Surrounded by some of the highest peaks on planet Earth, Lobuche is one of the last pitstops on the famous trekking route to Everest Base Camp. It sits at a lung-busting 4,940 meters above sea level, in a theatre of dusty ridges that rise and fall like sleeping giants on all sides. The horizon is spiked with the summits of mighty Pumori and serrated Nuptse, while the cloud-slashing tops of Everest itself lurk just around the corner.

In the build-up to the trekking season in April and May, Lobuche is a hubbub of porters, pack-carrying yaks, and Sherpas, many leading expeditions with sights set on the highest summit in the world. Others will be there acclimatising or stopping over before hitting Everest Base Camp, nestling in the rustic lodges and sipping tea while chatting to like-minded hikers.

While you rest and gather your head for the final push, Lobuche tour guides can help you explore the eye-watering surroundings of the High Himalaya. There are memorials to fallen climbers to see, encounters with the magnificent Khumbu Glacier, and several lower peaks which offer seriously impressive panoramas of the Everest and the lurching peaks of the Khumbu region.