Gokyo Valley Trek with Everest Basecamp

We start our journey early as we start to head towards Manthali from Kathmandu at 2 am. The drive from the capital to Manthali airport is 4 hours from where we take a flight to Lukla. The flight to Lukla is a 30 mins flight in a 15-18 seater aircraft through which you will witness the view of the snow-capped mountains and the unique landscape of the hills.  
We start our journey by following the trail via Pine and Cedarwood forest. You will see the milk-white Dudh Koshi River flowing along the trail and also leading us to many villages in the route, the first village being Chaurikharka. After which we arrive at another beautiful village located at the height of 2,503 m, namely Ghat. Passing the village we walk through the suspension bridge over the Dudh Khosi river and reach Phakding which will be our rest stop for the night. 

In order to meet the set destinations each day, we will always be focused to eat right and start off in time. As we start our day, we trail along the banks of Dudh Khosi river, crossing 5 suspension bridges built at different heights. We then enter Tok Tok, a village at the height of 2,760 m. You will see how beautiful the Thamserku Peak at a height of 6,608 m looks from this very point. As we move on, we take an easy walk through the area rich in pine trees with the views of the snow-capped peaks getting more appealing to the eyes. We then reach the Monjo Village at 2,835 m which is also famous being the entry point of Sagarmatha National Park. After having crossed the national park and the fifth-highest bridge we now get geared up for a little tougher hike as Namche Bazar is situated in a steep hill that trails through Jorsale at 2,740 m and Larjadhoban at 2,830m.

Namche Bazar is situated at a high altitude, works as the acclimatization stop for trekkers to avoid altitude sickness. Hence, we stroll around Namche Bazar for a while before breakfast. As it is the center of the Khumbu Region it is the main attraction for trekkers, you may even want to shop around a little as Namche facilitates government office, restaurants and even market that offers trekking gears. As we start hiking around Namche, our first stop for the hike will be the Hillary Memorial Viewpoint. We then start hiking towards the height of 3,880 m where Syanboche Everest’s viewpoint is located. The point has the best view of Mt. Everest. After finishing our hike, we head back to our tea house to rest.

The trek differs from the usual route of the Everest Base Camp from this point and heads towards the north up the Dudh Koshi valley towards Dole, another small and magnificent village in the Khumbu Region. As we continue our journey, we reach Mong. Enjoy the incredible view of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse and many more accompanying you throughout the trek. The trek from Dole to Machharmo is approximately 4-5 hours uphill walk. As we move forward to Tengboche, we cut through scenic settlements of Lhabarma (4,330 m) and Luza (4,360 m). As we reach Tengboche, for the night.

We commence the day walking downhill through the meadows, crossing a bridge over the raging Imja Khola towards the pine forest. More spectacular views of Ama Dablam awaits as we move forward. To observe the glorious view of Ama Dablam, we head towards Dingboche. As Dingboche is densely populated by the Sherpas, you can make the most of this opportunity to learn about their culture and also enjoy a local sherpa lunch. As we head towards Dingboche, we pass through Pangboche which is the home of the 500-year-old ancient monastery in the Khumbu region and also Gompa which is famous for the preservation of the famous Yeti’s Scalp. Overnight at Dingboche.

Apart from offering the best views of Taboche (6,367m) and Cholatse (6,335m), this trail is also famous as locals call it the habitat of the snow leopards and yeti. The trail is easy with flat till we reach Gongla. After the easy walk towards Gongla, we get started for a rough climb dropping the trail towards the Khumbu Glacier moraine. The Khumbu Glacier is well known for the memorials placed for Sherpas and climbers who lost their lives in an avalanche during the 1970 Japanese expedition on Mt. Everest including Babu Chiri Sherpa; a 10 times Everest summiteer and Scott Fischer who died in 1996 Everest disaster. We then continue our climb towards the north over the rough moraine and arriving at the Lobuche situated at the height of 4,910 m. We rest at Lobuche for the night.

Let’s be excited as it is the Everest Base Camp Day. We start walking along the trail of narrow tracks, rocky dunes, streams, and moraine towards Gorakshep Lake. Though the trail to Gorakshep is not steep, the narrow tracks may make it a little tough but more exciting as we walk from 4,900 m to 5,300 m. The hike from Lobuche to Gorakshep is a short distance of 4.5 km which takes approximately 2 hours. After reaching Gorakshep and resting there for a while, we head towards Everest Base Camp which is  3.4 km further. The prayer flags and the beautiful snow-capped mountains around the base camp is surely a view to die for. We take some time around the Everest Base Camp to enjoy our victory in reaching our destination and head back to Gorakshep, which will be our night stop point. During our time at the base camp, if we are lucky, we may also encounter avalanches on another side of Khumbu glacier; one of the biggest glaciers in the world.

Today we move towards the foot of the Khumbu Glacier to Dughla. Dughla is a rest stop for hikers before heading towards the steep trails towards the glacier. We spend the night at Dughla.

As move ahead from Dughla, we move upwards to Cho La pass which is situated at the height of 5,420 m. The pass lies right behind the Thangna. The ascent, which is quite a climb, has a lot of rubble and scree. The descent is tricky with a snowed out glacier and boulders. Stick to the right of the glacier and follow the guidelines strictly.

Wake up to experience something different today. As you trail through the route you get to spot the blue ice. Gokyo is also known as the valley of lakes because of the presence of 5 different high altitude lakes in this area. As we ascend, we reach the Longpongo lake the first lake of the valley. From this point, you can see the beautiful Cho Oyu within the reach of your arms flex. As we advance we reach the second lake in the valley, the Taboche Tso at the height of 4,790 m which is bigger than the first one. The scene of the Himalayan ducks swimming in the lake would make you not leave the spot. However, our aim is something else and we move on. Trailing further we reach the Ngozumba Glacier, passing the third lake Dudh Pokhari. After approximately walking for 5-6 hours, we will be resting at a teahouse in the area. Not to forget to mention, the teahouse will be having a 360-degree panoramic view of the mountains.

The walk through a route in which the Tibetans used the route for trading. Our trail today, starts with gentle climbing towards Gokyo Lakes. As we proceed along the trail, we will be observing some beautiful views of the Gokyo Valley, taking us to the steep uphill climb towards the Renjo La pass. The trail from the top now descends towards Dhole, our final destination for the day. As being the only village in the region, you will be facilitated with basic requirements and simple lodges that the locals there can offer.

The trail from Dhole to Namche is mostly downhill, leading us to the Marulung village heading towards Thame, where we can visit the oldest monastery of the Khumbu Region. According to the locals, the monastery was founded by Lama Sange Dorjee who came from Tibet’s Rongphu Monastery. We can interact with the monks who may give more information about the monastery and as an offering to gods, light a butter lamp. We then trek uphill for 2 more hours to arrive at Namche to spend the night there.

The trek towards Lukla from Namche is also downhill and a completely relaxing one with a slow ascent. We advise you to enjoy the trail to the fullest, as descending back through the forest of rhododendron and pines is much easy. As we approach Lukla our last stop to round up our trek, you can settle down and grab a chilled beer to celebrate this long yet never fading memorable journey.

We take a flight back to the place we started our journey and head back to the capital city through a 4 hours drive.