We were a pair, that just finished the Gokyo trip. The experience was amazing, and the local operator (Dipak, our guide Bhanu, and all others that helped) did a great job. My girlfriend was worried by altitude sickness, and we had a slow and steady trek, and in the end, we both managed to "climb" to the 5360 m high Gokyo Ri! We are very grateful to our local tour operator for this experience.
The weather was amazing (I really recommend going in mid October), and so were the views of course! The culture, nature, food and overall exercise you will do on this trek are amazing. Moreover, after Namche Bazar, it becomes much less crowded (due to the fact, that hundreds go to see Everest Base Camp), and we really wanted to avoid the crowds. The Gokyo valley is peaceful, serene, and offers breathtaking views on Cho Oyu troughout the trek, and on Sagarmatha (Everest) on several occasions (basically, everytime you "climb" a bit higher).
Trekking and Hiking
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
The Trek was excellent - the scenery was fantastic with the clear weather in mid-October. The trekking was sometimes challenging, but never too hard for fairly fit "almost-60-year-olds". The views of Everest and its surrounding peaks, especially from Tengboche Monastery, were fantastic. If you don't feel the need, or have the time, to go all the way to Everest Base Camp, this is the trek to take!
I completed the EBC trek with this local tour operator in October. From the beginning the company were excellent. They responded to all questions very quickly and clearly. They provided lots of extra information for me for my stay in Kathmandu. The guide on my trek, Raj, was excellent. He was great fun and had our safety as his first priority all the time. He kept us positive throughout and gave us clear information before each day of what would happen. The lodges we stayed in were exactly what we needed and the food throughout the trek was great. Our porters were also great fun and so kind. Raj was excellent at keeping everyone together and making sure that everybody was ok during the trek. We had a beautiful celebratory dinner once we had completed the trek, where we saw some traditional dancing and received plaques to remember our trek. The trek exceeded my expectations and I think a lot of that is down to Himalayan Recreation. I would highly recommend them for your trek!
Trekking and HikingAdventure
Tour Type
Private Tour
Accommodation
Guest House, Hotel
Age Range
5-90 yrs
Operated in
english, hindi, nepalese
Destinations
Everest Base Camp trek, Kathmand
Everest Base Camp trek, Kathmandu, Pheriche, Namche Bazar, Lukla, Phakding, Tengboche, Dingboche, Lobuche, Everest Base Camp
From the autumn 2016 season the Mera Peak trek/climb by this tour operator changed from a camping based itinerary of previous years to lodge or tea house based accommodation. I/we departed in October 2016. Before commencing the trek Id convinced myself that the trek in to Mera would be broadly similar to the Everest Base Camp trek, I was very wrong. There is no gentle start and long days requiring sustained effort are the theme pretty much throughout. The route taken for the first few days is very quiet and had a feel of "going around the houses" for me. That quieter route also makes for much more basic lodges than those found on EBC for example but they were all adequate. The longer approach route does however allow for excellent acclimatisation, a major key to success. All the approach routes converge in Kote and it is then a straight shot up the now rocky Hinku valley. I didnt find the approach trek in to be very scenic and that wasnt helped by day after day of cloud cover. I wonder if a November departure would be worthwhile for clearer skies. Khare, which I thought of as base camp village, was a surprsingly busy place with climbers from all over the world either preparing for or returning from Mera. Stories of six groups having been beaten back by high winds the previous day brought about a realisation that nature could quite easily scupper our plans. Having left Khare and reached the snow line, those of us that brought our own mountain boots and crampons were reunited with them by virtue of some porters that had gone ahead of us. I was now using mountain boots and crampons on snow for the first time, I found I tired far quicker than I cared to admit at the time. After a short but steep climb things level out and then it was a relatively short walk to Mera La camp for the night. The sunset and night time stars were very nice. We were now in tents for the first time. I wish I hadn't binned off my Thermarest mattress as a weight saving effort for the Lukla flight. Foam mattresses were provided but I could still feel the cold coming up from the ground. The next day was a short one from Mera La to High Camp. It however is one of those sections where the destination never seems to get any closer despite feeling you're working like a steam train at full speed. The amusement of high camp's precarious position soon passes as you try to concentrate on getting some sleep for the upcoming 0030 wake up call. I got no real sleep. We then started our torch lit climb through the night in deeply sub zero temperatures. It was hard going, really hard going, there was little talking amongst us. It was just heads down and endure it. The group were imposing more rest stops on the guides than they wanted but I don't think there were any negative consequences when all said and done. My fingers were numb with cold. The sun slowly rose and Mera central summit could now be seen ahead. We left our rucksacks at the foot of the summit and using our Jumars went up the surprisingly short roped section fixed by our guides, it was easy and I was on the summit in a minute. It had taken around 7 hours from leaving High Camp with no sleep (for me) since Mera La the previous day. It was bitterly cold on the summit and very windy, there wasn't any open celebration. There now followed an extremely long walk all the way back down to Khare village with only a short pitstop at High Camp along the way. It was exhausting. Availability of water was a problem too since much if not all of our water was still frozen despite the now blazing morning sun. I was gasping for a drink. Ngima our leader had some warm water in a flask and I will definitely take a small flask when I find myself back on a high mountain again. What now remained was the trek "home" to Lukla. The third day of decent involved far more steep climbing than we were in the mood for but we gt where we were going. Conditions on the Zatrwa pass werent as bad as they could be. During our trek trail crampons or shoe grips weren't necessary. There were only a couple sections of ice a few paces long. The decent from the pass is long and steep, thankfully the national park authority have been building a stone staircase which makes things a little easier but you still have to watch your step. There is the potential for an overnight stay a few hours short of Lukla but depending on progress it can be skipped and we pressed on for Lukla and some comfort... relatively speaking
ClimbingTrekking and Hiking
Tour Type
Small Group TourSmall group tours usually have 8-12 participants and maximum up to 18 travelers
Accommodation
Hotel, Camping, Lodge, Tent
Age Range
18-99 yrs
Operated in
english
Destinations
Kathmandu, Tangnag, Mera Peak Ba
Kathmandu, Tangnag, Mera Peak Base Camp, Mera La, Mera Peak High Camp, Mera Peak, Zatrwa La Pass, Lukla, Piuyan, Pangkongma, Nashing Dingma, Chholem, Sukye La, Kothe
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