Everest Base Camp trek

[Al]

Hello,

I will be in Nepal between December 26th and January 15th. I would like to do the EBC trek, staying in lodges, ideally without guides or porters. I am 39, in relatively good shape, French and English speaking, I love to hike and I am easy to get along with.

Anybody interested in doing this trek during [roughly] that same time frame ?

As I said, I would like to do this without a guide, but with the possibility of the trail being covered by snow in high altitudes (and difficult to follow) and also because of the risk [even very minimal] of encounters with Maoists, maybe a guide would not be a bad idea after all.

Can anybody, especially experienced winter trekkers, comment on that ?

Thanks!

Al

[himal]

Hi, this is really nice time to dotrek in nepal at the moment ,this is winter here in nepal you can touch snow and also you can play with snow.i am trekking guide of nepal i do speak english and freanch if you are intreast you can contact me on my e-amil and also you you can see my wab.[www.geocities.com/himlalp]

[Sharon]

It is certainly easy to do a trek without a guide. I do recommend having one as it will increase your understanding and appreciation of the country you are travelling in as well as supply some much needed income.

[John]

I would not do Giri to Lukla
I did it 1 month ago.

THERE ARE MOAISTS THERE

[DM]

I just rtnd frm Gokyo, Cho la pass & EBC Dec 6th. The weather conditions are currently excellent, but there could be increased snow by the time you get there.
I agree w/ John here, avoid Jiri, fly from kathmandu into Lukla & start yr trek from there. There hv been many occurences w/ Maoist on the Jiri - Lukla trek.
A guide is very good idea for many reasons as listed abv. by Sharon, more importantly, even though the trail is very well defined, there are sections where no trail is evident & where the trail is constantly changing, more so if you encounter adverse weather conditions at any time.

[yakshaver]

Quite a few trekkers have done the Jiri to Lukla stretch last season (Feb-May 05) without major problems. On occasions, some tourists had to fork out 1000 rupees (15 USD) to giver to the maoists. There was no other major trouble encountered. Can't see the need to use CAPITAL letter when you spell maoists, at least in relation to tourists, at this stage.

[ian2u]

..err Yakshaver do you think he is still waiting 975 days later for a reply?
We had to pay 3000 Rp per westerner and 1000 Rp per sherpa last Oct in the Hinku valley.

[yakshaver]

Hinku and Arun are not Jiri to Lukla. Around Makalu you might be charged more as well. Different situation for the Jiri to Lukla stretch. My friend who's been there in March was charged 500 rupees because he showed them the Student Card.
Of course the situation can change, as it can everywhere else in the world. In the meantime let's stick to facts.
And what if the guy posted 55 years ago? What's that between friends? My post deals with a current subject, still...