Everest Base Camp Special (Dumji Festival)
Every year there are thousands of tourists trekking to Everest Base Camp to experience the breath-taking beauty of the Himalayan Grandeur – the majestic mountains. Most of them travel in these parts in the so called “high-season”, which of course is the best time of the year “weather wise”. However, the local people during these “high season” put aside their daily mundane activities, which is an integral part of experiencing the culture, and get involved in the tourism business- running lodges and guiding treks. The “off season” is when the local people springs back to their real lives- daily activities, have family gatherings and celebrate festivals. Thus, travellers often do not get the opportunity to experience this colourful culture of these wonderful mountain people.
We have designed this program to offer an opportunity for travellers to trek in the majestic Himalayas, set foot on the famous Everest Base Camp as well as experience their daily activity, way of living and take part in the colourful and most important festival of the local people- the Dumji festival.
About Dumji:
The Dumji Festival, which is celebrated in the month of June/ July, is one of the most popular and interesting festival amongst the Sherpa community of the Solu Khumbu region of Nepal. It is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Guru Rinpoche (the reincarnated monk). Lama Sangwa Dorji, the founder of the earliest monastery of Khumbu, was the first to start the Dumji festival in the village of Pangboche about 360 years ago.
The festival serves as a religious and community duty to help bring the villagers together. For the people of the local community, however, the Dumji festival also serves their mundane existential needs as it marks with the transition to spring time the beginning of the agricultural cycle. Every 13 years it falls upon three families to provide food and drink for the entire village for the duration of celebrations, which lasts for 4 days.
The main ritual acts include the purification of the ritual space, the calling or invocation of both the transcendental and the local deities, the offering of place, the offering consisting of seven substances, praise, supplication, and recitation of mantra in the course of meditation.
The most striking part of the festival is the “sacred masked dances” performed in a monastic context by trained dancers in colorful costumes and awe-inspiring masks symbolizing the protectors of the Buddhist doctrine.
Highlights:
- Mountain flight to Lukla
- Namche Bazaar- the Sherpa capital of the Khumbu
- Experience the colorful and most important festival of the Khumbu- Dumji
- Views of 4 of the 6 highest mountains- Mt. Everest (8848 m), Lhotse (8510 m), Makalu (8467 m) and Ch Oyu (8201 m)
- Tyangboche monastery- a 200 year old monastery situated on a ridge surrounded by massive mountains.
- Everest Base Camp- the base for climbing expeditions from the South side.
- Kalapathar- the best vantage point of Mt. Everest and its surrounding peaks.
- Sagarmatha National Park, listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO
Your guide: Christina Sandström
Christina Sandström has been on and off in the Khumbu valley for the last 8 years. She has a brilliant insight of this exotic culture as she has been warmly welcomed into their hearts and culture.
Itinerary:
Day 1- Arrive Kathmandu/ Transfer to Hotel/ Welcome dinner
Day 2- Guided city tour/ Lunch/ Briefing and distribution of trek packs
Day 3- Fly to Lukla (2852m) and trek to Benkar (2700m)
Day 4- Trek to Namche Bazaar (3440m) attend Dumji Festival
Day 5- Rest day- Visit Monastary, local homes and participate in the Dumji Festival
Day 6- Trek to Tyangboche (3880m)
Day 7- Trek to Upper Pangboche- attend the Dumji Festival
Day 8- Trek to Pheriche (4280m)
Day 9- Rest and acclimatization
Day 10- Trek to Lobuche (4930m)
Day 11- Trek to Everest Base Camp (5300m) and back to Gorakhshep (5180m)
Day 12- Morning hike to Kalapathar (5545m) and trek to Pheriche
Day 13- Trek to Phortse (3900m)
Day 14- Trek to Namche
Day 15- Trek to Lukla
Day 16- Fly to Kathmandu
Day 17- Free day in Kathmandu
Day 18-Departure.
Price includes
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Price includes:
- All internal transportation, in private vehicle.
- Services of English-speaking guide, porter‟s and sherpa‟s assistance
- 4 nights in tourist class hotel on bed and breakfast basis while in Kathmandu.
- Welcome dinner. • Half day guided city tour with lunch.
- Use of a personal trek pack consisting of a duffle bag, Tshirt, down jacket and sleeping bag.
- Both way air fare to Lukla and back to Kathmandu with domestic terminal taxes.
- All meals while on trek.
- Afternoon tea/coffee service on arrival at the lodge
- Twin share accommodation in trekking lodges with shared bath and toilet facilities
- National Park fees,
- Staff insurance, tourist service fee and all taxes applicable as per state law.
Price excludes:
- Personal accident and rescue insurance. You must provide your own rescue insurance
- Mineral water, beer, soft drinks and extra tea/coffee outside of normal meal times
- Private room accommodation in Kathmandu unless a single supplement is paid
- Optional tips to guides & porters
- International airport departure taxes
- Visa costs
- Helicopter evacuation in the unlikely situation, although we do arrange for it and make the necessary documents so that you can claim from your insurance.