Everest Base Camp is on every trekker’s bucket list. However, diverging from the main Everest highway, is the less crowded Gokyo Ri trail. Everest-Gokyo Ri circuit is a more wholesome trek- taking you to Gokyo and Khumbu region with world’s tallest mountains, Asia’s largest glacier (present in the header image) and six alpine lakes to offer. Our trekker Arun Nayak captures this incredible trail with his images and words.

All it needs is a phone call from Lukla saying, “all clear” and suddenly the hostesses at Kathmandu (1,400 m) airport are packing you off into the numerous turbo props. Made me think its so easy to hijack these aircrafts. But then, only an idiot would hijack a dozen people who don’t see anything right in living normally!

Beyond Dole and later beyond Macchermo, the Cho Oyu (8, 201 m) is your companion till you cross the Ngozumpa glacier two days later. The sixth highest mountain is a huge snow wall and an additional treat on the Gokyo trail, as compared to the standard Everest Base Camp trail.

En route to Gokyo from Macchermo, the boulder walk makes you climb levels and at each level you find a pristine blue/green lake of increasing dimension till you reach Lake 3 at Gokyo. It is forbidden to take a skinny dip due to religious reasons and we didn’t even venture to find out if anyone can fish in them. Probably not…

Gokyo Lakes look pretty unassuming from the ground level. As we walked past 3 of them during our walk from Macchermo to Gokyo, I had written them off having seen the splendour of the Kashmir Great Lakes. But then, God also made Gokyo Ri (5, 357 m). And he made sure that every man who goes past these lakes also climbs Gokyo Ri to see how beautiful even his watery creations were. As you climb Gokyo Ri expecting to see the mighty Everest, Makalu, Lhotse, Cho Oyu etc,  right behind you, the three blue/green grand lakes seems to dwarf everything around them. Here you can see trekkers climbing up and as they catch on precious breath, get enthralled by what stands behind them!

Classic view of Mt.Everest (8, 848 m), Lhotse (8, 516 m) , Nuptse (7,861 m) and Makalu (8,481 m) from Gokyo Ri summit. The Ngozumpa glacier and its ever moving glacial lakes lie in the foreground.

The sights you see on this trek stay with you long after it is over. The feeling of trekking among world’s highest mountains is beyond superlatives! I couldn’t help but make a silent prayer to get me back on this grand trail again for yet another unforgettable experience.