Days 206 – 209: Nepal Trek Days 4 – 7: Gokyo Valley
Over the next four days, we veered off the main Everest Base Camp Trek for a detour through the Gokyo Valley, after which we will climb the Cho-la Mountain Pass and rejoin the main trail 2 days before reaching EBC. Even though the Gokyo Valley has stunning scenery and allows you to turn you 2-week hike into a more interesting loop (rather than returning the same way you come in), the trail is surprisingly not that popular, which is great for us as it means we get a break from the crowds!
Our first day on the trail we hiked from Namche to Dole (skipping an optional night in Phortse Tenga) – a lot of up and down (mostly up) hiking from 8AM to 1PM, with an hour-long break for an early lunch at 11AM. We were finding that we were typically 1-2hrs faster than our itinerary – probably due to the fact that we walk a lot faster without the burden of all our gear – loving having a porter!
Heading off towards the Gokyo Valley – a 6-day detour from the main Everest Trail, and thankfully less crowded
Lots of ups and downs on the trail – mostly ups
A memorial stupa dedicated to Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who – along with Sir Edmund Hillary – was the first person to summit Everest in 1953
While the Gokyo Valley Trek is less crowded, that doesn’t mean it is deserted. On our first day out from Namche we were surrounded by fellow trekkers
One of our last days below the tree line – Igor snaps a pic of a wizened old thing covered in Old Man’s Beard, and another pine filled with dark blue birds
We lost a lot of the crowd on the turn off to Phortse – a large village across the river – as we were skipping straight ahead to Dole
Passing by the cliffside village of Phortse on our way to Dole
A small hole in the clouds slowly grows bigger, giving us a view of the peaks of Thamserku
Thumbs up for a great day of hiking!
While we were initially disappointed in our teahouse in Dole (as it did not have any rooms with ensuite bathroom), we soon forgot about the bare bones surroundings when we discovered the owners had a PUPPY! This tiny ball of fur was adorably affectionate and nestled against Igor for several hours until we had to wake it up for our dinner. After her long nap, Puppy soon turned into a little terror, harassing an Italian couple sitting by the stove, alternatingly stealing their slippers or biting their fingers. As she watched the Italians cower atop their chairs, Lindsay turned to Igor and said, “We should totally get another puppy when we get home…”
We had hiked for 5hr and ascended 670m, so we decided that today was the day we started eating dal bhat – the Nepalese staple dish of rice and lentil soup, with a hearty potato-veggie side dish (oh! And the papadum – can’t forget the crunchy tortilla!). It was *delicious* – we have decided to eat nothing else for dinner for the rest of the trek, especially since this is the ONLY dish that comes with FREE REFILLS. You will not go hungry, as long as you order dal bhat. After a few hours of playing rummy and watching Puppy chew on the Italians’ shoes, we finally retired our FREEZING room (two twin beds with nothing but plywood for the floors and walls) and buried ourselves inside our down sleeping bags and comforter. Surprisingly kept us pretty warm!
On day two, we had a short 2hr trek from Dole to Machermo. We were almost disappointed to reach the end of our walk so early in the day, but we needed to acclimatize before moving on to Gokyo. We had plenty of time to relax and take care of some washing. Igor was game for an afternoon day-hike to a viewpoint, but unfortunately the clouds rolled in just after lunch ruining his plans, so we visited the Machermo Hospital for their free daily talk instead.
Breakfast at the Norland Lodge in Dole – a hearty serving of porridge and scrambled eggs!
As the sun came up we discovered we had our first (of many) cloudless mornings! Our eyes feasted on the gorgeous, unmarred landscape surrounding us. Turns out the weather of the Gokyo Valley would be very predictable over the next few days – cloudless and sunny in the mornings, with clouds rolling in just after lunch
Leaving the settlement of Dole and a waning half-moon in the distance as we carry on up the trail
A clear view of Thamserku as we continue up the trail
There is nothing but wilderness in between settlements, so when we start passing stone cottages, we know we have reached Machermo. As we walk up to the small town, Igor holds his arms up in triumph
We made great time on our morning walk and reach Machermo within 3hrs before lunch. Since we have plenty time and the sun is still shining, we take the opportunity to wash our clothes and our bodies (oh, la la Igor!)
Chillin’ out in Machermo, enjoying the sunshine and the (Nepalese-publication) “Food & Wine Magazine”
The teahouse in Machermo
DELICIOUS food! A cheese sandwich *with chips* (that’s always a nice surprise!) and our second dinner of dal bhat
Since the clouds had rolled in and destroyed any view we would have gotten during our afternoon hike, we decided to head over to the Machermo Hospital for their free daily presentation on Acute Mountain Sickness and porter welfare. The hospital is staffed with volunteer doctors (Western & Nepali) who typically stay for the season. It was mainly founded in order to improve the emergency care access for porters, many of who are impoverished, don’t have insurance and – contrary to popular belief – are NOT “Sherpas” (people indigenous to the Himalayan highlands, who have a genetic adaptation to high altitudes); most porters are Tamils from the lower Kathmandu Valley who only come up to the mountains for seasonal work. As such, they are just as susceptible to altitude sickness as Western tourists, but they often push themselves to their limits in order to make a decent wage (USD $15/day plus tips for carrying 130KG is considered standard, but sadly many work for less and carry much more). Not only is treatment for porters provided free of charge, the hospital also has a shelter and kitchen where the porters can stay – apparently there are many instances where porters will cook and sleep in “caves” or under rocks, completely exposed to the elements!
Our porter eats at the same teahouses we do, and either sleeps at our teahouse, or at a cheaper one when we are in bigger settlements with more selection – like Namche Bazaar. However, Igor had noticed that our porter seemed to be catching a cold over the last two days, so he asked Phurba to translate his request that the porter got to the hospital to get a check-up and some cold medicine. We had an acclimatization day coming up the day after next, so hopefully he would have plenty of time to rest and recover.
Walking over to the Machermo clinic for their free afternoon presentation
Lindsay’s Indonesian boots have been giving her horrible blisters on both her heels. Even though we stocked up on blister pads in Kathmandu, they must be cheap knock-offs of the Dr. Scholls versions as they slip right off by the middle of the hike. The Machermo Hospital charges foreigners USD $10 for treatment (it’s the only revenue they have to keep the place open), so we picked up two hospital-grade blister pads…which also slipped off the next day. Lindsay must have abnormally sweaty feet…
On our third day, we left Machermo around 8AM and reached Gokyo just before lunchtime, around 11:30AM. Again, we had beautiful hiking weather, giving us lovely views of the surrounding mountains and the three alpine lakes on the way up the valley. When we reached Gokyo, we checked in to our *favorite* teahouse so far – the Fitzroy Inn Gokyo – the most hospitable (*Free* welcome drink! *Hot towels* before dinner!) and comfortable hotel (*in room* electrical charging and *hot showers*!).
Over lunch, we reviewed the itinerary with Phurba – originally we were supposed to do a one day hike to the 4th & 5th Lakes tomorrow, saving the hike up Gokyo Ri (5300m! Same as EBC!) for the day we leave. Igor was concerned with the weather – he didn’t want to risk having the view obscured in case we got a cloudy morning. We convinced Phurba to allow us to attempt both day-hikes in one day. We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in our gloriously warm room, where (thanks to the in-room outlets) we were able to use the laptop and Kindle as long as we liked!
So many majestic mountain peaks surround us during the trek, it’s hard to keep track of which is which
Looking back in the Gokyo Valley, we see some clouds slowly start to follow us
High up in the mountains, we come across the 1st Lake (more of a pond, really) – it’s still pretty early in the morning and the edges of the lake are still sheets of ice
Stone piles surrounding 1st Lake, with Cho Oyu in the distance
As we continue down the trail, we come across 2nd Lake (a decent size – no longer a pond)
Igor strikes a pose in front of 2nd Lake
The sparkling blue waters of the 3rd Lake, with Cholatse, Taboche & Kangtega in the distance
As we walk around to the end of the 3rd Lake we get our first view of Gokyo
As we pass through the prayer flags on our way into town, Igor gets distracted by our first animal sighting – looks like a little hamster
We checked into the lakeside Fitzroy Inn Gokyo – our favorite teahouse on the trek so far! Talk about hospitality – they gave us a free *welcome drink* when we checked in!
We seriously lucked out and got *the* best room in the house – not only does it have a great view, facing 3rd Lake, it also gets LOTS of sun in the afternoon, warming up the bedroom, and the stove-pipe from the dining room downstairs runs through our ensuite bathroom (which has HOT water, BTW), meaning we have a heat source once the sun goes down as well! We were nice and toasty!
Since we had climbed over 1,000m from Namche Bazaar to Gokyo, we were required to stay an additional night to aid acclimatization. Thanks to our previous 2-weeks in Tibet, we were already acclimatized to at least 3,600m (the altitude of Lhasa), but at 4,800m we were starting to feel very mild pressure on our heads (not *quite* a headache, but not 100% either) and Igor had a horrible night sleep – waking up at 1AM and unable to fall back asleep for the rest of the night.
We got up really early – at 5AM! – as we needed an early start if we wanted to accomplish both day hikes before the clouds rolled in. We were successful, but only because the clouds didn’t roll in until around 3PM. In hindsight, doing both hikes was probably a bad call – after a 4hr hike up and down Gokyo Ri, an hour long break for a “second breakfast”, and a 4½hr hike to the 4th and 5th Lakes, we were *exhausted*! We both developed about 3 new blisters each and Lindsay’s mild pressure headache turned into a full-fledged altitude headache with nausea on the side (thankfully, a pot of ginger tea, a plate of plain rice and a half tablet of generic brand Diamox fixed her right up).
Getting up at dawn to start our hike up Gokyo Ri
Crossing the ice-covered stone walkway across 3rd Lake toward Gokyo Ri – a nearly 65⁰ incline!
A view of Gokyo across the lake
As Phurba waits for Lindsay to catch up, Igor spots some alpine pheasants just as the sun starts to light up the mountain peaks
Sunrise over 3rd Lake
Lindsay and Igor climbing Gokyo Ri
A Buddha shrine at the top of Gokyo Ri – at 5,360m not only does the village of Gokyo look tiny, but so does the helicopter flying below us!
Panorama of the Ngozumpa Glacier and the surrounding mountains as seen from the summit of Gokyo Ri
It took us 2.5hrs, but we finally made it to the top!
From the top of Gokyo Ri we also get a clear view of Mount Everest
Climbing (very carefully) back down the hill to the village for our well-deserved “second breakfast”
We finally reach the bottom of the hill and the shores of 3rd Lake just before 10AM – we’ve already had a productive day, but we (foolishly) decided to fit in a *second* day hike!
Hiking to the 4th and 5th Lakes, another good 2.5hr from Gokyo Village
As we pass by 4th Lake, we can see the afternoon clouds starting to creep into the valley
The aquamarine waters of the 5th Lake
Before heading back down the trail, we climb the crest of the hill hiding the rock-covered Ngozumpa Glacier – we have been walking parallel to it all afternoon but it was hidden from view
We have sunny weather up until the last 40min of our walk back to Gokyo – once the cloud bank rolled in the temperature dropped a good 10⁰ contributing to Lindsay AMS headache that night. As soon as we got back to the hotel, she crawled into bed and moaned for some aspirin and HOT ginger tea