USD100/night. Talk about variety!

So, for your second time round, you flew KTM-Phaplu-KTM? I don’t see any Phaplu airport on Yeti Airline’s website.

We were with a guide, so that was $20 a day straight up. Then accommodation, food – food is expensive, although dramatically less so that on the main Everest tourist highway. In some places below Lukla you’ll be back to the old system of free stays if you buy dinner – that’s cheap. Just an extra 4-5 days of trekking and food for four people is more expensive than the flights. Then add cost of the bus. It certainly does cost more, but you get all those extra days on the mountain. We did this route for a second time recently and enjoyed it far more than first time, but we flew to Phaplu. Avoided that bus ride.

Thank you for the wonderfully useful write-up on your trip.

I am currently looking into flying in to Lukla and then bus/jeep back to Kathmandu (with the Everest Panorama Trek in between). Like you, a family of four with two kids. Ways of cutting cost is in the progress of being explored.

You mentioned that it is actually more expensive to walk out than fly out. Why? How so? Greatly appreciate if you can enlighten me on that.