Jiri to Everest Base Camp Trekking via Gokyo Lakes

Namaste and welcome to the start of your exciting Jiri to Everest Base Camp under the leadership of Himalayan Planet Adventures. The adventure begins in Kathmandu and Tribhuvan International Airport where you will be greeted by a representative of Himalayan Planet Adventures. Our friendly and helpful staff will help you with your luggage as you take a private vehicle to your hotel. There will be a time for orientation before enjoying a Nepali Cultural Program, complete with traditional dancing and outstanding Nepali food.

The Kathmandu Valley is famous for its UNESCO World Heritage Sites and this day we will enjoy several of them. Our journey will take us to the fabled ancient city of Bhaktapur with its famed temples and palaces. You will be able to visit Pashupatinath, the most sacred Hindu place in Nepal as well as one of the most revered Hindu temples in the world. Here you will see Hindu Sadhus (holy men) along with plenty of monkeys. The tour will include Bouddhanath, another great site belonging to the heritage and religious backgrounds of the Kathmandu Valley. The package includes a tour guide, entry fees, and transportation, but not lunch.

We begin our journey toward Mt. Everest and Sagarmatha National Park this morning as we board a local bus for Jiri. Our journey will take us on the beautiful Araniko Highway which passes through ancient Newari villages like Banepa and Dhulikhel. In the distance, see the various eastern Himalayan Mountain Ranges, including the Ganesh Himal, Langtang Lirung and Dorjee Lakpa. The road crosses the ridge out of the valley at the picturesque village of Charikot. Today’s journey will take around 8 – 9 hours to reach our destination of Jiri where we will spend the night at a wonderful tea house where we will enjoy the local atmosphere.

The actual trek begins today. Our elevation doesn’t rise much as it’s pretty much what we call Nepali level (up and down), passing through beautiful forests of rhododendron, oak, and pine. The high point is the ridge at Deurali Pass (elev. 2370 m) and then downhill again. We pass interesting villages as well as Buddhist stupas and chhortens until we reach our tea-house at the village of Bhandar. There will be time to do some exploring in Bhandar before dinner and rest in the evening.

The trail begins to drop as we make our way to a long suspension bridge that crosses the Likhu Khola (The word khola is Nepali for river). The trail works its way past beautifully terraced farms and through quaint villages where you will encounter greetings of “Namaste” and big smiles. We start climbing as we make our way upwards to reach the Sherpa village of Sete which is located in the midst of a beautiful rhododendron forest. Sete is famed for its local Buddhist monastery. We will stay at a local lodge, enjoying the local hospitality.

We are going deeper and deeper into the lands of the Sherpa people as we move through mountain passes, making our way through an exquisite mountain pass. Lamjura Pass is 3,530 m and from here, we begin to see greater and greater views of the mighty Eastern Himalayas. Lamjura Pass is the highest point between Jiri and Namche Bazar, the capital city of the lands of the Sherpa people. Our destination is the Sherpa village of Junbesi where we will stop for the night.

Today, if the weather is clear, we will have an excellent view of Mt. Everest near the village of Salung. Our high point will be Tak-Shidno Pass before climbing downhill to reach our destination of Nunthala. Nunthala is a picture postcard village with incredible scenery and is an ideal place to spend the night.

Our journey will descend down to an elevation of 1480 m as we cross the beautiful Dudh Koshi river. This is a river in the Everest region and gets its name from its milky color as it makes its way over rapids. It’s a cold water are fed by melting glaciers as it quickly drops in elevation on its way southward toward the warm waters of the Bay of Bengal. In this area, you will have an opportunity to encounter the Rai people as there are a number of their villages in this area. The Rai are tribal groups that have long resided in the mountains, retaining their distinct language and culture. Like the Sherpa people, they are very friendly and welcoming of visitors. The trek to Bupsadanda is a bit steep and will challenge us, but it can be done. We will spend the evening at a tea house in Bupsadanda.

The journey takes us deep into the forests of the Everest region where we will encounter languor monkeys that will delight you with their antics. The forests are filled with prickly lean oak and rhododendron trees. We will be able to see the famous airstrip at the Lukla Airport from our trek today. Our destination is Surkhe where we will spend the night.

The entire journey is a series of ridges that we must cross, each one rising a bit higher than the previous one as we make our way to the roof of the world. Today, we also cross a very deep gorge in order to witness a most spectacular waterfall near the village of Chaurikharka (elev. 2,713 m). This village and region are considered the breadbasket of the Khumbu region. Here you will see wheat, barley, and plenty of green vegetables growing in abundance. We eventually arrive at the beautiful village of Phakding where we will enjoy wonderful accommodations at a local tea house.

Namche Bazar is both the capital of the Sherpa people as well as the gateway to Sagarmatha National Park as we make our way toward Mt. Everest. We cross the Dudh Khola on a suspension bridge high above its rushing waters. We make our way up a hill where we will be rewarded with an outstanding view of Mt. Thamserku (elev. 6,608 m/21,676 ft.) upon reaching Benkar village. We enter Sagarmatha National Park at Monjo and continue out trek until we reach Namche Bazar. From this wonderful village, we can see Kwangde Peak, Mt. Lhotse as well as gets a better view of Mt. Everest. There are many wonderful places to stay in Namche Bazar and we will check into our guest house for the night.

The higher elevation of Namche Bazaar requires us to stop again and allow our bodies to adjust to the high elevations. Namche Bazaar is a great place to stop as there are plenty of places to do shopping for local crafts. There is a Sherpa Museum to visit and if we arrive on a Saturday, you can visit the incredible local market. Up on top of the hill above this view-point is the luxury Everest View Hotel. We will return to our tea house to spend the night.

The scenery just keeps getting better and better as we make our way toward Mt. Everest. Today we will enjoy magnificent views of the peaks of Everest, Nuptse, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, and Kwangde. The trek today is up and down with our destination being the village of Dole where we will spend the night.

Today will require some steeper climbing as we make our way toward the land of the Yeti. It was at today’s destination in 1974 that the first Yeti was sighted in the Khumbu region. Don’t believe in yetis? Don’t tell that to the locals; they’ll swear they are for real. If you’re lucky, you might even get a chance to see one, so keep your camera ready. Machharmo features a number of good hotels along with excellent mountain views. We will spend the night here at Machharmo.

Today’s journey will take us into the Gokyo Valley, a beautiful place that is often missed by travelers the Everest region. Gokyo is known for its snow-capped peaks, sacred lakes, and picturesque villages. There are glaciers to see and trek next to. Ngazumpa Glacier is the local landmark that you will trek along. You will pass by some glacial lakes before finally reaching the village of Gokyo. Once we check into our tea house, we can explore the shoreline of Gokyo Lake.

There is absolutely no way we won’t take a day to explore around Gokyo. We do need the day for acclimatization because of the high elevation, but also to discover one of the most beautiful places in the entire Everest region. There are views of the lakes along with Mt. Everest and Mt. Cho Oyo. From here you will be able to see the world’s largest glacier, Ngazumpa Glacier before returning to your tea house for the night.

It’s up early as we make our way to the top of Gokyo Ri. Mt. Gokyo Ri is considered a trekking peak which means you don’t need any special equipment to reach its summit. From on top of the mountain, you will be treated to the most exquisite view of Mt. Everest as well as the impressive snow-capped peaks of the Eastern Himalayas. The early morning journey will allow you to see the morning rays of the effulgent sun as it rises above the Khumbu. We take breakfast back in Gokyo before departing on our journey; making our way to Thaknak village where we will spend the night in a local tea house.

It’s a day of high alpine passes in the midst of the mighty Himalayas! We will be above the tree line for much of the day, making our way across glaciers until we finally reach the incredibly breath-taking Cho-La Pass. We will crest the pass at 5,367 meters for the most outstanding view of the Everest region. It is not a difficult trek, but it will have its challenges at times. Here you can stand and actually look down on eagles soaring on the thermals high above the valley floor! Our journey will take us to the little village of Dzongla. Accommodations here are very basic, but the food is something else!

It’s another day of high elevation in the alpine regions of Mt. Everest. The trail follows along the moraine of the glacier with the highlight being the finest view of Mt. Nuptse as you walk to the village of Gorakshep. The winds always blow up here as you make your way along the rocky trail, with each step revealing new views of the mighty snowcapped peaks. From up here, you will see Everest Base Camp as well as many more mountain peaks. We will spend the night at a tea house at the ancient village of Gorakshep where we will enjoy great food and a good night’s sleep.

The journey now reaches our destination: Everest Base Camp. It is from this historic site that Sir Edmund Hillary and Norgay Sherpa began their ascent in 1953 to conquer the highest mountain in the world. You can feel the chill going down your spine as you stand in the tracks of these famous mountain climbers who jointly reached the summit on that a day in 29 May over 60 years ago. The journey will take you along the famed Khumbu Icefall. Today will be a strenuous journey as you make your way up to Everest Base Camp. The air is thin here at such high altitudes. We will enjoy our time at Everest Base Camp as we celebrate our victory in reaching our destination before returning to our tea house at Gorakshep for the night.

We still have a little climbing to do as we climb to the top of Mt. Kalapathar for the most spectacular as well as close-up view of Mt. Everest and Mt. Pumori. From this point, you will see Mt. Everest-like you could never imagine. The view from this vantage point will make you forget all the effort it took to get here. Some things are just beyond description; they have to be experienced to appreciate! The Khumbu Glacier is below you and the scenery is what picture postcards are made for. You will stand there early on in the day to behold the majesty of Everest before returning to Gorakshep, and then making our way to the amazing little mountain village of Dingboche. We pass yak pastures along the way at Dusa. We arrive at Dingboche to spend the night at a hotel with great fellowship with other travelers.

The walk today is downhill as we make our way back to Lukla. We pass through amazing high altitude Sherpa villages which include Pangboche and finally arriving at Tengboche. Tengboche is a home of the highest monastery in the world and is famous as well as beautiful in appearance. This is definitely the monastery to see in the High Himalayas. From here, we see incredible views of Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse, Mt. Ama Dablam and Lhotse Shar along with other snowcapped peaks. We will spend the night at a tea house in the midst of this outstanding scenery.

We rise this morning to appreciate the sun rising over the eastern Himalaya Mountains. From Tengboche you will have an outstanding view as you enjoy breakfast and then head out on the trail for the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazar. We pass through a number of small, quaint settlements as well as re-entering the impressive forests of the eastern Himalayas. Along the way, we will begin to see some scenery we saw earlier on our trek as we approach Namche Bazar, crossing the Dudh Khola on the long suspension bridge. We enjoy a good meal and good accommodations tonight in the Sherpa Capital of Namche Bazar.

It’s the final day of trekking as we make our way downhill to the main airport of the Everest region at the village of Lukla. The scenery changes to lush forests as we drop in elevation. We finally arrive at Lukla where we will enjoy a great meal at a hotel, confirming our plane ticket back to Kathmandu for the next day.

Our legs and feet are no doubt tired from the days of trekking. Today, enjoy the short flight back to Kathmandu. Sometimes the flight back to Kathmandu is delayed by a day because of foggy weather, so Himalayan Planet Adventures always builds in an extra day just in case. If all goes according to plans, we will be on our way back to the capital to enjoy a day of rest.

If you thought you saw everything the Kathmandu Valley has to offer, think again! You can explore more of the Kathmandu Valley, see some more of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites or simply rest or do some shopping. It’s your day. In the evening, enjoy a farewell dinner with your Himalayan Planet Adventures team.

It’s been a good four weeks, and today, it all comes to an end as you prepare to leave Kathmandu for your next destination. But wait, before you go to the airport, be sure to talk to your representative at Himalayan Planet Adventures about other adventures in the mighty Himalayas. There is so much more to see and do not only in Nepal, but also the neighboring countries of Tibet, India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. There is so much more to see and do, and your new friends at Himalayan Planet Adventures can put together additional journeys and trips for you!