Everest Base Camp Trek via Gokyo Lake - 17 Days

Today will be the welcome day for you in the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu. After your arrival at the International Airport of Kathmandu, our team will be there to pick you up. You will be brought to the start hotel of Kathmandu for one night stay.

In the evening, we will have a short meeting to discuss the trip information. Similarly, the main focus of this meeting is to give you information and to let you meet with the guide.

Usually, most people get time to explore the Thamel area of Nepal also. So, you can explore the area after finishing our meeting. You can search for the weather in the Everest region also if you get time. However, it is recommended for you to have extra day holidays in case there is any kind of weather problem/delay in flight.

After your breakfast, our tour guide will be there at the hotel. Our tour guide will bring you to four different world heritage sites inside Kathmandu valley. You will visit Monkey temple, Kathmandu Durbar Square, Pashupatinath temple, and Buddha Stupa. The tour guide will give you a lot of information regarding those world heritage sites. And will have preparation in the evening.

Early in the morning, you will be picked up from your hotel and go to the domestic airport for the Lukla flight. Lukla flight will only take 25-30 min from Kathmandu as well as you don’t have to worry about the turbulence.

Likewise, if the Lukla flight from Kathmandu got high traffic then you will be taken to Ramechhap for Lukla. It will take 4 hours drive from Kathmandu to Ramechhap and a 15-minute flight to Lukla.

However, the Lukla flight is the best scenic flight you will get in Nepal. You can have a great view from the plane.

After reaching Lukla airport, you will then meet all your teams including the porter. Normally the guide will be together from Kathmandu. From there you will have to trek to Phakding which will be easy and takes 4 hours a minimum. There you will have your first night’s stay.

The morning walks begin after breakfast in Phakding. From there you will follow the Dudhkoshi river which is straightforward walking till Monjo, Jorsalle. You’ll have a few suspension bridges on the Dudhkoshi River to cross. And one famous high bridge before Namche Bazar with colorful Buddhist prayer flags.

Of Course, you’ll meet several donkeys, jokpyos (crossing from yak & cow), on the way. But you have to be very careful with those animals. We recommend you to always leave their way if you don’t want to get hurt. If possible, always lean on the side wall to give them away and never touch them.

Likewise, you have to climb a steep mountain before reaching Namche Bazar. It can be tough as well as you’ll have to stop for fees and permit checks also. But after reaching Namche Bazar you will have a night’s stay in the best hotel.

Acclimatization is very important and that is why today you will have a full day exploration in Namche Bazar.

Today you can go hiking to the world’s highest hotel or go to the market. Besides that, if possible, you can take a stroll to the Sherpa museum where you can learn about the culture of Sherpa’s properly.

Similarly, remember that from here, you will be in the territory of Sagarmatha National Park. And this national park is listed as World Heritage Site. So, you can’t hunt or hurt any animals while trekking.

As a matter of fact, Namche is well developed and provides internet cafes, restaurants, government offices, ATMs, and a cheap market from Friday evening to Saturday. Therefore, if you want to buy any souvenirs then this place is the best.

After stopping two nights at Namche Bazar you will be ready for your next trek-Dhole. The first part of this day will be very easy and you can have great views of beautiful mountains including Mt. Everest and Mt. Lhotse.

All the trekker’s walk-through till reaching Lausasa and they are on the way to Gokyo or Everest base camp. There you will climb up to Mong La Danda from Lausasa.

They take a separate way from this place. It is downhill from Mong La Danda to Fortse Thanga. Then it is up to Dhole for an overnight stop.

After stopping at Dhole one night, you will have all the gradual uphill to Machhermo. Machhermo is a small settlement on the way to Gokyo Valley. Fortunately, this place has a hospital also. And this hospital provides special help to trekkers in the busy season like Autumn & Spring. Most international volunteer doctors stay here at the time of peak season but not in the offseason.

Your morning will start with a cool breeze outside. Today will be only 5 hours trek which is not so difficult.

Similarly, you will have beautiful mountain views and beautiful Lake Sight this afternoon while trekking. And today we will enter the Gokyo area where mystical glacier lakes exist.

Gokyo Valley is known as the Ramsar site due to its wetland also.

There are at least five different lakes in this valley but you will only pass three lakes. They are beautiful and have crystal clear water from glaciers. This Valley is very popular due to its beautiful lakes.

Have breakfast early morning and hike to Gokyo Ri 5,357m. It is just one hour and a bit more to climb up to the top. Gokyo Ri is one of the best Everest viewpoints. It offers other 8000m mountains Cho Oyo 8,188m, Lhotse 8,816m, Makalu 8,463m Everest 8,848m and many 7000m and 6000m mountains. Enjoy Mountain View.

Then back to the hotel and a relaxing afternoon. Saving energy for the next day’s trip.

After two night’s stays at Gokyo and enjoying Gokyo Ri, time to trek to Thangnak. The trail to Thangnak is tricky over the big glacier. It is about a 3 to 4 hours walk to bring you to this isolated Thangnak. You will stop here for an overnight. Your afternoon will be free for saving energy to push up Chola Pass the next morning.

Today will be a tough day because we will trek to Chola Pass. That is why we will start early in the morning.

It is steep uphill from Thangnak which can be a little hard to climb. Comparatively, the first part of the uphill is medium level and the trail is not bad. But after an hour before reaching the top, due to no pretty trail and mostly slippery rocks, it’s hard.

Similarly, if there is frozen snow; it becomes even harder to climb.

Due to global warming, ice is melting fast here, so one glacier lake is more dangerous on the top of Chola Pass. That is why you have to be careful with this ice lake.

From the top of Chola Pass, it is all downhill to Dzongla. Dzongla is another tourist settlement with a couple of guest houses. Some trekkers stop here too. You will trek ahead to Lobuche for an overnight stop.

Today, you will reach the highest base camp in the world. And that is why you have to wake up early in the morning today.

You will get a hot cup of tea or perhaps some little breakfast too. Then we will begin our morning to trek up slowly–slowly.

The starting part of this path is straightforward but difficult to trek quickly. Actually, it’s not suggested to walk quickly here due to the possibilities of AMS.

Once walking for one hour, you have to climb up to the mountain where the path is rough, maybe some ice mass too.

It takes about three hours to reach Gorakshep-5,180m. And in this place, you will leave your bag packs and again continue your base camp trek. It is less than a two-hour walk to reach to base camp from Gorakshep.

Take photos, enjoy base camp, and celebrate base camp to Gorakshep there. After that, you will return back to Gorakshep for a night’s stay.

Today, you will hike to Kalapathar early in the morning for a beautiful sunrise view.

Actually, Kalapathar is highly recommended to have a beautiful sunset view.

Hiking to Kalapathar will be fine for the morning too. From here you can have a closer view of Mt. Everest so it’s worth it.

After enjoying Kalapathar, you will go back to the hotel and have breakfast. After breakfast, you have to trek down to Dingboche for an overnight stay on the way back to Lukla.

After all those high altitude steep climbs, from today you will have to walk only down areas till Phungi Thanga. Just one hour uphill to Lausasa from where you had taken a way to Gokyo.

Similarly, there is too much confusion about Tyangboche or Tengboche, but both are the same place.

Tengboche has the oldest monastery in this Khumbu region. You can visit it shortly and continue to Namche Bazar for an overnight stay. It will take about 7 hours to reach Namche Bazar from Dingboche.

This is the last day of the Everest base camp Chola Pass trek. It is an easy trail to follow to Lukla. The first part is totally downhill to Jorsalle whereas you have already trekked. From Monjo to Phakding and Chaurikharka will be easy. It’s gonna be a bit harder before Lukla due to its steep uphill from Chaurikharka. You will have last night on the mountain before flying from Lukla. Likewise, your porters will also finish their job here at Lukla by taking care of you.

Normally you can have a morning flight from Lukla to Ramechhap or Kathmandu. However, it would be a direct flight to Kathmandu from Lukla. Nowadays, they fly to Ramechhap too due to the busy air traffic in Kathmandu. If you fly to Ramechhap; then you need about a four-hour drive to Kathmandu. There will be no extra charge so don’t worry. You can have free time in the afternoon and can go shopping in Kathmandu.

At dinner, it will be our treat where we will talk about your experience with us. The dinner will Nepali traditional foods. After a short conversation, you can rest at your hotel for the next day.

If it’s departure day for you then we will drop you at the airport as per your flight time. It will be our pleasure to make your trip memorable and wonderful. You can always contact us because we are there for you.

If it’s not a departure day then we can have a discussion about your future trip or anything else.