Gokyo Lakes and Gokyo Ri Trek

Met at Tribhuvan International Airport and transferred to your hotel. Evening welcome dinner and briefing on the route, with a gear check.

Altitude: 1,400 m.

Guided sightseeing at Boudhanath, Pashupatinath and Swayambhunath, then permits and a gear check, with time in Thamel for anything missing.

Walking: 3 to 4 hours of sightseeing.

An early flight to Lukla, from Ramechhap in peak season and Kathmandu otherwise, then a gentle walk down the Dudh Koshi through Chheplung and Ghat to Phakding. A short first day by design.

Distance: 6.2 km. Walking: 3 to 4 hours.

Five suspension bridges including the high Hillary Bridge, park registration at Monjo, then the steep two-hour climb to Namche with a first view of Everest partway up on a clear day.

Distance: 10.5 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude gain: 830 m.

Climb high, sleep low. Up to the Everest View Hotel at 3,880 m and on to Khumjung and Khunde, returning to Namche to sleep. Evening oxygen saturation checks begin tonight.

Walking: 4 to 5 hours. Climb high: 3,880 m.

The route parts company with the Base Camp trail today. From Mong La at 3,975 m, a pass with a chorten and a fine view of Ama Dablam and Thamserku, the trail drops steeply to the Dudh Koshi and turns north into the Gokyo valley.

The climb to Dole runs through rhododendron and juniper, thinning as you go. Immediately the trail is quieter than the Base Camp route, which is the main reason people choose Gokyo.

Distance: 11 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude gain: 598 m.

A steady climb up the east side of the valley through summer yak pastures, with Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world, appearing ahead and Kangtega and Thamserku behind.

Machhermo has a Himalayan Rescue Association aid post that runs a free altitude talk most afternoons in season; it is worth an hour before you go higher. The village is also known for a well-documented yeti sighting in 1974, which the lodge owners will tell you about.

Distance: 7 km. Walking: 4 to 5 hours. Altitude gain: 432 m.

The trail climbs to a ridge with a view up the valley to Cho Oyu, then descends to the Ngozumpa glacier, the longest glacier in Nepal, and follows its lateral moraine north.

You pass the first Gokyo lake, then the second, and arrive at the third, Dudh Pokhari, with the village of Gokyo on its shore. The lakes are an extraordinary turquoise against the grey moraine and the brown hillsides, and the colour is the thing everyone remembers.

Distance: 7 km. Walking: 4 to 5 hours. Altitude gain: 330 m.

A pre-dawn climb up Gokyo Ri, 600 m of steep switchbacks above the village taking three to four hours. The summit view is, in the opinion of many people who have seen both, better than Kala Patthar: four 8,000 m peaks in one panorama, Everest, Lhotse, Makalu and Cho Oyu, with the Ngozumpa glacier running away below and the chain of turquoise lakes beneath you.

In the afternoon, an optional walk north along the valley to the fourth and fifth lakes, where Scoundrel's Viewpoint gives a full profile of Everest's north face and the Ngozumpa icefall.

Distance: 6 to 14 km depending on the afternoon. Walking: 6 to 8 hours. Altitude: up 557 m and back down.

Back down the valley along the moraine and past the lakes, retracing the route through Machhermo to Dole. The descent is quick and the thicker air is immediately welcome.

Distance: 14 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude loss: 762 m.

Down to the Dudh Koshi, then the climb back to Mong La and the long contour to Namche. Hot showers, bakeries and the first properly comfortable evening in a week.

Distance: 11 km. Walking: 5 to 6 hours. Altitude loss: 598 m.

The last walking day: down the steep hill out of Namche, back across the Hillary Bridge and the river crossings, through Monjo and Phakding to Lukla. Crew dinner in the evening.

Distance: 19 km. Walking: 6 to 7 hours. Altitude loss: 580 m.

Morning flight to Kathmandu or Ramechhap, weather permitting. Afternoon free, farewell dinner with the team in the evening.

Flight: 35 minutes, or 25 minutes plus a 4 to 5 hour drive.

Transfer to Tribhuvan International Airport about three hours before your flight, or onward arrangements if you are extending your stay.