Everest Base Camp Trek with Gokyo Lakes via Cho La- My 20 days Adventure in Everest Region
On 23rd September 2023, I started my Everest Base Camp Trek with Gokyo Lakes and Cho La combined. This time, I guided one female client from England, my first client from NepTrek, who was trekking to the world’s highest base camp.
The trek had 15-day itinerary, but with flight cancellations due to bad weather for days, our trek extended to 17 days. Also, while returning to Kathmandu, the flight got cancelled for a few more days, which pushed the itinerary to 20 days. Here, I’m sharing my experience of this wholesome adventure.
How did I get to trek to Everest Base Camp?
If you don’t know what I do, here’s a quick idea.
I run a travel blog called NepTrek and am a freelance trekking guide(Licensed). One female client from the UK was interested in trekking with me to Everest Base Camp and Gokyo Lakes via Cho La. With my client, I got to be a trekking guide, and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to trek to the beautiful Everest region.
So, we started our trek on 23rd September and ended on 9th October 2023.
Let’s put my 20 days timeline in order with brief summary.
Kathmandu to Lukla flight cancelation
We had the first Kathmandu to Lukla flight ticket. However, the airlines shifted our ticket to the third flight. The morning, we started with a headache.
Lukla was rainy for the past 24 hours. But I was hoping for good weather in the morning. The first three flights landed in Lukla. However, the weather worsened, and all the flights were delayed till 12 pm. After 1 pm, the airline announced the flight cancellation.
My client denied my request to wait another day for clear weather and fly. I also asked my client if she wanted to fly on a helicopter to Lukla. However, she told me to look for a scorpio and take a road trip to Phaplu and Salleri. After searching for 30 minutes, we got a scorpio and started our 11-hour Kathmandu- Phaplu ride.
Drive along BP Highway and Khurkot to Salleri
We took the Scorpio at 2 pm, which was already late considering the distance between Kathmandu and Salleri. With our spirits high, we started the road trip.
We stopped for dinner at Ghurmi at 8 pm. It was pitch dark, and no other vehicles were on the road. Some sections were densely foggy and were testing the concentration of our driver. But anyway, he was a pro and gave us a worry-less ride.
We stopped at Okhaldhunga Bazaar for a pee break. The time was around 9 pm.
From here, we drove non-stop to Salleri. It was raining and getting chillier. After 10, I fell asleep, almost till Phaplu.
All tea houses were closed at Phaplu at 12:30 am
It was around midnight by the time we reached Salleri. The downpour was continuing. Almost all the hotels and tea houses at Salleri looked closed.
Our last hope was to drive to Phaplu and get a lodge to sleep. Luckily, we found a motel at Phaplu, which was open. However, it was almost packed, and we had no rooms to sleep. They somehow managed space for my client, but we had only one option: sleeping in the dining hall.
I had a sleeping bag in which I curled at 1 am. Even while sleeping, I was feeling the jeep-lag.
Salleri-Phaplu-Andheri Khola- Khari Khola to Bupsa 7 hours off-road Jeep drive
The next morning, after breakfast, we took a jeep on reserve from Phaplu to Bupsa. I didn’t know the jeeps were meant to be shared instead of reserved. I paid 12000 rupees on the reservation, which would’ve cost me just 2000–3000 per head upon sharing. Anyway, we had the comfort of the Jeep on the off-road drive.
There were multiple occasions when our Jeep stopped for servicing. One was so severe that we stopped for nearly one hour somewhere at Lower Solu.
We stopped at Andheri Khola for lunch. Chicken Rice was very tasty, and I’d recommend everyone try their chicken rice with fresh cucumber.
After lunch, we drove 20 minutes further to Dudh Koshi and changed to another jeep. From this point, it took almost 3 hours for us to reach Bupsa (Ramailo Danda).
By the time we reached there, our trek porter was already there. He carried my client’s backpack and started walking to Chamling Lodge, one hour from Bupsa.
There was no trekker on Sep 24, so the tea house was almost empty. We got the comfort of sleeping in guest rooms. Haha! The food was good. The owner was such a kind person. She was amazing.
Bupsa-Chheubas-Paiyaa-Surkhe-Ghat Village (11 hours walk)
We started the trek around 8 am. A one-hour walk from Bupsa took us to Thamdanda. Those who start Everest Base Camp from Salleri can reach Thamdanda by a jeep.
As road construction was underway, we had to take alternate yet long, muddy, and slippery trails.
We were walking, walking, walking, and walking. Luckily, there was no rain, only sun.
We managed to reach Surkhe around 3 pm and stopped for lunch.
By the time we finished our lunch, the rain started falling. With rain, our walking speed was getting limited. From Surkhe, we climbed to Chaurikharka. It was a beautiful village with clean alleys, stone-paved trails, and beautiful houses.
Once we hit the Lukla-Phakding trail, I was happiest that day. I was relieved we finally hit the primary trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp. We were trying to reach Phakding by the evening. But my client was struggling to walk as she was tired so severely. So we decided to stay overnight at Ghat Village.
Since Ghat is known for lunch place, I had no idea about where to stay for overnight. Luckily, we found one good tea house. It was so clean that the owners made us take off our shoes on the door. Haha.
Phakding to Namche Bazaar (9.4 km, 3,440 meters)
We started the trek after breakfast, around 8 am. The sun was up and weather was very clear. I was regretting about how we missed our Kathmandu to Lukla flight.
We trekking to Phakding, TokTok, Benkar, crossed a suspension bridge, and ascended to Monjo. At trekker’s checkpost at Monjo, I purchased trek permits for my client.
From Monjo Checkpost, we trekked 20 more minutes and stopped at Jorsale for lunch.
While waiting for lunch, I managed to wash my head with shampoo and cold water. And while eating lunch, with mid-day sun, my hair got dry.
Past Jorsale, we crossed a bridge, walked along the shore of Dudh Koshi River, and started ascending to Larcha Dovan. Larcha Dovan is where you’ll cross the longest and highest suspension bridge, Hillary Bridge, in Everest region. It freaks out to most due to the height it’s suspended.
As we walked for 11 hours last day, from Bupsa to Ghat, we were too much tired. The context here is that Namche Bazaar from Hillary Bridge is a total ascend. With uphill walk of two hours, we were dead tired.
Seeing Namche Bazaar felt so good. It was a sight of relief.
We looked for a tea house in Namche and settled in.
Acclimatization at Namche Bazaar. Hike to Hotel Everest View (3,880 meters, 4hours)
We started our morning with beautiful breakfast at Himalayan Java Namche. It’s close to Hotel Namche, a hotel we stayed in Namche for three nights.
Morning weather was good with the sun. Mountains were bit covered by the clouds. We hiked to Sagarmatha National Park area to view Mt. Everest and other mountains. Although there were clouds covering mountains, we managed to get glimpse of almost every mountains.
After sightseeing at park area, we started our 3 hours hike to Hotel Everest View in Syangboche. The uphill walk was a bit tiring.
At Hotel Everest View, we ordered Masala Tea. It was great! If you visit there anytime soon, go for Masala Tea. They serve one of the best milk masala tea.
While returning to Namche, we stop at Sagarmatha Next. Its a initiative on minimizing the solid waste in Everest region through creativity and innovation. We watched a short movie, tried VR headset, and learned a lot about the project.
After reaching Namche, my client went to Himalayan Java for rest of the day. I had nothing to do for the day. To kill the boredom, I picked up a book “The Call of Everest: Conrad Anker” at the hotel and went through some pages. It was great.
During evening, I took my client to Sherpa museum. It was a good visit.
Trek to Debuche from Namche (3860 meters, 9.6 km, 6 hours)
Breakfast at Namche was good. Anil was trekking with us till Namche. But he decided to trek to Gokyo Lakes instead of trekking to Everest Base Camp with us. We waived him and started our trek to Tengboche.
Weather wasn’t good. The sun was up but the clouds were all over the mountains. But the walk was good. We were enjoying every moment of it.
We trekked for two and half hours and stopped for lunch at Pungi Thanga. The tea house was jam packed! My client had fried rice. I opted for Dal Bhat.
After lunch, we started climbing up to Tengboche. I had no problem with walking. But my client was super tired within few minutes of walking uphill.
It took us two hours to reach to Tengboche monastery. It was a serene place and I felt serenity. My client did some tours of the monastery. I enjoyed capturing some photographs.
We trekked down to Debuche for 30 minutes. We stayed overnight at Hotel Good Luck. It’s the best. If you’re reading this, stay at this hotel. Rooms are good. Food is good.
