Gokyo Lakes and Gokyo Ri: Everest's quiet neighbouring valley – on its own or as a circuit over the Cho La to base camp

What Gokyo is: a glacier, six lakes, a viewpoint peak

Above Namche the Khumbu splits. The main route heads north-east via Tengboche and Dingboche to base camp; the Gokyo valley heads north, up the Dudh Kosi to its source, the Ngozumpa Glacier. It flows down from Cho Oyu, is 36 kilometres long and thus the longest glacier in the Himalayas – in its lower part a grey field of rubble and ponds, along whose western edge lies a chain of lakes. The Gokyo Lakes, six of them between 4,700 and 5,000 metres, are turquoise because the glacier water arrives filtered through moraine; since 2007 they have been protected as a Ramsar wetland. On the third lake, Dudh Pokhari, lies the village of Gokyo at 4,790 metres: a dozen lodges, full in autumn, almost empty in winter.

Above it stands Gokyo Ri, 5,357 metres according to Wikipedia – operators write anything between 5,340 and 5,483. Two to three hours steeply up over grass steps and scree, mostly before sunrise, prayer flags at the top. From here you see four 8,000-metre peaks at once: Everest with Nuptse and Lhotse in front, Makalu further right, Cho Oyu to the north, plus the glacier and the lakes below. Many consider this view better than the one from Kala Patthar, because here Everest stands as a mountain and not as a wall.

The valley is quieter than the main route. Anyone who knows the lodges on the base camp trail in October understands the difference: in Dole and Machhermo there are beds, in Gokyo the stove in the dining room is not crowded. It is colder for that – nights in Gokyo are often around minus ten, and the wind off the glacier arrives in the afternoon.

Three variants: Gokyo alone, over the Cho La to base camp, over the Renjo La

The Gokyo-only trek goes from Lukla to Namche like all of them, then turns north – Phortse Thanga or Mong La, Dole, Machhermo, Gokyo – and comes back the same way. Ten to eleven trekking days, one night at 4,790 metres, the summit morning on Gokyo Ri as the highest point. Eight packages do exactly that: Trekking Planner in 12 days from the Lukla flight, Base Camp Adventure, Prime Himalayas, Adventure Bound and Accessible Adventure in 11, Ace the Himalaya, Alpine Club and Alliance in 15 days with a Kathmandu programme. The difference from base camp: no night above 4,800 metres, no stage at 5,100, but a valley you see in full. It is the right choice for anyone to whom Everest as a picture is enough and base camp as a place does not matter.

The circuit over the Cho La joins the two without walking any path twice. Classically it goes to Gokyo first, then across the Ngozumpa Glacier to Thagnak, over the pass to Dzongla the next morning, on to Lobuche and onto the main route: base camp, Kala Patthar, descent via Pheriche and Tengboche. Fourteen to seventeen trekking days. Himalayan Adventure does it in 17 days, Himalayan Sanctuary in 18 with an extra day for the fifth lakes, Explore Himalaya in 20 with a detour via Thame and Khumjung, Ace the Himalaya in 17 (on the main page). Marvel Treks walks the circuit the other way round: base camp and Kala Patthar first, then over the Cho La to Gokyo – in 14 days with only one rest day, which is tight; in return you climb Gokyo Ri at the end, when you are acclimatised.

The Renjo La (5,360 m) leads west from Gokyo into the Bhote Koshi valley and back via Thame to Namche – the third pass option, without base camp, but with its own view of Everest and the Gokyo lake from the top. On Viator there is a single product for it with more than three reviews, Dream Himalaya in 16 days, and that without a published day-by-day itinerary. The full Three Passes circuit with Kongma La, Cho La and Renjo La currently has no package on the platform that meets our criteria.

The stages with altitudes

Altitudes from Wikipedia (Gokyo Ri, Cho La, lakes) and the itineraries of Trekking Planner, Ace, Himalayan Adventure and Marvel; operators differ by up to 130 metres. Walking times from operator data.

Two itineraries from the Viator data

The Gokyo-only trek in twelve days (Trekking Planner, from the Lukla flight) and the circuit in reverse in fourteen (Marvel Treks, base camp first). The classic direction via Gokyo to base camp is on the itinerary page as Ace's 17-day programme.

Stops and walking times from the operator's Viator product data, edited for length. Maps and figures illustrate the route and are not for navigation.

Acclimatisation and the pass day

The Gokyo valley acclimatises well by itself: Namche 3,440, Dole 4,200, Machhermo 4,470, Gokyo 4,790 – around 300 metres more sleeping altitude each day, which is the rule of thumb. All cleared programmes have the rest day in Namche and two nights in Gokyo; Alpine Club has three. Gokyo Ri on the morning before the pass is not an optional extra but the acclimatisation stage that makes the Cho La possible: once up to 5,357 and back down, and you sleep better in Thagnak. Programmes that call Gokyo Ri “optional” (Himalayan Sanctuary) mean well, but you should climb it.

The Cho La is not a technical pass, but it is the most serious day of the circuit. From Thagnak the path climbs steeply through a scree gully to the top; on the eastern side lies a glacier field that you cross – depending on the season firm névé, bare ice or fresh snow. Operators describe it with varying candour: Himalayan Sanctuary writes “steep, with a glacier traverse on the eastern side”, Ace says the route is diverted in fresh snow. Seven to eight hours, start before five, so that you cross the glacier before the sun softens the ice. What you need: microspikes or light crampons in the pack (the guides carry them; for guests they appear in no inclusions list – rent them in Namche), poles, gloves that keep warm when wet. If you are not sure-footed, walk the Gokyo-only trek; if you have a headache after Gokyo Ri, you do not cross the pass but go back via Dole – every guide knows this decision.

Marvel's reverse direction has one advantage and one disadvantage. Advantage: you arrive at the pass already acclimatised from base camp and descend on the western side, where there is no glacier. Disadvantage: before base camp there is only one rest day, Dingboche is passed without an acclimatisation day – tighter than we recommend on the main route. If you book Marvel, negotiate the Dingboche day in.

Permits: the same as at base camp

The Gokyo valley lies in Sagarmatha National Park and in the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality, so the same two papers apply as on the main route: the national park entry of NPR 3,000 (around USD 22), checked at Monjo, and the municipality's Trek Card for another NPR 3,000, obtained in Lukla or Monjo. A TIMS card is not required in the Khumbu – the municipality has replaced it with its own card; several operators still write “TIMS” in their lists, mostly as a catch-all. The Cho La and the Renjo La need no additional permit; only someone heading for the Nangpa La towards Tibet would enter the restricted area, and that is not a trekking destination.

Of the 14 packages, twelve name the permits as included; Trekking Planner and Dream Himalaya write “national park and TIMS” or “all required permits”, Himalayan Adventure “TIMS/Khumbu fees” without the national park, Prime Himalayas lists a Langtang fee next to Sagarmatha and Pasang Lhamu that has no business here. Since April 2023 the Nepal Tourism Board's compulsory guide rule applies in Nepal's national parks; the Khumbu municipality has resisted it, and in practice it is not enforced at the checkpoints. For the packages here it makes no difference – all are guided.

The Lukla flight is the same for Gokyo as for base camp, with the same Manthali rule in peak season and the same lost days in fog. If you do not know that yet: the itinerary page has it all. One package deserves a mention here: Alliance Adventure is the only one that writes the drive to Manthali on the previous day into its itinerary instead of hiding it in the night before the flight.

14 packages compared

The same rules as on the main page: we read the platform's inclusions, exclusions and day-by-day itineraries, nothing is confirmed with the operator. Ten products are clear, four carry a reservation – Prime Himalayas for the copied permit list, Adventure Bound for the missing itinerary, Accessible Adventure for meals that are listed as both included and excluded, Dream Himalaya for the itinerary as running text and the flight missing from the list. Blocked, and therefore not shown, are eight further Gokyo products with lists consisting only of meals or “private transportation” – among them the most-reviewed one with 79 reviews.

The range: USD 1,235 with Adventure Bound and USD 1,399 with Trekking Planner for eleven days from the Lukla flight (Trekking Planner without lunch and dinner), 1,650 to 1,785 for the 11- to 15-day programmes with full board, 1,900 to 2,325 for the circuit over the Cho La. Two persons is the reference price almost everywhere; Ace, Alpine Club, Marvel, Himalayan Adventure and Accessible tier by group size, Himalayan Adventure and Prime do not take single bookers.

List prices

List prices per person, adults, from Viator availability data; reconciled daily. Converted at the exchange rate of 28 September 2026; Viator converts at the day's rate at checkout. Prime TG2 is breakfast only, Marvel TG2 names only teahouse and guide; Trekking Planner includes only breakfast on the trek. On top come, as at base camp, visa, insurance with helicopter rescue, tips and drinks – the full sum is on the cost page.

Questions about Gokyo and Cho La

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