18 days Everest Base Camp Trekking with Gokyo Cho-La pass

We will drive you straight to your hotel in private vehicle as soon as you land at Tribhuvan International Airport at Kathmandu. We will give you short briefing on our final agreed program. And if you are the first time traveler in Nepal we will give information about restaurant, ATM, money exchanges and other useful information until we meet for next day.

There are various major cultural historical and religious places around Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur for sightseeing. Pashupatinath, Bauddhanath, Swayambhunath, Bhaktapur Durbar Square, Kathmandu Durbar Square and Patan Durbar square are our top lists. Most of them are listed on UNESCO world heritage sites. Later in the evening we will arrange dinner with your trekking guide. Equally important you can know each other and talk about your trekking itineraries.

Flying to Lukla is always a thrill. The 45 mins flight from Kathmandu highly depends upon vulnerable weather. You need a lot of patience to fly to Lukla since most of the time the flights are delayed. As you fly you can see beautiful Himalayan ranges on Northern part. You can take a short tea break in Lukla until your guide finds porters to carry your luggage. You are already in upper forested temperate region so you can already see some beautiful landscape as soon as you land in Lukla. Easy walk for 3hr to reach Phakding.

After crossing suspension bridge at Phakding we trek by the bank of Dudhkoshi river .The beautiful pine forest dominates the most of the vegetation. The trail is fairly easy with gentle up and down with numerous suspension bridges. Passing by Monjo and entering Jorsalle valley the trek continues by the bank of river fairly straight with small up and down. We reach a famous suspension bridge and climb steep up to reach the biggest permanent sub alpine village of region, the Namche Bazaar. You can see a glimpse of Mount Everest(8848m) for the first time as you trek to Namche.

Acclimatization is necessary to adjust your body and mind with the change of altitude, environment ,humidity and temperature for the success of trekking. You will make a day hike to the ridge of Namche where you can see magnificent views of numerous peaks and high mountains from the top. Mount Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kongde peak are some notable peaks and mountains. Spending an hour at the top and you will trek to another nearby beautiful village Khumjung. Most of the young men of Khumjung are engaged in tourism while women spend their days in household and seasonal agriculture. You can see lots of contribution made my sir Edmund Hillary on this village . You can see awesome Namche village from top ridge while you trek back down to Namche. A day hike to Thame is another absolute fasciniating option to acclimatize.

Instead of following traditional route to Everest Base Camp,we head further North to reach Dole from Namche Bazaar.The trail is fairly easy gentle and flat till we reach Sanasha. From Sanasha the trail is steep climb up for an hour and the trail becomes flat and dusty just before reaching Mongla. Mongla is another beautiful spot to view the massive Everest valley .Passing by sub-alpine forest there is always good chances to spot Musk deer,Himalayan Thar,and numerous alpine pheasants. The road is steep down to Phortse Thanga at the bank of Dudhkoshi river through alpine forest .The trekking path becomes more pleasant with rhododendron forest .We trek gradual up to reach Dole from Phortse Thanga.

The trekking hour is less so your body can acclimatize automatically in high altitude. The day is easy and short from Dole to Machhermo with about 3-4 hr walk. The alpine vegetation starts to appear, mainly the dry meadows with small bush of juniper trees. The wide and open terrain let you see the magnificent Cho-Oyu(8188m) just upfront your trekking path. Other peaks are Cholatse,Taboche,Khantega,and numerous black rocky cliffs all around you. Ascending and descending numerous small gullies will finally take you to hidden settlement of Machhermo. You may take short and easy walk around the ridges of Machhermo to see the magnificent glacial landscapes after enrolling in your lodge.

You climb the small section of Machhermo ridge as the day starts. A small descend to Pangka gives the beautiful sight of isolated icy and rocky terrain consumed by Ngozumba glacier. The path is easy and flat but the altitude makes the footsteps heavy and time consuming. Climb the last section of the rocky path to reach one of the sixth sacred lakes in Gokyo valley. The path continues to be flat and wind-up just to spot another lake which is much bigger than the first one. You can see Gokyo ri ridge as you continue and soon you are in third lake, Dudhpokhari lake .You can see few seasonal trekking tea houses at the bank of the lake where you spend your night.

As the daybreak we climb to Gokyo Ri the most awaited moment of the trekking trip. The trail is zigzag up demanding lot of energy to climb. You will get exhausted with few steps but the panoramic view that gradually appears at your back motivates you to continue. After 2 hr of climbing you are at the top from where you can see vistas of Everest trekking region with Cho-yu, Everest, Lhotse, Cholatse, Nuptse, Tawache on horizon with stretched and infinite Ngozumpa glacier. A small ridge separates the Ngozumpa glacier and Gokyo village an amazing landscape worth to stare at. Returning back to Gokyo village you will have plenty time to explore around fourth and fifth lakes that lies on the foothill of Cho-yu and in the deep heart of Gokyo valley. Makalu, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Cholatse ranges has entirely new view than usually you had seen before.

The trekking distance is short for today about 2 hr walk but still altitude and low level of oxygen in the atmosphere makes the climb time consuming. Every steps cost high level of energy and stamina. The path remains icy for most of the time and late in autumn most of the time you need to abandon the trekking due to harsh weather. We cross the section of vast Ngozumpa glacier to reach Dragnag at the foothill of Cho-La pass.

The most difficult and demanding part of the trekking is just awaiting you. The steep climb on icy and rocky path need some experiences on mountain. The weather keeps changing so it is always better to keep eye on each other and remain as group and follow the instructions. The narrow trail leads to the top of the pass adorned by prayer flags and voila you made it. The beautiful view of Ama Dablam , Cholatse, Tawache and Lobuche east makes all hard walk worthy. The path now mostly descends to reach another temporary alpine settlement Dzonghla.

The trekking starts to get easier as the trail descends down. You can see wide Pheriche valley down and beautiful view of Tawache, Lobuche and Pokalde surrounding you while Pumori, Nuptse and Ama Dablam are seen far in horizon. The lively vegetation appears mainly green meadows as you trek down to Thugla ridges. The path is winding flat and rocky as you trek further to reach hidden settlement of Lobuche.

The long awaited day starts after trekking breakfast .The first part of trekking is gentle up the valley of Lobuche on icy meadow and the path becomes more rocky and hostile as we further trek to Gorakshep. The Pumori peak is seen more beautiful than ever before. Gorakshep is the last temporary human settlement(tea houses) in this region that lies in open and flat land that lies on the foot of Kalapatthar. After short break on Gorakshep our trekking continues for Everest Base Camp. The path is rocky and is eaten up by massive glaciers. Huge icebergs and small natural water ponds are seen as we trek to Everest Base Camp.In the right side you see huge Mount Nuptse and flank of Lhotse. You can see the prayer flags on the piled up stones . Congratulation to you, you made to Everest Base Camp. We retrace same path to Gorakshep.

Early in the morning we climb to Kalapatthar a windy hill that lies on the top of Gorakshep and on the south ridge of mount Pumori. From Kalapatthar you can see close up view of Mount Everest surrounded by Changtse and Nuptse. We can even spot northern flank and summit of Lhotse .You can see massive Khumbu glacier below down the foot of mountains. After picture session we trek back down to Gorakshep. After Gorakshep we retrace the same path up to Lobuche,we took earlier.Then we trek down to open flat plateau of Pheriche passing Thugla. The afternoon becomes windy and sun stroking. The alpine vegetation gradually reappears mainly small bushes and meadows.

The lively green vegetation and landscape starts to appear as we trek down from Pheriche to Namche Bazaar. The day becomes much more calm and easy. We climb gentle up to reach Tyangboche by the bank of river for an hour after crossing bridge and descend down to reach Phortse Thenga. A gradual climb from Phortse Thenga followed by straight and flat path takes to our destination Namche Bazaar. A busy,crowded and happening place for trekkers all around Everest trekking region.

The last day of trekking. We follow down the same trail we took earlier while climbing up. The trail is steep down the forest. After crossing the suspension bridge we trek small ups and downs to reach Lukla followed by green upper temperate region forests of pine,juniper and rhododendron broken by some lower alpine trees. You can enjoy the last dinner with your guide and porter as a tribute their hard work for making your trekking successful.

A final good bye to Everest trekking region. We take a short flight from Lukla to reach Kathmandu. After refreshment and relaxing in your hotel you can take evening walk around the town to buy some souvenirs for your relatives and friends.

Our office representative will be in your hotel 3 hour prior your flight time to drop you at Tribhuvan International Airport.