Gokyo Lakes via Renjo La Pass Trek – 12 Days

One of our team will be waiting outside the terminal building at Tribhuvan International Airport, ready to take you to your hotel. Keep the rest of the day easy, because you fly into the mountains early tomorrow morning.

Later on, your guide comes to the hotel to talk through the route, check your gear and note down your passport details for the permits. Snow can lie on the far side of the Renjo La even in May, so firm, waterproof boots matter, and your guide will say whether microspikes are worth renting.

The gear shops of Thamel sell or rent anything you’ve forgotten.

Mountain flights go early, while the air is still calm. In spring and autumn most of them leave from Manthali in Ramechhap, which means a drive from Kathmandu in the dark; in the quieter months you fly from Kathmandu itself.

Lukla’s airstrip is only 527 m long, with an 11.7% slope that helps planes slow down. It was built in 1964 under Edmund Hillary’s supervision, and since 2008 it’s been called Tenzing-Hillary Airport.

Once your porters have your bags, you head down a stone path through Chheplung and on beside the Dudh Koshi, past mani walls, prayer wheels and small farms. Phakding is lower than Lukla, so the first night is an easy one for your body.

The trail heads upstream along the Dudh Koshi, switching banks several times on long, swaying suspension bridges hung with prayer flags. At Monjo your permits are checked at the gate of Sagarmatha National Park, which was created in 1976 and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

After Jorsalle you cross the high Hillary Suspension Bridge and start the big climb of the day, a long zigzag up a forested ridge. Give way to porters and yak trains, always standing on the hillside rather than the drop, and keep sipping water.

Namche Bazaar is the trading centre of the Khumbu, its lodges, bakeries and gear shops built in tiers up a steep slope. Every Saturday a market fills the town centre, so if your rest day falls on one, it’s worth a look.

Your body needs time to get used to the thinner air before you go higher, so today you climb, look around and come back down to sleep. The path zigzags up from the top of Namche past the Syangboche airstrip to Hotel Everest View, opened in 1971, where a cup of tea on the terrace can come with Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam if the morning is clear.

From the hotel you walk down to Khumjung (3,790 m), where Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust built the village school in 1961. It started with two classrooms and now teaches more than 350 pupils. The village monastery looks after what is claimed to be a yeti scalp.

Once you’re back in Namche, rest your legs and stock up on snacks, because there’s no real choice of shops between here and Gokyo.

Leaving Namche, you follow the Everest trail around the hillside, then branch off up a steep path to the ridge at Mong La. On a clear day, Ama Dablam, Kangtega and Thamserku stand out across the valley.

From Mong La the trail drops steeply to the river at Phortse Tenga, then climbs for the rest of the day through forest of birch, juniper and rhododendron. Listen for Himalayan snowcocks calling from the slopes above you.

Dole is a handful of lodges on the hillside, and your first night above 4,000 m, about 600 m higher than Namche. A dull headache, a pounding heart on the climbs or a broken night’s sleep are common at this height. Tell your guide if they don’t ease with rest and water.

The trail climbs gently along the open hillside past Lapharma and Luza, two small settlements among yak pastures, to Machhermo (4,470 m), where you stop for lunch.

After Machhermo the path climbs on, steep and rocky in places, to the first lake, Longabanga. The second, Taujon, comes soon after; between them, these two carry the water of the whole chain south into the Dudh Koshi.

Gokyo’s lodges stand on the eastern shore of the third lake, Dudh Pokhari, where yak herders once had only summer huts. Across the water you can see the ridge to the west that you’ll cross on the Renjo La.

This is the biggest jump in sleeping height on the trek, about 700 m. Medical advice is to add no more than about 300 m a day once you’re this high, so walk slowly, drink 3–4 litres and tell your guide straight away about a bad headache, sickness or dizziness. If anyone isn’t coping, you stop at Machhermo instead and move up to Gokyo the next morning.

You leave in the dark and climb the steep zigzag path up Gokyo Ri, about three hours above the village with plenty of stops to breathe.

From the prayer flags on top, Everest, Lhotse and Makalu line the skyline to the east as the sun comes up, while Cho Oyu (8,188 m) and Gyachung Kang (7,952 m) fill the view to the north. Far below, the Ngozumpa Glacier is a wide band of grey rubble dotted with ponds, and the lakes look almost green.

Back in Gokyo, have a late breakfast and rest. If you still feel strong, walk north along the moraine to Thonak Cho, the fourth lake and the biggest of them all at about 65 hectares, and come back in time for an early dinner.

Pack your bag tonight. Tomorrow starts early and finishes late.

Set off at first light along the edge of Dudh Pokhari, then climb west up a long, rocky slope. The higher you go, the more of the lakes and the Ngozumpa spread out behind you.

The top of the Renjo La (5,360 m) is strung with prayer flags. Looking back east, Everest and Makalu rise beyond Gokyo’s lake, and many people rate this view as highly as the one from Gokyo Ri.

The west side drops steeply and can be covered in snow, so use your poles and follow your guide’s line. Lower down, the trail eases into a long, empty valley to Lungden, where you stop for lunch, then carries on down past Marlung to Thame.

It’s the longest and hardest day of the trek, and the last hour into Thame can feel slow. Tonight you sleep in the village where Tenzing Norgay grew up.

Before you leave, walk over to Thame’s monastery, one of the oldest in the Khumbu. It’s known for Mani Rimdu, a Buddhist festival of masked dances, prayers and feasts that is also held at Tengboche.

In August 2024 a glacial lake outburst flood came down this valley and destroyed homes, lodges, the school and the health post in Thame. It was traced to two glacial lakes about 10 km upstream. It wasn’t the first: in 1985 another lake burst destroyed a newly built hydropower plant in this valley.

The walk back to Namche follows the valley east, high above the river, with a few short climbs but mostly downhill.

You reach Namche in time for lunch, with the afternoon free for a hot shower and a last visit to a bakery.

The last full day on the trail starts with the steep drop below Namche to the Hillary Suspension Bridge. The path is dusty and loose in places, so keep your poles out and take short steps.

After the bridge you’re back on the trail you walked on Days 2 and 3, through Jorsalle, Monjo, Benkar and Phakding. The air feels thick and warm after Gokyo, and the climbs that seemed hard on the way up go by easily now.

The day ends with a climb of about an hour from Chheplung up to Lukla. Your porters usually head home from here, so this evening is the time to thank them and hand over tips.

Flights out of Lukla leave in the morning, before the wind and cloud pick up. If yours lands at Manthali, you carry on to Kathmandu by tourist bus or shared jeep.

The rest of the day is yours for a shower, a nap or a wander through Thamel, and in the evening we take you out for a farewell dinner.

Weather can hold up Lukla flights for a day or more, which is why we suggest keeping at least one spare day before your flight home.

We pick you up at your hotel and drive you to Tribhuvan International Airport, aiming to arrive three hours before an international flight.

If you have more days in Nepal, ask us about Pokhara, Chitwan National Park or a guided day around Kathmandu’s old squares and temples.