Gokyo Ri Trek

So the blog is no longer going in chronological order as the posts about India and Thailand will come when I can upload my digital camera. This also probably the coolest part of my trek, as I am doing a 12 day trek to Gokyo Ri in the Himalayas. 

The two popular trekking routes in Nepal are Everest Base Camp and the Annapurna Circuit treks. The EBC trek has become increasingly popular over the past several years with notoriety for Mt. Everest coming from books and documentaries, most notably John Krakauer's Into Thin Air.

These treks are also very popular because there is no need to carry around camping, cooking and food supplies as Tea Houses provide accommodation and food for their guests at a reasonable price. Trekkers go from tea house to tea house with their personal supplies.

I am doing a slightly less popular but equally challenging and arguably more stunning Gokyo Ri trail. This trek will take a total of 12 days and leaves me with the option to go to EBC if I want to for a 16 day trek. On this trail, I will get to see at least 4 peaks above 8000 meters, including Mt. Everest, Lohtse, Choyu and Makalu, and the 5 holy Gokyo lakes.

I am doing this trek through Green Nepal Trekking (greennepaltreks.com) with a guide that I hired. To give a better understanding of the prices, I negotiated the guide for $18/day, down from $25. The cheapest I've heard was $15/day. This guide will show me the path on where I have to go, help me manage the elements and communicate with the base in Kathmandu.

You also need a TIMS card and a National Parks permit, which cost $40 combined. You can either get them from the, tourist agency, the Nepal Tourism Center (open 10 to 5, 7 days a week) on the corner of Dunbar Marg and Exhibition Road or when you arrive at Lukla (TIMS only) If you decide to get them at Lukla, you may have to pay a bribe and the paperwork that goes to tracking your location at each checkpoint is not guaranteed to go into the system. The National parks permit isn't required until closer to Namche Bazaar.

Tea houses should cost around $2-3 per nite and $3 per meal on the cheap side. The tour agency wanted to sell me a package for $25 per day with room and board include. I learned my lesson in India that it's best to negotiate things separately as it removes the mystery of their price and removes unnecessary fluff.

Here's what my trip looks like:

Day 0: Buy my gear in Kathmandu

Day 1: Fly to Lukla and trek to Phakding (3.5 hours, 2640m)

Day 2: Trek to Namche Bazaar (7 hours, 3420m)

Day 3: Rest/acclimatization day

Day 4: Trek to Dole (5 hours, 4020m)

Day 5: Trek to Machermo (2 hours, 4410m)

Day 6: Trek to Gokyo Valley

Day 7: Morning view of Mt. Everest then rest

Day 8: Trek to Renjo Pass (5360m)

Day 9: Trek to Thame

Day 10: Trek to Namche Bazaar

Day 11: Trek to Lukla

Day 12: Return to Kathmandu

There is apparently better cell coverage on the mountains than Sprint in the USA, but 3G is non existent. Electricity may be a problem as charging can cost up to $3/hour.