Dingboche, Nepal: An Important Acclimatization Stop Before Everest Base Camp

Dingboche Village Information

Altitude

Dingboche is at 4,410 m (14,469 ft) altitude.

Best Time to Visit

The best time to trek Everest Base Camp is traditionally in autumn (October-November) and spring (March-May), so that’s also the best time for visiting Dingboche. During these times, the weather is sunny during the day, and the views are clear to see the Himalayas. Autumn and spring are peak seasons, so it gets the busiest then.

The beginning of winter (December) can also be an ideal time to trek EBC. The views are clear, and there are fewer trekkers, so it’s more peaceful. The days are also sunny but it does get cold at night! January and February are more tricky, as that’s when it usually snows. The snow makes trekking way more difficult as it becomes more challenging to navigate the trails.

During monsoon (June-September), it rains a lot which also make trekking challenging. Flights are often delayed to Lukla, the trekking trail is more dangerous due to landslides, and there are leeches in lower altitude.

Permits

For the EBC trek (including Dingboche), you need to get two permits, the Sagarmatha National Park permit and the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Municipality permit. You can get them in Kathmandu at the Tourism Board before starting your trek or in Monjo when you are already on the trek.

There is no specific check point in Dingboche, but they do check the permits in Monjo and at one other place during the trek, so you need to have them throughout the trek.

Cell Service

Cell service gets more limited in Dingboche. In villages below Dingboche, the cell service is much better and you can get a network connection with any Nepali SIM (Nepal Telecom, NCell). In lower villages, the cell service may be spotty sometimes, but generally works.

It changes once you get to Dingboche. NCell doesn’t work at all, and Nepal Telecom still works but a bit more spotty. I had an NCell SIM card and the cell service didn’t work at all. So, if you are deciding which Nepali SIM to get, I recommend getting one by the Nepal Telecom.

If you don’t get cell service in Dingboche, you can buy wifi cards. The wifi cards are like scratch cards with a code that you can use to connect to wifi at teahouses. The teahouses in Dingboche provide both the wifi cards or the normal wifi for an extra cost.

The wifi cards cost Rs. 1,200 (USD 8) for a 24h card, and Rs. 1,500 (USD 11) for a 48h card.

Location

For me, Dingboche is the place where the Everest Base Camp trek changed. It is pretty much alright in lower altitudes on the trek (Phakding, Namche, Tengboche), but it starts to get more challenging in Dingboche.

If you follow the usual 14-day EBC itinerary, then Dingboche is the first village on the trek where you sleep above 4,000 m (13,120 ft). The altitude can make you feel less energetic, even if you don’t have altitude sickness.

Tengboche is the village before Dingboche where most trekkers stay. It’s 10.5 km (6.5 miles) away and takes 5-6 hours walk to get to Dingboche. Then after staying in Dingboche, your next stop is Lobuche. Lobuche is 8.5 km (5 miles) away, and takes 4 hours to get there.

Acclimatization Day in Dingboche

Dingboche is mostly known as one of the stops on the EBC trek where you should spend two nights and go for an acclimatization hike. It’s important to help your body acclimatize to high altitude properly, otherwise, you might feel unwell to the point you have to turn back.

I spent two days in Dingboche and went on an acclimatization hike. There are a few options for acclimatization hikes, e.g. Nangkartshang Peak or Chukhung Ri. I decided to go for Nangkartshang Peak because Chukhung Ri is longer and more difficult. Nevertheless, the hike to Nangkartshang Peak is no easy feat either, so I am glad I could at least complete that.

I found the Nangkartshang Peak difficult as it’s an uphill hike for three hours in the altitude between 4,410m (14,469 ft) to 5,083m (16,677 ft). There was also some snow and ice near the peak, which made it even more difficult. I recommend starting the hike early, at least by 7:30 am, and go as slow as you need to. Once you get up to the top, you get epic mountain views. Then, the way down is around 1 hour, so you can be back by lunch time.

Apart from the acclimatization hike, there are also some nice cafes in Dingboche where you can chill.

Planning your own Everest Base Camp trek? One reason I partnered with a local Nepali trekking agency is that we follow a proper acclimatization schedule with two nights in Dingboche, so you don’t feel pressured to rush the trek. You can see our Everest Base Camp itinerary here.

Teahouses

Before arriving in Dingboche, a lot of people scared me that all the accommodation would be fully booked and that I wouldn’t find a place to stay on the spot. I was trekking solo without a guide or group, so my plan was to book a place as I go.

When I arrived in Dingboche, I was surprised that there are so many teahouses in the village. It’s not just that there were lots of teahouses, each of them is built pretty big, like 2-3 floors, and each floor has around 10 twin rooms. I didn’t get what the fuss was about pre-booking. I was there during the peak trekking season, and I could easily book a room on the spot.

Villages are much smaller on other trekking routes in Nepal (e.g. Langtang, Annapurna Base Camp) where it can be more challenging to book a place during peak season, but that’s not the case in Dingboche. There are so many teahouses that I doubt it’s an issue to find a place at any time of the year.

Where I stayed

I stayed at the Bright Star Lodge in Dingboche. The teahouse itself was like any other typical teahouse along the EBC trek. I got a twin room but didn’t have to share it with anyone else.

It has good reviews on Google Maps, but I didn’t find it that good. The room was alright but I didn’t find the owners that hospitable. They weren’t too welcoming or open to share stories about the village.

I spent two days in Dingboche (including the acclimatization day), and feel like I could have had a better experience in another teahouse where the owners are friendlier and tell you more about the area.

Electricity

Once you reach Dingboche, this is where electricity starts to become more limited. There are no plugs in the teahouse rooms, and you have to pay extra to charge your electronics.

Even in the teahouse I was staying at, there were no plugs in my room. In these cases, the teahouses have a charging station in the dining hall where all the guests can charge their electronics for an extra fee. In the teahouse where I stayed, it cost Rs. 500 (USD 3) for charging the phone, and Rs. 1,000 (USD 6.50) for charging the power bank.

Wifi

As electricity is limited in Dingboche, so is access to cell network and wifi. NCell SIM has no network in Dingboche, Nepal Telecom does but it can also be spotty.

In Dingboche, you can either buy a wifi card or pay extra for the wifi at the teahouse. I decided to pay for the wifi at the teahouse as it worked out a bit cheaper. There are also a few cafes in Dingboche where you can use the wifi and charging for free as long as you are a paying customer.

Food

The menu is pretty much the same in Dingboche as it is in other villages throughout the trek. The usual menu includes Nepali dishes (dal bhat), and international dishes (pizza, burger, pasta). I still had a pretty good appetite at this altitude, and had dal bhat, pizza and burger during my stay.

Shower

The teahouses have hot water shower and you have to pay a small extra cost to use it. I didn’t take a shower in Dingboche because by the time I had time to take a shower, it was already late afternoon and the temperature was cold outside.

The best time to take a shower is when it’s still sunny. Even though there is hot water shower, you can easily get sick if you take a hot shower, but then get a cold after you finish your shower and go outside.

Toilets

The teahouses have both rooms with private toilets and rooms with shared toilets. I recommend getting the room with private toilets because it doesn’t only make your stay more comfortable, but it’s also more clean.

Most itineraries include a two-day stay in Dingboche, there are lots of trekkers in a teahouse using the shared toilets, so it can get messy. I had a room with shared toilets, and I regret I didn’t book a room with a private toilet.

Should I Book Ahead?

There are lots of teahouses in Dingboche, so it is not necessary to book a room ahead. Before my trek, everyone was telling me I should book a room ahead, but once I got there, I found it was pretty easy to get a room on the spot.

I was trekking solo but still it was easy to find a room. When you get to Dingboche, you can see that there are many teahouses in the village, and they are pretty big with many rooms. In a way, the teahouses were built to accommodate a large number of trekkers, so there is no need to worry about pre-booking.

If you hire a guide or book a trek with a trekking agency, then they usually pre-book the teahouses in advance. This is to make sure that that the rooms are available even if you trek in a bigger group. Trekking agencies usually have their go-to teahouses in each village where they accommodate trekkers.

Prices

The prices start to increase in Dingboche compared to villages in lower altitude. It is mostly due to the extra costs you have to pay for wifi, charging phones and power banks.

The food prices only increase by a little, and I noticed my EBC costs really just added up more due to the extra money I paid for wifi and charging my phone.

I paid the following prices in Dingboche: 

• Room: Rs. 500 (USD 3) per night for a twin room for a single person with a shared toilet
• Food: Dal bhat for Rs. 1,000 (USD 6.50), burger for Rs. 850 (USD 5.50), pizza for Rs. 900 (USD 6), an omelette with toast for Rs. 800 (USD 5), soup for Rs. 600 (USD 4), and a cup of tea for Rs. 250.
• Bottled water: Rs. 150 per bottle
• Charging: Rs. 500 (USD 3) for phone, Rs. 1,000 (USD 6.50) for power banks
• Wifi: Hotel wifi for Rs. 800 (USD 5), 24h wifi card for Rs. 1000 (USD 6.50), free wifi in cafes
• Shower: Rs. 300 (USD 2)