The Base Camp trek to Everest is the most popular walking route in Nepal and draws over 30,000 hikers a year. The spectacularly rugged, wild and intense landscape makes for an incredible trek and it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. In this article we present an alternative route to Everest Base camp – the Gokyo Lakes trek. A favourite of ours, we believe the Gokyo Lakes trek offers its own unique and interesting qualities to rival that of the standard trek and is a great way to get off the beaten track.
Arrival
After arriving in Kathmandu, you take a local flight to Lukla which, in all honesty is quite a nerve racking experience. The small plane gets chucked around in the wind like a rag doll which inspires a minimal amount of confidence. Try not to look out the window as you approach Lukla airport as you will be greeted by what seems like the shortest runway in the world. With that inevitable feeling of approaching death, the pilot somehow manages to pull the plane up in time to the combined relief off all the passengers on-board.
The trek
After arriving you begin your trek towards Namche with a nice downhill section that is fairly easy going and passes through some nice little Sherpa villages and cultivated fields. On the second day, after a steep and difficult climb, you arrive at the town of Namche, which is quite large considering its location. Make sure to check out the local market in Namche as it has a wide array of local products at very cheap prices!
Namche to Dole
After spending another day in Namche to acclimatize to the altitude, you head north out of the town where you turn left, diverging off the classic Base Camp trail. The day is spent trekking towards the village of Dole where you spend the next night. The trail takes you through some spectacular mountain and forest scenery with some great views of Everest and Lhotse.
Dole to Machermo
From Dole you climb steadily towards Machermo passing through Rhododendron forest and up into juniper scrub land as the trail takes you higher and higher. It’s a short trek and you should arrive in the village of Machermo before lunch. Once there you spend the remainder of the day and the following day acclimatizing to the new altitude.
Machermo to Gokyo
After acclimatizing in Machermo you head towards Pangka on a beautiful path that wends its way along one of the many rivers that flow through the Himalaya. After climbing a steep and rocky path you arrive in the valley and come across the first of the holy lakes. The next two holy lakes follow shortly after and their emerald green surface looks almost magical in the rugged landscape, especially when the summits of Cho Oyu and Gyachung Kang are reflected in their still waters in perfect mirror image.
Trek to Gokyo Ri summit and Tragnag
After camping in the valley, the next morning you trek up to the summit of Gokyo Ri. As you ascend you will see the summits of Everest, Makalu and Lhotse come into view. You are then rewarded at the summit of Gokyo Ri with an incredible vista of the surrounding mountains that, according to some travellers, is better than the view from Kala Patthar. The afternoon is spent trekking back down towards the second lake where you drop down onto a glacier. After walking the glacier for a period you then descend into a narrow valley towards Tragnag
Cho La Pass
With an early start you continue along the valley slowly ascending to the Cho La Pass – one of the 3 great passes in the Khumbu region. The pass gives you some great views west over the Rolwaling Valley and Ama Dablam in the south east. The afternoon is spent making the long descent towards Dzongla which passes over a small snow covered glacier.
Everest Base Camp
After returning to the classic Base Camp trail via Lobuche, you then follow the large Khumbu Glacier towards Base Camp. Stoppinf for lunch at Gorak Shep, the trail offers some amazing scenery of the surrounding mountains and passes over crevasses and through ice pinnacles, building up your anticipation for arrival. You arrive at base camp in the afternoon and are greeted with close up views of the infamous Khumbu Icefall.
Kala Patthar
The following morning make sure you get up nice and early to make the trek up to Kala Patthar to get the best view of Everest the Himalaya’s have to offer! Not only can you see the summit and face of Everest, but deep down into the Khumbu Icefall – a place that has taken so many lives. After lunch you then descend down to the village of Dingboche to stay the night.
Return
After spending the night at Dingboche you then trek back along the classic Base Camp trail to Namche and then onto Lukla.
To summarize
The Gokyo lakes trek is for people with an adventurous spirit. Although it takes a few days longer, the extra trekking is well worth it. Not only do you get the incredible views from Gokyo Ri summit and the beautiful aquamarine lakes, but it is far less crowded than the Standard Base Camp trek. We think that trekking the Gokyo Lakes route really bring out the best of the region and sparks the magic that made you want to visit Nepal.
