Gokyo Lake Trekking

After spending a night in the hotel, you will wake up, have your breakfast, and then go for an exploration trip around the Kathmandu valley. Today, our guide will take you to several traditional and culturally significant places in Kathmandu like Kathmandu Durbar Square and Pashupatinath Temple, Bouddhanath Stupa, and Swayambhunath Stupa.

If the weather is fine, we will take an exhilarating 35-minute flight on a Twin Otter to Lukla (2800m/9184ft). Throughout this flight, you can expect a perfect bird-eye view of the mountain range of Nepal.

After landing, we will meet our Sherpa guide, potter, or Himalayan yak to carry our luggage. Our trek begins with a 150-meter descent alongside the gorging Dudh Koshi (Milky River). As we follow the main trail to the beautiful village of Phakding (2652m/ 8700ft) you will occasionally pass through numerous Maane walls, Chyorten, memorials, and boulders carved with Tibetan Buddhist prayer inscriptions.

Our journey continues northwards of Dudhkoshi Valley to Manjo, throughout the entrance of Sagarmatha National Park. This day trek takes us through the magnificent forests of Rhododendron, Giant Fir, and Pine. After crossing the high suspension bridge, we catch the first glimpse of Mount Everest from Top Dada (if the sky’s clear). We then climb steeply to the Sherpa trading community village–Namche Bazaar. This small city-like establishment in the area has almost everything you might need–Internet, lodges, ATMs, pubs, and Himalayan handicrafts.

We climb steeply from Namche Bazaar and follow the higher route through the Shyanboche airstrip (which does not operate commercial flights) to Everest View Hotel (3880m/1350ft). The star hotel, built by the Japanese, is situated at the perfect elevation to sip coffee and observe the Great Himalayas: Mt Everest, Mt Nuptse, Mt Amadablam, and others. We then descend towards the beautiful twin villages: Kunde and Khumjung (3780m). We explore Hillary’s school, Hillary’s hospital, and ancient monasteries over there and descend to Namche Bazaar.

After the morning dawn, we will sit for breakfast with the stunning view of the mountains and gradually trek to Kyanjuma. We descend towards the river Dudhkoshi through a small settlement called Phungi Thanka (3250m/10660ft), where we will have lunch. After the energizing lunch, we climb up to Tengboche. You will be amazed by the remarkable scenery. We will then visit a monastery and take an acclimatization walk. If we are to sleep at a place 3870m above sea level, we will first climb higher than this and return to sleep at 3870m. This greatly reduces the chances of altitude sickness and prevents discomfort at night. We will practice this every day until we hit the base camp.

We trek through the forest to Debuche and cross the rushing river Imjakhola, which originates from the glacier (Imja Lake). We continue our trek towards the beautiful village of Pangboche (3985m/13074ft), the highest permanent Sherpa community village of Khumbu Valley. You will witness the towering peak of Mt Amadablam (6814m/22355ft) directly overhead. After we ascend the valley via Shomare (4010m/13156ft), we will be above the tree line zone. We will then gradually trek to the confluence of Khumbu & Imjakhola. A short steep climb brings us to the village of Dingboche.

We spend our rest day adopting the thin air into our bodies. We hike towards the Nagkar Tshang Peak (5100m/16732ft). This is a wild corner of Khumbu valley that is explored by relatively few trekkers. However, it is a hidden beauty since the beautiful blanket of clouds will be seen below you. We will return to the guest house for lunch.

We will hike out of Dingboche and pass through a Chorten and Stupa towards Thukla (4620m/15157ft). A steep climb brings us to an emotionally and spiritually important place: The Everest Memorial Park. The lines of small wall stones with hundreds of prayer flags are a memorable tribute to all those who perished on the Expedition. A trek brings us Lobuche, a perfect place for stunning sunset views on Mount Nuptse (7864m/25800ft). We will do an acclimatization walk for today. We will also witness the Khumbu glacier and a moraine during this trek.

Today we start our journey towards Gorakshep very early since a lot is planned for the day. The trail undulates up and down into the moraine, which demands a short steep climb on the rocky section. The trail takes about three hours to bring us to Gorakshep. We take an essential lunch to prepare for the upcoming exertion. Also, some might prefer warm garlic soup and noodles while we rest briefly. Hydrating is extremely important and we recommend carrying about two litres of water and a few chocolate bars for the remaining trek to Everest base camp. We resume walking across the sandy flat path from Gorakshep and climb into the lateral moraine of Khumbu glacier and then up to Everest base camp. You will take pictures, a lot of them. The Everest Base Camp is a spot worshipped by trekkers, mountaineers, and adventure travellers. Reaching the place is a special moment for all those who make this trek. To sum up, this is when your lifetime dream will come true.

Another hard and big day for you. We also have an optional hike to Kala Patthar. We climb steeply above Gorakshep to the small rocky peaks and then to Kalapatthar (black rock) at 5545m. The trek to Kalapatthar is the most difficult of the entire journey. However, the breathtaking views and the early sunshine will make it worth the effort. We then return to Gorakshep and retrace our steps to Lobuche for lunch. We then trek down the beautiful valley following the river stream. After a brisk walk, we turn right towards Dzongla.

Since you have already conquered the two big destinations: Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar, hitting Chola Pass should not be difficult. We start very early by ascending steeply on the narrow trails, passing big boulders, and reaching the top. Eventually, the Chola summit will welcome us with hundreds of prayer flags and sensational views. We will ascend through a moraine and once we reach the bottom, the trail gets easy and will lead us to the village of Thangnang.

After the consistent trek of the last few days, we will take a short hike to Gokyo Lake bypassing the Ngozumba glacier. Ngozumba Glacier is the longest glacier in Nepal. Leaving the small glacial lakes behind, a terminal moraine will eventually bring us to a pasture blue and green freshwater Himalayan holy lake that sits on the foot of Gokyo Ri.

In the early morning, we trek to Gokyo Ri which lies above Gokyo Lake. The 3 to 4 hours of climb prove its worth because of the panoramic view of the entire Khumbu valley. Peaks like Kusum Kanguru, Thamserku, Kangteka, Touche, Cholatse, Makalu, Lhoste, Nuptse, Everest, and Pumari are seen from here. We will then retrace back to the hotel for lunch. Shortly after this, we will continue our journey towards Macharma.

We will descend from Machherma via Dole and Kyanjoma where we will take lunch. You might meet teams trekking up to reach the base camp at Kyangjoma. But we will descend to Namche Bazaar.

Our journey resumes after breakfast from Namche Bazaar. You will visit the Sherpa Museum which houses a brilliant gallery and other historical collections. It also displays a complete record of mountaineers that have summited Everest so far. We will then trek down to Phakding before 4 in the afternoon. The night will be spent here.

You will wake up on an easy day. A trek of 3 hours takes you to Lukla at lunchtime. We have free time after lunch. In the evening, we will have a relaxing, low-energy Thanksgiving sort of session with the guides and porters.

We will have a spectacular mountain flight to Kathmandu. Your guide will escort you to the hotel. You are free to explore and discover downtown and shop inside the tourist hub center in Thamel or simply rest at the hotel if you wish. You will attend the evening farewell dinner with a cultural performance with the crew members and the rest of the team.

According to your flight schedule, our Mercy Holidays representative or your trekking guide will transfer you to the airport for final departure.