Everest Base Camp via Gokyo Lakes

“One gets to tread and experience the mountains only when they call for you!” I was finally summoned by Mountain Gods, after 2 years. My past trips never materialized due to various unexpected reasons. I was finally on my way to the Everest Base camp trek and was super excited to experience and unravel what the mountains had in store for me this time.
The regular route to the base camp is a popular tourist trail and takes about 12-14 days. Aatir from UFO group suggested the Gokyo Lakes route which was a couple of days longer (17-18 days) but more offbeat with sights worth the effort and a life time experience. They organized the entire trek for me with great efficiency.

Day 1  Land in Kathmandu

The day finally arrived and I left for Kathmandu from Dhaka. Due to the gradual spread of corona virus, tourism was affected and regular buzz at the airport was missing. When I reached Kathmandu, Aatir and the guide received me at the airport and laid my inquisitive mind at rest by patiently answering my barrage of questions as we headed to our bread and breakfast, Karwaan, near Thamel. We checked our personal gear and after a quick trip to Thamel to exchange currency and buy a couple of things, we called it an early night.

Day 2  Fly to Lukla. Trek to Monjo

We were woken up at 4.30 am to catch our 6 am flight.  Thankfully our flight was on time and we bundled into the small 15-seater propeller excitedly for Lukla (2827m). Mingma, our guide for the trip and our porter came to receive us at the Lukla airport and we started our trek for Phakding (2652m). The trail was muddy and slush, mixture of ice and dirt, as we crossed through quaint villages and also spotted our first high peak of Kusum Khangkaru. We crossed 4 suspension bridges and reached Phakding by 11.30, where we grabbed a quick bite. As we felt pretty strong and had enough time, we decided to go ahead to our next stop, Monjo (2900m). The teahouse where we stayed had hot showers, which in hindsight is a luxury in mountains. A hot cup of ginger lemon honey tea and dinner made it the perfect first day.

Day 3  Namche Bazar, the Gateway to the Kumbhu region

After a breakfast of Tibetan bread and omelet, we headed to Namche Bazar (3446m) which is a popular and gateway to the Kumbhu region.  The trail was beautiful with many pine trees and scenic views and crossed the iconic Hillary bridge over Dudh Kosi river.We were greeted by snow as we entered Namche. The entire trail I could not help but admire as it looked better in real life than in pictures and was thankful for this experience as we reached our mountain lodge for the day.The entire village rooftop was white. We were deciding our iternary for the following days as the Cho la high pass was full of snow and closed at that point. So we decided to ‘take things as it comes’ and planned for the next 2-3 days ahead. Our itinerary would be dependent on the weather.

Day 4  Walk to Phortse Thanga

We were supposed to stay an extra day in Namche for acclimatization but as the group felt strong, we decided to move on and acclimatize higher. After a delicious breakfast , we left for Phortse Thanga (3658 meters). Just above Namche, we got our first glimpse of the high peaks with Mt. Everest, Tabouche, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and Thamserku.  It was a long hike but with spectacular sights. We reached Phortse Thanga after 7 hours and now could feel the altitude, in terms of air and money too. Just for using showers, we had to pay 500 Nepali rupees and  350 NPR for charging the phone for an hour. We de-stressed ourselves by playing cards near the fireplace before dinner.

Day 5  Trek to Macchermo

We started our trek for Macchermo (4450m) at 8:30am with a bright and sunny day ahead of us. The trail was full of steps initially in the forest. But soon we broke out of the forest into barren snow covered landscape. We were going from 3900 to 4450 meters today, therefore we took it slow and steady. Today we also got our first glimpse of Cho Oyu (8188m), sixth highest mountain in the world.  We had our lunch at Dole and reached our destination after a stunningly beautiful 7 hour walk. We met some people on the way who informed us that Cho la was still inaccessible. We trudged on hoping that the weather gods would be in our favor in the next few days.

Day 6  Acclimatization day at Macchermo

Macchermo was strikingly beautiful and covered with snow. We were staying an extra day here to acclimatize and after breakfast went for a little walk to help in our acclimatization.  We saw some people skiing on the slopes around Macchermo. After lazing around the day in the sun, we looked forward to our dinner. A local Sherpa ran that lodge with the women of the family running the place. They were very hardworking and worked continuously from 6:30 am, by cooking, cleaning and servicing the rooms. We got ourselves an Internet card (Everest Link) here which helped us be in contact with the outside world whenever we wanted.

Day 7  The three Gokyo Lakes

We now headed for our first major destination, the Gokyo lakes (4800m). We were now reaching higher altitude with the cold winds adding to the chill factor. There were no lodges to rest on the way during the 5 hour hike. We were surrounded by a thick sheet of snow with thin trails to walk through. Finally, we saw the first Gokyo lake which was small and half frozen. We spotted a few pairs of Ruddy Shelducks (Brahminy Ducks) in the lake. It was interesting to see the wildlife surviving at this altitude. We spotted Himalayan Griffin vultures, kestrel, snow cocks and even a little Himalayan weasel as we crossed the second and third Gokyo Lakes, both of which were frozen. Watching the sun set over these frozen lakes with the array of colors and the clouds constantly drifting over them was a sight to be experienced.

Day 8  Climb Gokyo Ri. Cross the Ngozumpa glacier to Thangnak

We got up at 3:30 am in the morning today! With our head torches on, we made our way out of the lodge to climb Gokyo Ri (5300m).  It was pitch dark with snow glistening under the moonlight around us and utterly cold! Even our bottles were covered with thermal socks to keep them from freezing. The trail was steep with loose rocks reminding me of the Kilimanjaro summit night. We were ascending slowly as the air got thinner with altitude and breathing a bit difficult while trekking. My fingers and toes were numb but the guide and porter were there to support and help us. As dawn broke, we saw the first rays of sun hitting the summit of Mount Everest, which was covered with golden clouds like a halo. Other peaks of Makalu, Lhotse, Nuptse, were now visible in the golden sunrise. It took us about 2.5 hours to reach the peak of Gokyo Ri and we got a complete 360 degree view of the all the 3 frozen lakes, the high peaks, Ngozumpa glacier (the biggest glacier in Asia by volume). The lodges looked like tiny dots from where we stood.