Gokyo Lake Trek

Welcome to Kathmandu. You will be received by one of our office representatives at the TIA exit section and escort you to your hotel afterward.

Depending on your arrival time, you will have the chance to stroll around the places nearby your hotel on your own.

Today you will have a free day in Kathmandu while your specialist will take time to arrange permits for your trek. You will have time to explore around the Kathmandu valley on your own or enjoy the cultural tour with an experienced tour guide arranged by Trek Guiders.

In the evening, you will be met by your specialist in your hotel lobby. S/he will introduce you to your guide for the trek and brief you shortly about your trek, things to do/ not to do, and any optional activities you may enjoy during the trip. You can ask any queries or share feelings with your specialist during the briefing.

You will be picked up by your guide 1.5 hours prior to your flight time to make sure you will reach the domestic airport on time. Make sure you already have your breakfast by the time your guide reach your hotel lobby.

After a scenic 35 minutes flight to Lukla, your guide will arrange local porters there to help you with your luggage throughout the trip. Today is the first day of the trek. So, intentionally you will be having a short trek today to get used to the altitude. You will be descending to Chaurikharka first and then head up the Dudh Koshi Valley to Phakding where you will be staying overnight.

After breakfast in Phakding, you will continue north following the Dudh Koshi River towards Monjo and Jorsale. From here you will enter the Sagarmatha National Park area. Here your guide will complete the check-post work whereas you can enjoy some time clicking pictures. After lunch here, you will get to cross two rivers viz. Imja River and Nangpo Tsangpo (Bhote Koshi) River followed by a steep climb to Namche Bazaar.

Namche Bazaar is the main village in Khumbu area and is renowned for a central market area of this region. It is an important trading centre with a weekly Saturday market locally known as "Haat Bazaar".

Today is the first acclimatization day of your trek. So, you can rest and relax in your lodge. Optionally, you can choose to hike to Kunde Hospital set up by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1966 A.D in Kunde Village located at an altitude of 3840m. This hospital serves approximately 8000 people of Khumbu area and carries significant importance in this area.

Or to speed up the acclimatization process, you can hike for an hour to reach Hotel Everest View, located in Khumjung village at an altitude of 3880m. This place is quite popular for a great view of Mt. Everest, Mt. Ama Dablam, and Mt. Lhotse. If you have time, you can also visit the Sherpa Culture Museum which in houses traditional Sherpa household, old artefacts, and everyday objects. It is the perfect place to get a sense of Sherpa life through the ages.

After breakfast in Namche, set out to a beautiful route to Dole, the north trail out of Namche. You will be able to witness some wonderful views of Everest and Lhotse after a short climb. Heading up a nice, easy trail that overlooks the snow peaks of Shanasa - the small village of Mong, you will ascend the Mong La Hill on its left side and then head down to Phortse Thanga.

You will follow the path upwards through the woods of blooming Rhododendron with a perfect view of Cho Oyu. It is a relatively simple walk to Dole, a small village with a handful of tea houses which previously used to be Yak pastures.

Today's hike is short and pleasant. The day starts with a climb over Dole via a scenic ridge. Crossing yak pastures and tiny villages of stones huts, you'll reach Luza. Following the trail along a valley high over the river, you will cross sandy spurs and pastures bordered with a Chorten and prayer flags to gain Machhermo by midday with enough time to get some well-needed rest.

After breakfast, start your day with fantastic views of the valley to Kangtega and the northern part of Cho Oyu from over the ridge. It's another relatively short climbing day, with steep trails making up for fewer hours. You’ll descend towards the river bank and then begin the climb towards the terminal moraine of the Ngozumpa glacier through an ablation valley formed by melting ice. A succession of cairns now marks the route through a stony landscape, with a small tarn -Mountain Lake- on the left. The valley now broadens and the trail reaches a second larger tarn Taboche Tsho. Beyond this point, the trail passes through a narrower section of the ablation valley and comes to a third tarn Dudh Pokhari, with prayer flags on its eastern shore. Take some time to appreciate the view before trekking another hour to the village of Gokyo, located on the edge of the third lake.

The final rest day of your trip will be today at the Gokyo Valley. You can either choose to rest to conserve your energy for the following day's Renjo La pass crossing or opt to make your day more worthy by either hiking to Gokyo Ri or visiting the 4th and 5th lakes.

Gokyo Ri is a small peak located in the Gokyo Valley which provides fantastic views of entire Khumbu valley. The trail is easy toward this peak and if you have some more extra time, you can take a hike up to the fourth lake of the valley which is located just 3 km north of the Gokyo Village.

Continuing further to the 5th lake, Ngozumpa Tsho, will take some more time to reach. Hence, it's recommended to hike to Gokyo Ri and the fourth lake OR hike to 4th and 5th lake so that you won't get much tired and will have time to rest for next big day.

To adding a note, hike to the 5th lake will depend on your health condition and your speed of walking. The guide will see your walking speed and health condition and advise you if it's recommended to hike up to the 5th lake for you or not. But if you are fit for this trip, you will find that the view from ‘Scoundrel's Viewpoint’, located at the edge of the 5th lake, is astonishing. Cho-Oyu, Gyachung Kang, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, and Makalu mountains and the huge Ngozumba Glacier are the main centers of attraction. Trek back to Gokyo to spend the night.

After breakfast in Gokyo, you will descend the trail along the Dudh Koshi river passing the first Gokyo Lakes. You will get to see the Cholatse and Taboche peaks smiling with the snow-capped peak at far away. With short descend and then climbing a hill, you will reach a chorten at the edge from where you can see the great views of Thamserku, Cho Oyu, and Kangtega. Passing through Machhermo, Luza, and Lhafarma village, you will reach Dole.

Today you will be descending towards Phortse Thanga admiring Rhododendron, wildflowers, and waterfalls. You will also get to see mountain goats grazing in the field and even musk deer and pheasants if you are lucky. The views of Khumbila peak, Thamserku and Kangtega are truly eye-catching while you walk towards Namche.

Today is the last day of your trekking day. You will cross several bridges over the fast flowing Dudh Koshi River. Following the same trail which you used before to climb up to Namche, you will reach Lukla in about 6 to 7 hours.

Today is the return day from Lukla. Your guide will finish all the airport formalities while you are having breakfast at the lodge. The porters will manage your luggage to be transported from your lodge to the airport. Once the guide get news about your flight arrival at Lukla airport, you will be called to see how the airplane gets landed in the small strip of Lukla airport. Afterward, you will get to the airport to get into the plan for flight back to Kathmandu.

Upon reaching Kathmandu, you will be escorted to your hotel. After lunch, the day is free. You can opt to enjoy some scenic cultural tours or relax during the day.

Today is an extra day kept as a buffer day in case the flight back to Kathmandu gets disturbed due to any weather contingencies. However, if you succeeded in landing Kathmandu on the previous day, you can enjoy short day tour or have some shopping in the market to purchase a token of memory from Nepal to your home.

You will be picked up from your hotel 3.5 hours prior to your international flight time by one of our office representatives to escort you to the TIA. Trip concludes !!