Everest Base Camp Trek with Gokyo Cho La Pass

Your trek officially starts with an early morning flight from Kathmandu to Lukla Airport, one of the world’s most exciting airports. This 30-minute flight offers breathtaking views of snow-capped mountains, deep valleys, and terraced hillsides. Lukla Airport, situated at 2,860m (9,383ft), is famous for its short runway that ends at a cliff – truly an adventurous start to your journey.

At Tenzing-Hillary Airport, which was also named after the two first climbers of Everest, your Sherpa trekking guide and your friendly porters who will be carrying your heavy trekking backpack during your trek greet you. You have a good lunch at Lukla, and as a trekker, your trekking journey officially begins with an enjoyable walk at Pasang Lhamu Memorial Gate, which is the beginning point of your Everest region trekking route.

You trek through a path of lofty pine forest some suspension bridges across the torrential Dudh Koshi River (Milk River). You trek through typical Sherpa villages such as Chheplung and Thado Koshi, wind blowing past fluttering prayer flags, whirling prayer wheels, and wooden mani stones covered with Buddhist mantras. Today’s trek is an easy one, your first day of acclimatization, to the peaceful village of Phakding by the river.

Day Highlights:

• Scenic mountain flight to Lukla Airport
• First glimpse of the Himalayan peaks from the plane
• Arrival at Lukla Airport and meet your trekking staff (guide and porters)
• Begin trekking through beautiful Sherpa villages
• Trekking along the world-famous Dudh Koshi River

Your first official action of the day is to take you to Namche Bazaar, the famous Sherpa trading town and gateway to Everest. The trekking trail follows along the bank of Dudh Koshi River, along beautiful rhododendron and pine forest, and some hairpin suspension bridges. You are to trek through the small villages of Monjo and Benkar, where your permits are scanned at the Sagarmatha National Park gate.

The highlight of the day is the Hillary Suspension Bridge, a suspension bridge hanging high in mid-air above the Dudh Koshi River at Jorsale village. You start the demanding ascent, where you grumble about the fame of the Namche Bazaar trek. Halfway along the ridge, you glimpse Mount Everest (8,848m) and Lhotse (8,516m) rising above the ridges of mountains – inspiration enough for the rest.

Namche Bazaar, 3,440m (11,286ft), is a horseshoe-shaped village built on the slope of the mountain. The “Sherpa Capital,” and World Heritage site, has maybe 1,600 residents and is the Khumbu valley’s leading commercial center. Internet cafes, bakeries, and equipment stores make up the village, and even Irish pubs are a pleasant spot to rest and acclimatize before going higher into the mountains.

Day Highlights:

• Cross a series of suspension bridges over the Dudh Koshi River
• Monjo gate to Sagarmatha National Park
• Challenging trek across the iconic Hillary Suspension Bridge
• First view of Mount Everest and Lhotse
• Arrival at the Sherpa capital town, Namche Bazaar

Acclimatization is the key to safe high-altitude trekking, and Namche Bazaar is the ideal location to “climb high, sleep low.” Acclimatizing today will get us to the Everest View Hotel, one of the world’s highest luxury hotels at 3,880m (12,730ft). Take in the stunning panoramic view of Mount Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, and other giant mountains with a hot steaming cup of coffee or tea.

You can start your hike to the Sherpa villages of Kunde and Khumjung from your hotel and get a glimpse of rural mountain life. You have at Khumjung the famous Hillary School, which was established by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1961 as a form of providing education to Sherpa children. There is also the Khumjung Monastery, where the inhabitants have had on display an original Yeti scalp – an intriguing insight into Sherpa philosophy and mythology.

Nearby is Kunde village with the Kunde Hospital, built in 1966 with the help of Sir Edmund Hillary, to provide medical attention to the high mountain villages. The return route to Namche takes you via Syangboche Airport, a tiny emergency strip, and provides you with nice views of the town from an altitude. It gets your body at high altitude and acclimatizes your body to Sherpa culture.

Day highlights:

• Hike to Everest View Hotel for a mountain panorama
• Khumjung and Kunde Sherpa village walk
• Visit to Sir Edmund Hillary’s school and hospital complex
• See the Yeti scalp at Khumjung Monastery
• Relax and soak up the very best scenery and the coffee lounge

Today’s trek takes you deeper into the heart of the Khumbu region toward the famous Tengboche Monastery. Trek in parallel with Dudh Koshi River, having an unobstructed view of massive mountains like Everest, Lhotse, and the massive pyramid Ama Dablam (6,812m). The trek involves going through some villages, and the trek is best suited for a photo shoot in front of the massive mountains.

You go down to Phunki Thenga, the lowest part of the north of Namche Bazaar, and cross another suspension bridge, and have food here. The path here goes up steeply through lovely rhododendron forest (particularly lovely in spring when it is in flower) and involves game watching with lovely pheasants and even perhaps shy musk deer.

Tengboche 3,860m (12,664ft) height and birthplace of the largest monastery of Khumbu and spiritual hub of Sherpa civilization. Tengboche Monastery, rebuilt after the post-1989 earthquake, has the best view of Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, and the stunning Ama Dablam. You are blessed enough to witness monks performing the ritual of evening prayer, when monks recite sacred Buddhist mantras. The last rays of the sun at Tengboche are pure magic, mountains shimmer golden.

Day Highlights:

• Mountain sidewalk alongside Dudh Koshi River
• Suspension bridge at Phunki Thenga
• Climb through the Rhododendron Forest
• Tour of Tengboche Monastery, the largest Khumbu district monastery
• Sunset view of Ama Dablam and Everest

This stunning rural area in the general Khumbu is accomplished by starting the trek descending through woodland to Debuche and crossing Imja Khola (river) on a suspension bridge. Passes through the village of Pangboche and one of the region’s most ancient monasteries, dated, they claim, 600 years.

From Pangboche, the trek climbs moderately along Imja Valley with great views of Island Peak (6,189m), Lhotse, and the huge south face of Ama Dablam. The scenery will begin to become more diverse as one ascends, wooded terrain giving way to scrub, the alpine, and the vista becoming rockier and more rugged. The weather will be cooler and more humid.

Dingboche, 4,410m (14,468ft), is a scenic high-altitude village famous for stone-walled fields where potatoes and barley are planted by the villagers in the short summer. It’s famous for breathtaking sunrises on Lhotse, Island Peak, and Ama Dablam, and a second acclimatization “must stop.” Rock walls, as you see, guard crops from cold winds and animals, and are evidence of high-altitude mountain ingenuity in agriculture.

Day Highlights:

• Trek through a beautiful birch and rhododendron forest
• Suspension bridge over the river Imja Khola
• Trek to Pangboche village with a highly ancient monastery
• Enter the beautiful Imja Valley with breathtaking views of the surrounding peaks
• Arrive at Dingboche, famous for the stone-walled fields of potato fields

Ascent in modern times remains higher in the alpine zone when you arrive at the Everest Base Camp area. Dingboche ascent is a gradual ascent above the valley level to a breathtaking view of Taboche Peak, Cholatse, and the jagged south face of Lhotse. The view is good and treeless, as you are as high as vegetation gets cut off, and the surface is hard and glacial.

The most difficult section of today’s ascent is ascending to Thukla Pass, or Dughla Pass, which contains many stone memorials to remember climbers who died on Everest and other peaks. The nostalgic hint at climbing peril is a reverent part of your trek. Ascending to the pass is uphill and in spots uncomfortable because of altitude, but the viewpoints from the top are enjoyable.

Cross the Khumbu Glacier lateral moraine on massive boulders and scree from Thukla Pass. Your initial close-up glimpses are all yours of Pumori (7,161m), “Everest’s Daughter,” and Khumbutse. The small town of Lobuche at 4,940m (16,207ft) is nestled under the giant summit of Lobuche. The village offers dramatic views of the surrounding peaks and serves as the final stop before reaching Everest Base Camp.

Day Highlights:

• Khumbu Glacier moraine trail
• Everest summit climber memorials
• Cross the challenging Thukla Pass
• Improved views of Pumori and Khumbutse peaks
• Arrival at Lobuche with a view of Lobuche Peak

It is the day you have been looking forward to most on your Everest Base Camp trekking adventure, when you arrive in the world’s thousand trekkers’ valley. The climb resumes from Lobuche up over the Khumbu Glacier boulder-field moraine, zigzagging among enormous boulders and chunks of ice. You will grind through the final village of the base camp trekking trail, Gorak Shep, where you’ll drop off your overnight bags and have lunch.

The final Everest Base Camp hike takes you on the Khumbu Glacier, and the route is loose stone, boulder-strewn, icy, and rough ground. You glance over at the notorious Khumbu Icefall, a rippled surface of ice made up of crevasses and blocks of ice, one of the most hazardous parts of the mountain for Everest ascents. It’s scary and exciting to see this stunning icefall.

Everest Base Camp, situated at 5,364m (17,598ft), is a temporary city during climbing season (March-May), with colorful tents housing climbers from around the world preparing for their summit attempts.  Stunning base camp views of nearby Pumori, Lingtren, and Khumbutse peaks. To reach base camp is an incomplete emotional journey – you’ve accomplished something others can wish they ever might. Your photo shoot and party will be followed by a descent in the dark to Gorak Shep, exhausted but far more than satisfied with what you have accomplished.

Day’s Highlights:

• Arrival at legendary Everest Base Camp
• Walk on the Khumbu Glacier Moraine
• Capture close-up shots of the fatal Khumbu Icefall
• Overnight camp above the world’s highest base camp
• Carve the victory of the summit

Today begins with a very early morning (around 4:30 AM) hike to Kala Patthar, the best viewpoint in the Everest region for photographing Mount Everest.  “Kala Patthar,” the Nepali name, means “Black Rock.” This rock face at 5,643m (18,514ft) offers a whole panorama of the Everest peak. Treks in the early morning hours are not pleasant ones at all due to the cold, but all worth viewing the world’s highest peaks twinkle in the sunrise light.

The view of Mt. Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Pumori, Lingtren, and Khumbutse is a 360-degree sight itself from Kala Patthar. The sunrise on the Everest summit pyramid is a memory chiseled and picture-perfect. This is the highest point most trekkers reach in the Everest region, and the sense of achievement is incredible.

You once more go down to Gorak Shep for breakfast and then to Dzongla, the stiff hike tomorrow to the Cho La Pass advance base. Your route is your inner trek, halfway, followed by a detour to Dzongla. The small village at 4,830m (15,850ft) welcomes you with great views of Cholatse, Ama Dablam, and Lobuche peaks. Your training and acclimatization are waiting this afternoon for one of the most challenging days of your trek – the infamous, iconic Cho La Pass crossing.

Day Highlights:

• Early sunrise trek to Kala Patthar
• Better photography opportunities with Mount Everest
• 360° panorama of 8,000m peaks
• Trek to Dzongla village
• Prepare for the Cho La Pass crossing

Today presents the most technically challenging day of your trek as you cross the famous Cho La Pass, one of the three major passes in the Everest region. It’s an early morning climb when you are rewarded with a series of demanding climbs from Dzongla to the Pass. The climb is more difficult since you have to climb over loose rocks, probably snow, and icy trail, for most of the morning.

Cho La Pass ascent is a glacier and rock floor trudge with the requirements of a step-by-step, steep climb. The pass itself, at 5,420m (17,782ft), is marked with colorful prayer flags and offers spectacular views of the surrounding peaks. There is a vista from the pass in either direction of a string of mountains – Khumbu side just traversed and Gokyo valley in the direction of travel.

Cho La Pass is also a loose rock-type country that will likely be icy. You will have to scramble around to find something to climb up on, so it will be more scrambling than a walk. The path winds up to Thagnak, a tiny village at 4,700m (15,420ft) on the edge of vast Ngozumpa Glacier. This serene village is a tranquil resting point after overcoming the pass of exhaustion and is seen from Cho Oyu, the world’s sixth-highest mountain at 8,188m.

Day Highlights:

• Challenging Cho La Pass crossing
• Navigate the glacier and rocky terrain
• Crossing Nepal’s most famous high pass
• Downhill walk to Thagnak village
• Transition from the Everest region to the Gokyo valley

The day’s trek is short but highly scenic since you are trekking to the renowned village of Gokyo on the shore of Gokyo Lakes. The trekking trail on the west bank of Nepal’s longest glacier, Ngozumpa Glacier, for over 36 km from Cho Oyu to Gokyo valley. The trek sometimes is on moraines and boulders, and the massive glacier will be on your right-hand side.

There, the scenery is unlike the Everest Base Camp scenery of valley bottoms and blue-green turquoise lakes that shine in a divine radiance. You get to see on foot to Gokyo, your initial view of the legendary Gokyo Lakes in their radiant blue-green colors due to glacial sediments. White peaks and blue lakes are an optimist’s dream.

Gokyo village, 4,790m (15,715ft), is small on the shores of the third and largest of the Gokyo Lakes, or Dudh Pokhari. It is a little more than a cluster of a handful of stone huts with a view of Cho Oyu, Gyachung Kang, and other behemoth peaks. The tranquillity of the atmosphere and view allows Gokyo to be among the most even-tempered and serene places in the Everest region. You’ll rest and sleep tonight, prepared for tomorrow’s climb up Gokyo Ri, one of the Himalayas’ top views.

Day Highlights:

• Walk alongside the Ngozmpa Glacier
• See Nepal’s longest glacier
• Arrive at the scenic village of Gokyo
• First sight of the blue Gokyo Lakes
• Prepare for the summit of Gokyo Ri

The day starts early with the early morning trek to Gokyo Ri, the highest viewpoint of the entire Himalayas. It is a tougher and more challenging trek as it is at a high altitude, but the 360° view from the summit is just breathtaking. Four out of the six highest peaks in the world are visible from Gokyo Ri at 5,357m (17,575ft), i.e., Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu.

The Gokyo Ri view will be even better than that of Kala Patthar as you will see Everest from the opposite side and the whole new Gokyo valley, and a series of blue lakes. Ngozumpa Glacier moving towards Tibet, the blue Gokyo Lakes, and ridges surrounding them all are some of the most stunning mountain views.

You come down below Gokyo Ri on another trekking route to Namche Bazaar. Machhermo trail passes through the hill and glacier moraine of Ngozumpa Glacier with a varied landscape. Machhermo is a yak herder village at 4,470m (14,665ft) and the initial resting camp of trekkers. It’s a very scenic village and a halfway resting camp after a tiring climb to Gokyo Ri.

Day Highlights:

• Climb to Gokyo Ri for spectacular mountain views
• Four 8,000m peaks from one location
• Explore the beautiful Gokyo Lakes
• Down to Machhermo village
• Nepal’s longest glacier view

The downhill of your day brings you back to the familiar territory of Namche Bazaar, the gem of your trek. The downhill path is a mix of rock outcrops, alpine meadow, pine and rhododendron forest, and increasingly leaves on the trail. You go through many Sherpa villages and cross many suspension bridges spanning the mountain torrent streams.

The descent is generally easy on the lungs but can be tough on the knees, so trekking poles are particularly helpful today. As you lose altitude, the air is harder to breathe. The path provides great vistas of mountains, which have been your background for the last week, now such a sight, and so far from this lower elevation.

Back to Namche Bazaar is back to civilization after your high-altitude mountaineering experience. The village of shopping with shops, bakeries, and internet cafes surrounding you is a relief after the mountain villages where you have been staying. Tonight, you can enjoy a hot shower, celebrate your achievements with a beer or hot chocolate, and reflect on the incredible journey you’ve completed through the Everest region, Cho La Pass, and Gokyo valley.

Day Highlights:

• Pass through a beautiful rhododendron forest
• Pass through old Sherpa villages
• Witness the confluence of Dudh Koshi and Imja Khola rivers
• Witness Namche Bazaar again
• Mark the end of the high-altitude section of the trek

Your final day’s trip is back to Lukla, where you started two weeks ago. The trail retraces your original route, but everything looks different now that you’re an experienced high-altitude trekker who has stood at Everest Base Camp and climbed over 5,600 meters. Phakding, Monjo, and Jorsale villages are yesterday’s friends now, and you’ll be partaking in subtleties but not available on the way up. Phakding, Monjo, and Jorsale villages are buddies of yesteryears now, and you’ll appreciate details you might have missed on your way up.

Descent is a short downhill walk along Dudh Koshi River and crossing the same suspension bridges you ascended. You begin from the Sagarmatha National Park check post at Monjo and walk through a very beautiful forest, which now glows gaudily green after crossing the high alpine area.

When you arrive at Lukla, your trekking days are over. Your guide and even your porter dine with you as a friend in a flashback and recollection of your great experience. Your evening is also to reward your working team members who made your trek memorable, and send them on safe journeys on the trek. The joy of recollecting with satisfaction that you have finished this challenging 16-day trek is all one needs.

Day Highlights:

• Final day of trek in the Everest region
• Trek down the trail back through the familiar villages
• Trek down suspension bridges over Dudh Koshi River
• Dinner celebration in Lukla
• Farewell to the mountain staff

Your Himalayan trekking vacation concludes with another exciting flight from Lukla to Kathmandu. The 30-minute flight provides the last glimpse of the beautiful range, which you covered in the last two weeks, a bird’s-eye view of mountains, glaciers, and valleys, which were your abode for the last two weeks. The flight also provides the opportunity to unwind and bask in the glory of conquest and click the last shots of the Himalayas.

The moment you reach out to stretch to be able to view Kathmandu, you would straight away be taken to your hotel and given hot showers, soft beds, and warm beds that you would have fantasized about while trekking through the hills. The difference between the ruggedness of city food and the peaceful views of mountains is so immense, and you would already be missing the simplicity of hill life.

The afternoon is free for you to find out more about Kathmandu, or last-minute shopping at Thamel’s tourist streets, or just a day of staying home and resting and de-stressing after the trek. In the evening, Bold Himalaya will host a farewell dinner featuring traditional Nepali cuisine and cultural performances, providing a perfect end to your incredible adventure in Nepal.

Day Highlights:

• Bird’s eye mountain flight to Kathmandu
• Last bird’s eye view of the Himalayas
• Drive to Kathmandu hotel
• Free shopping and sightseeing hours
• Farewell dinner and cultural show

Your great 16-day Nepal holiday comes to an end as you check in your onward journey flight on your behalf in the direction of travel back home on your way home on your return journey home. After a final breakfast at your hotel, our Bold Himalaya representative will transfer you to Tribhuvan International Airport for your international flight home.

You will be departing Nepal a trekker, yes, but one who has been blessed to have witnessed virgin Himalayan beauty and power. Sun rising on the top of the world, Mt. Everest, glimmering Gokyo Lakes, and Sherpa culture will stay with you forever. And, most of all, you would have tested your limit and set it for yourself that, with careful planning and sheer determination, you can accomplish great things in the mountains.

Day Highlights:

• Final breakfast in Nepal
• Transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport
• Departure to your home country
• Memories for a lifetime