Everest & Gokyo Lakes Circuit

Begin your adventure at the Royal Singi Hotel in Kathmandu, the start point for many of our Himalayan treks over the years. Around 6pm, bid namaste to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead during a full trek briefing. Your tour leader then ensures a big Nepalese welcome by arranging a group dinner. Want to explore Kathmandu further? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

We have a very early start this morning to drive (approximately four hours) out to Manthali Airport (RHP) where all Lukla flights now operate from. We depart our hotel at approximately 3am to ensure arriving in Manthali for in time for the first morning flights to Lukla. The hotel will provide a packed breakfast for the journey. We fly to the mountain airstrip of Lukla (9,190ft/2,800m), and set off on the first short leg of our trek, heading north up the valley of the Dudh Kosi (Milk River). We descend from the small plateau into the forested valley. The trail offers tantalising views before reaching the settlement of Phakding, where we spend our first night.

Heading out of Phakding, we follow the Dudh Kosi north. Today's walk takes us through magnificent forests with glimpses of the mountains ahead. We cross the river several times by bridge as we pass through the villages of Benkar, Monzo and Jorsale. A final bridge brings us to the foot of the steep climb to Namche. Halfway up the ascent, we may get our first glimpse (cloud permitting) of the Everest summit behind the great ridge of Nuptse-Lhotse. A last 985ft (300m) climb brings us to Namche Bazaar, the Sherpa capital and the main town in the area. Namche is a prosperous Sherpa town and an important trading centre. It has a weekly market on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings, but the town always bustles with trekkers, coffee shops, bakeries and stores selling all kinds of trekking and climbing gear and Tibetan souvenirs.

We climb steeply out of Namche past the airstrip at Shyangboche to the Everest View Hotel, the highpoint of our day at 12,730ft (3,880m). Built by the Japanese, this spectacularly situated hotel with wonderful views of Everest and Ama Dablam is an ideal place for a tea break. Enroute to the Everest View Hotel, you will have the option to stop off at the Sagarmatha Next experience centre and learn about the work this local organisation is doing to tackle waste pollution on the mountain trails and how you can help. Descending through forest, we come to Khumjung, where we have lunch close to the Sir Edmund Hillary School. After, we walk up to Kunde and visit the Edmund Hillary Hospital. The twin villages of Kunde and Khumjung are below Khumbila, the rocky peak sacred to all Sherpas. For much of the walk, we have great views of Ama Dablam and other Himalaya giants. We walk back down through Khumjumg to the monastery. Sadly, it was damaged in the earthquake but is now being repaired. Inside is a small box and, after paying the entry fee (which goes towards the repairs), we will be shown the only yeti skull in the world. Descending to the main trail, we spend the night at Kyanjuma.

At Kyanjuma we turn off the main trail and begin climbing to the Mong La, marked by a chorten on the top of a ridge at 3,972m. This ridge descends from Khumbila, the abode of the patron god of all Sherpas. From the ridge, the trail descends in a series of steep switchbacks towards the Dudh Kosi. At Phortse Tenga (3,600m) there are a few tea houses to choose from for our lunch stop. After lunch the trail starts to climb steeply out of the valley and we enter the rhododendron forests, which give way to juniper and conifers higher up the valley. We pass through kharkas, summer settlements used by the Sherpas to graze their yaks, before coming to Dole, where we have magnificent views of Kangtaiga and Tramserku. Total ascent: 2,887ft (880m); total descent: 2,119ft (464m)

A short walk today. From Dole the trail is steep in places as it passes through Lhabarma and Luza along the side of the valley, high above the river through scrub junipers until we cross the sandy spurs to Machhermo (4,410m). It was here in 1974 that a yeti was reported to have attacked a sherpa and killed three yaks! We should get to Machhermo by lunchtime and in the afternoon there is time for an acclimatisation walk up onto the ridge behind the lodge for amazing views of Tramserku.

We begin today by climbing a ridge for an excellent view down the valley to Kangtaiga and Tramserku and up the valley towards Cho Oyu (8,201m). The valley now widens as the trail passes through Pangkha then descends to the riverbank before beginning the steep climb on a narrow trail onto the terminal moraine of the Ngozumpo Glacier. We pass the first of the lakes at Gokyo, called Longpongo. We then follow the almost level trail past the second lake and on to the third lake and the walled meadows and lodges of Gokyo at 4,750m. Gokyo is a small settlement of lodges on the shores of a blue lake. Look out for Brahmany Ducks swimming in the lake. We have lunch in Gokyo and in the afternoon we can walk up the hill behind the lodge for incredible views of the Ngozumpo Glacier.