Gokyo Lake Trek – Explore the Gokyo Valley and Glacier Lakes

Gokyo Lake Trek means a hike to explore the series of lakes in the Gokyo Valley. Gokyo Valley has six beautiful lakes, the world’s sixth-highest peak, Cho Oyu, and the biggest glacier in the Himalaya, Ngochumba Glacier. The Gokyo Ri offers the best mountain scenery in the Everest region, including Mt. Everest 8848.86m, Makalu, Cho Oyu, and Lothse.

Gokyo Lakes are the world’s highest freshwater lakes system and are designated as the Ramsar area (Wetland of international importance). And those Lakes are sacred for both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims and are located at an elevation of 4700 to 5000m above sea level. Even Lonely Planet states that “for your money, the Gokyo Valley is the most spectacular in the Khumbu region.”

Gokyo Lake Trek is also called Gokyo Valley Trek, and it’s a comparatively less crowded trek than the classic Everest Base Camp Trek. Although the need to follow the same trekking trail to Namche Bazar and then turn left to Gokyo Valley. Namche Bazar is the base camp of the Everest region treks, and this town is the most modernized town in Upper Khumbu.

This amazing Trek stands inside the Sagarmatha National Park, and this park is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Hence, you can imagine how worthwhile it is to make a journey to Gokyo Valley for a few days. Trekking is not only walking in the Himalayas and enjoying the mountain panoramas. It is an opportunity to witness the daily lifestyle, culture, and tradition of the particular people who live in the Himalayas.

Day by Day itinerary of the Gokyo Lake Trek

This itinerary is based on my trekking experience at Gokyo Lake. However, it can be changed depending on the time and place you want to visit. Because there are a plethora of options to keep going on the journey to Everest Base Camp or Renjola Pass.

If your soul said let’s do more adventure, then follow the path to Chola Pass to be in Everest Base Camp. And on the other side, you can walk to Renjola Pass to reach Thame and back to Namche Bazar. You can even hike to the base camp of the world’s six highest peaks, Mt. CHO OYU and the Nogochumna Glacier.

To fly at the world’s most dangerous Lukla airport itself is an adventurous beginning of the trek. And follow the route to the wonderful Himalayan town, Namche Bazar. Crossing the chilling suspension bridges along the direction of Gokyo Valley.

Trekking permits

Gokyo Lake Trek is in the Sagarmatha National Park, and it’s one of the UNESCO sites in Nepal. To enter the UNESCO site, you need to have an entrance ticket, which you can buy in Kathmandu and Manjo for this trek. In Kathmandu, Nepal Tourism Board and the National Park Office in Lukla and Manjo.

TIMS Card is mandatory for this excursion. The TIMS card is a card for your trekking information management. This card you can issue, and you have to issue it in Kathmandu. You can also get on the Nepal tourism board. If you are trekking with a trekking company, the company will organize TIMS and Trekking permits.

Local Government Tax (Khumbu Pashang Lhamu Rural Municipality) will charge an entry fee at Lukla for every trekker, it will be Rs. 3000 rupees.

When to do this trek?

As usual, trekking in Nepal in the spring and fall is the best season. Because during that season, the clear weather, a good temperature, and the festive season in Nepal. Also, the blooming of the Rhododendron flowers along the trekking route during spring is something extra from the trek.

Spring season – March, April, and May

Autumn season – September, October, and November

Accommodation

The Everest region is a well-developed trekking trail in Nepal. So that you can have the best accommodation during the trek. It all depends on what kind of place you are looking to spend a night. A luxury hotel with an attached bathroom and an electric warm blanket is available to a normal guest house with a simple bedroom and a shared toilet.

In a nutshell,

Gokyo Lake Trek is a journey to the pristine water lakes and glacier gorge in the Everest region. To have an outstanding snowy mountain glimpse and observe the Sherpa culture, history, and tradition. This trek is a moderate type of trek and requires good physical condition to accomplish the trek. More importantly, good travel insurance is necessary because you may need to evacuate in an emergency, and fly by helicopter if there is bad weather in Lukla.