![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Beautiful-Ama-Dablam.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\nI recently got home from a trip to Nepal to do the Ama Dablam Base Camp Trek with seven other women.<\/p>\n
One of my friends from a group I hike with, planned on doing this trek and asked if I wanted to come along. I\u2019ve wanted to visit Nepal for a while so I jumped at the chance, booking annual leave from work for the following year when we planned to go.<\/p>\n
She had heard that this particular trek was the most beautiful one to do in Nepal and, not that I\u2019ve done any others, but I\u2019d have to agree.<\/p>\n
Ama Dablam is located in the Everest region with most of the trail being on the popular Everest route. Then with about two days walk to the top, the trail turns off on its own path and becomes less crowded.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Our destination – the beautiful Ama Dablam.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n My friend who organised the trip opted to use a tour company by the name of Keep Walking Nepal<\/a>, and I\u2019m so glad she did! Everything was taken care of for us and they looked after us so well. All we had to do was arrange our own flights to Kathmandu. The company picked us all up from the airport (even those who were on a different flight) and took us to our hotel which was all arranged by the company.<\/p>\n We had an itinerary planned for the trip that included days of leisure either side of the trek which was great for sightseeing and shopping! We had some nice dinners together before and after the trek while in Kathmandu and even had a city tour included for us.<\/p>\n Having almost everything taken care of for you is something I would highly recommend.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The Ama Dablam Base Camp trek is an 11-day trek and is rated at a moderate difficulty level, so a reasonable level of fitness is required. We were never really told the number of km, they just worked off time so I\u2019m still not sure how many km the trek is all up.<\/p>\n Most of the days were fairly short with a couple of them done by lunchtime. We walked at a fairly slow pace and even slower on the inclines.<\/p>\n A snap of me with Ama Dablam in the background.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n There were a few steep accents but the guides take it really slow so that it still remains enjoyable. Of course, if you really wanted you could go ahead which is what one or two of the women in my group did on occasion.<\/p>\n Our group when we made it to base camp!<\/em><\/p>\n To prepare for my trip, I would do laps of my local lookout. This has quite a steep but short accent so I\u2019d do a few of them a couple of times per week. I was worried about my fitness level before my trip, but they take it quite slow that I don\u2019t think it\u2019s much of an issue. If you can handle the odd mountain climb at a slow pace then you\u2019d be fine.<\/p>\n You will need to do some training before your hike, just so you’re in good shape.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Ama Dablam Base Camp is at 4600m so acclimatisation on the way up is required to reduce the risk of altitude sickness.<\/p>\n We had a rest day (even though we didn\u2019t rest) in Namche Bazaar at 3440m high to help with acclimatisation. On our rest day, we climbed up to the Everest View Lodge at 3880m, had a drink and came back down.<\/p>\n You will stop along the way to help acclimatise on the trek.<\/em><\/p>\n After visiting my doctor and telling him where I was going, he suggested I start the Hep B shots as well as a Hep A\/Typhoid combination shot. Though, it\u2019s worth checking with your doctor as they might recommend something different for you.<\/p>\n As we do enter the Sagarmatha National Park I believe that you would need some sort of permit but this was all taken care of by Keep Walking Nepal.<\/p>\n The Lukla airport is where most people begin their Mt Everest or Ama Dablam Base Camp treks.<\/p>\n The price of the trek itself is $2080 USD but we were asked to put down a $500 USD deposit out of that total price to book our place.<\/p>\n The rest could be paid in cash when we got there. I had the remaining exchanged into US dollars so I could hand it over as soon as I got there.<\/p>\n My flights cost me $1087 to Kathmandu return from Adelaide flying with Cathay Pacific.<\/p>\n I had to renew my passport so that was another expense.<\/p>\n We were told to have the right cash in US\u00a0dollars for our visa which was a 30-day visa costing $40 USD. We just went over the 15-day visa option as we had a couple more days either side of the trek in Kathmandu, otherwise, a 15-day visa costs $25 USD.<\/p>\n The rest of my trip expenses went on tipping my guides and porters (our tour company suggested $8-9 USD per person per day but more or less is up to you) and spending money. Everything over there is a lot cheaper than in Australia. If you allowed as much as you would for any other holiday, then you should have enough spending money.<\/p>\n The good thing about using a tour company is that the costs include almost everything.<\/p>\n We had a 10kg limit for stuff we didn\u2019t want to carry with us during the day but wanted on the trek that the porters carried for us. I packed super light as I didn\u2019t want to load my porter up with much. All I used for the trip was my day pack, so I just gave my porter a small packing cell of my clothes to carry.<\/p>\n Some of the other women went over their 10kg limit, so they ended up putting some things in my bag. All the weight got shared around so it ended up working out well.<\/p>\n As we used porters, it meant we didn’t have to carry much gear.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n There\u2019s a video<\/a> I made on my YouTube channel of everything I took on the trip and how I packed my pack if you want to check that out.<\/p>\n Our tour company provided a down sleeping bag, a down jacket, and toilet paper in a kit bag, along with the rest of your gear that the porters carry.<\/p>\n Spring is a great time to visit, as the weather is good and it’s not as busy.<\/em><\/p>\n There are two main trekking seasons in Nepal: Spring and Autumn. Their Autumn (September to November) is the most popular trekking season as mountain views are at their best, however it is incredibly busy!<\/p>\n If you\u2019re not a huge fan of snow then I\u2019d recommend going when we went, which was late April – early May. That\u2019s their Spring and it\u2019s beautiful there. On our trek, we saw so many gorgeous rhododendrons (their national flower) in full bloom. It was stunning!<\/p>\n We went in spring, so we experienced the beautiful rhododendrons in bloom.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It was recommended to bring any snacks we might want during the day and carry them in our day packs, however, we were fed so well that none of us really ate our snack food at all!<\/p>\nUsing a tour company<\/h2>\n
![\"Soaking-up-the-sun-in-Monjo-after-a-short-day\"](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Soaking-up-the-sun-in-Monjo-after-a-short-day.jpg\" "\\"Tour")
<\/p>\nDifficulty level<\/h2>\n
![\"Ama](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Ama-Dablam-Base-Camp-selfie.jpg\" "\\"You")
<\/p>\nHere\u2019s a copy of our itinerary:<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"Jumping](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/We-made-it-to-base-camp.jpg\" "\\"Despite")
<\/p>\nFitness and preparation<\/h2>\n
![\"Hiking](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Hiking-in-the-snow.jpg\" "\\"Though")
<\/p>\nAcclimatisation<\/h2>\n
![\"My-roommate-&-I-with-Everest-and-Ama-Dablam-in-the-background\"](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/My-roommate-I-with-Everest-and-Ama-Dablam-in-the-background.jpg\" "\\"Acclimatisation")
<\/p>\nVaccinations<\/h2>\n
Permits<\/h2>\n
![\"View](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Lukla-airport.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\nCosts for the trip<\/h2>\n
![\"Our-highest-and-coldest-night-but-warm-by-the-fire\"](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Our-highest-and-coldest-night-but-warm-by-the-fire.jpg\" "\\"Having")
<\/p>\nOur porters<\/h2>\n
![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Before-the-snow-hit.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\nGear to bring<\/h2>\n
The following is the list we were given to use as a guide:<\/h2>\n
\n
![\"The-trail-passes-some-stunning-scenery\"](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/The-trail-passes-some-stunning-scenery.jpg\" "\\"Nepal")
<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s the best time of the year to go?<\/h2>\n
![\"Rhododendrons-in-bloom\"](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Rhododendrons-in-bloom.jpg\" "\\"Spring")
<\/p>\nLet’s talk about food<\/h2>\n
![\"Breakfast-time-in-the-lodge-at-Monjo\"](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Breakfast-time-in-the-lodge-at-Monjo.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/p>\n![\"View-from-my-bed-night-one\"](\"https:\/\/www.snowys.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/View-from-my-bed-night-one.jpg\" "\\"Ama")
<\/p>\n