Everest Base Camp & Gokyo Lakes
My story begins browsing Instagram and stumbling upon Ujjwal’s awesome page called lostinthehimalaya. It was a shot taken from Gokyo-Ri featuring the turquoise lakes and the stunning chain of mountains in the backdrop that really caught my eye. I contacted Ujjwal/Lostinthehimalaya to plan a trip and within a few months I was in Kathmandu preparing for an adventure that I will remember for the rest of my life.
The flight into Lukla is an amazing (yet slightly terrifying) experience of its own. The short one hour flight offers spectacular views of the Himalayan range, weaving through mountains before a somewhat sketchy landing in the world’s most dangerous airport, Lukla.
Not long after trekking out of Lukla, we entered into the serene landscape of the Everest region. Here we began trekking through the Nepali flats (haha!),winding through forests, into wide open valleys, over suspension bridges and across gushing rivers. The landscape changes drastically as the trek goes on. Day by day the views got better and better, and scenery left me in awe every step of the way.
After days of trekking to such incredibly high and remote areas, we finally reached Everest Base Camp - yay! This is was an incredible moment and a very special achievement. However, it was the next part of the journey that I really loved and would also recommend to anyone trekking within this region.
Gokyo Lakes via Cho La Pass was much more challenging and the perfect way to satisfy my thirst for adventure. It was a very steep ascent to get to the pass and required me to climb over big boulders. At the top, we strapped on crampons to cross the ice field before trekking through more Nepali flats again, crossing the rubble-covered Ngozumpa Glacier, before finally arriving at the small lakeside village, Gokyo.
From here we decided to watch the sunset from the summit of Gokyo-Ri. By now we had been trekking for close to 10 hours so climbing Gokyo-Ri on the same day was a struggle but I am so glad I did.
The unhindered views of the turquoise Lakes, Ngozumpa Glacier and endless chain of mountains, with Mount Everest towering above the rest, was nothing short of spectacular. This was an unforgettable experience that left me feeling incredibly small, yet wonderfully free. It was the perfect way to end my amazing time trekking in the Everest region.
