Gokyo Ri and Cho La Pass trek via EBC

Our representative from Explore Nepal Trails will receive you after you collect your baggage and exit the main terminal building. Then we will drive to the hotel. Check-in and rest. In the evening, our trek manager along with trek guide will brief you about the trek and check your equipment.

We have time to preparing our trip to Khumbu Valley after lunch we will drive 4 to 5 hours to Manthali for our flight to Lukla.

After early breakfast, we drive to the domestic terminal to take a 35 minutes flight to Lukla. Lukla is a gateway to Everest Region. After landing at Tenzing Hillary Airport, we will manage our loads among the porters and start our trek to Phakding. This is the first day of our trek which is the easiest flat trail takes you to the beautiful village of Phakding.

We follow the level path along the bank of river and climb towards the Dudh Koshi valley. We will pass villages of Benkar, Monjo and Jorsele. There is a beautiful waterfall at Benkar. We trek through so many ups and downs, forests and passing by the view of Mt. Thamserku. After a short climb, we will have lunch at Jorsele. Soon, we will be at V shaped valley where Dudh Koshi (on left) and Bhote Koshi (on right) meet. After crossing the high suspension bridge over Bhote Koshi, we make a steep ascent to Namche Bazaar. Just 30 minutes below the Namche Bazaar, we see the Mt. Everest for the first time.

This day, we will be staying at Namche Bazaar to get acclimatize and have an excursion to Everest View Lodge (3,800 m) at Syangboche. We also visit Khumjung Village (3,790 m) to see Khumjung School and Hospital founded by Sir Edmund Hillary. In Khumjung Monastery, we will witness the purported Yeti Scalp. After returning back to Namche.

Today, we climb to the Khumjung Hill and descend to the east of the village. We descend down to Dudkoshi River for overnight.

Uphill climb to Machhermo by passing rhododendron forest and a water fall before Tonga Village. We walk uphill and pass-through Dole, other villages and Chorten alongside the Dudh Koshi River. After Dole, our trail goes through scenic ridge which gives us views of Cho Oyu, Thamserku and Kantega mountains. After we arrive at Kharka and trek in a level path on a sloping area to Luza.

We follow the uphill trail to the top of the ridge from where we see Cho Oyu, other mountains along with Ngozamba Glacier. On the right side, we see Cholatse and Tawetse. Our trail descends to Pangka. We continue our descend to the river bank before we climb the terminal moraine of Ngozamba Glacier. When we pass the Mani wall, we arrive at Gokyo.

Today, we hike to Gokyo Ri to get the panoramic view of Mt. Everest (8,848 m), Mt. Lhotse (8,516 m), Mt. Makalu (8,481), and Mt. Cho Oyo (8,153 m) along with other peaks and the Nepal’s largest glacier, Ngozumpa Glacier.

We trek through the Ngazumpa Glacier to the mountain on the other side. Next, traverse along the edge of that mountain and then meander into Thagnak. It will be a short hike today with an afternoon of rest which will prepare us for long hiking days and elevation gain to come.

Today is going to be one of the challenging days of the trip. The Cho La Pass is not itself difficult, but it is steep and involves a glacier traverse on the Eastern Side. We need to be careful as the trail is vertical and the rocks glazed by ice may cause trouble by making the trail slippery. The trail from Phedi climbs through a ravine and a rocky trail. While trekking through the side of a frozen lake, we reach at the top of the pass decorated with prayer flags. The pyramidal Ama Dablam presides over a range of mountains on the South even as Cholatse soars to the west and Lobuche East and Baruntse rises sharply to our right. We need to pass through some crevasses before we reach Dzongla Village. The village provides great views of Cholatse, Ama Dablam, Lobuche Mountains along with the Pheriche Village far below.

This will be a very short trek so we have a lot time to relax and enjoy the beauty that surrounds us. We climb down from Dzongla and walk through a grassy trail while enjoying the view of Lobuche Peak. The trail curves through the wide river bed before reaching Lobuche. We can spend the rest of day taking a rest which will help us prepare for the next day’s long trek. Evening, we enjoy Sunset at Nuptse peak.

This will be the most challenging yet rewarding day of the trek. To go to the Everest beyond Lobuche, the trail follows through besides the Khumbu Glacier. From a high point here, the rubble-covered hill of Kalapatthar in the front of Mt. Mount Everest can be seen at its pass a lake of often frozen. And continue to witness the Everest Base Camp of world’s highest peak, Mt. Everest. After spending few times, we return back to Gorakshep.

Early morning, we make steep ascend to Kalapatthar also called Black Hill. This might be the most challenging but the trekkers get the most magnificent panoramic views of the mountains, Mt. Everest (8,848 m), the highest point in the earth towers directly ahead and all the sides loom the giants, Nuptse, Pumori, Chantse, Lhotse and countless other peaks. Afterward, we descend to Pheriche.

From Dingboche, we trek down to Pangboche. The we cross a bridge over Imja Khola. As soon as we reach Debuche, we make ascend for an hour to get to Tengboche.

Trek descent down to the River at Phunki thanga we ascend up for around 2 and half hours passing by small villages to another side of the valley. We continue along the side of mountain to get to the Namche Bazaar. After we leave Namche Bazaar, we make steep descend until the bridge and cross Bhote Koshi River to Manjo Village.

Our way follows ups and downs, forest and rocky trails. We will have our lunch at Benkar or Phakding. After lunch, we continue gradual and gentle uphill trail to Lukla. This is our last day of the trek. After much deserving long shower, you may consider treating trekking crews in Lukla.Day

Lukla flight highly depends on weather. So, we keep one day extra if incase flight to/from Lukla get cancelled because of weather. If the flight happens as planned, we may do some extra sightseeing in Kathmandu.

Explore Nepal Trails representative will drop you to at Intl airport.